Noise cancelling headphones are definitely much more effective than regular headphones but they have few disadvantages too. Active Noise Cancelling Headphones consumes a lot of power so you need to replace their batteries quite often. But this depends on your usage. If you use them regularly then be ready to spend a lot of money on batteries. Some headphones may produce additional noise in the form of high-frequency hiss. While most good quality headphones reduce ambient noise, some may not do it effectively due to overload of low frequency pressures which can distort the signal and ruin the listening experience.