Peace and quiet

Peace and quiet, it turns out, is mostly a hardware problem. Someone else's conference call, someone else's game, someone else's opinion about how loud a train carriage should be. Today's edition is six ways to opt out of all that, plus one bag to keep your toothbrush from opting into your socks.

Open-plan offices did not get quieter, they just got headsets. The HP Poly Blackwire C8225-M is the wired, unglamorous answer: on-ear, noise cancelling, a volume dial and a mic you can physically switch off when you'd rather not be heard chewing.

Consoles have their own definition of quiet, which is to say everyone else stays quiet while you don't. The Sony PlayStation Pulse Explore earbuds go wireless and white, built to keep game audio in your ears and out of the room.

For everything that isn't gaming or a call, there's the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2, in beige, the kind of in-ear pair that's as much about staying put through a run as blocking out the gym.

A toiletry bag doesn't cancel noise, but the NOMAD toiletry bag does bring a certain order to a washbag: sturdy zips, a hook to hang it, enough compartments that your razor stops migrating into your contact lenses, and a mirror so you don't have to hunt for one.

For the daily commute-sized version of silence, the soundcore P41i earbuds pair adaptive noise cancelling with a case that claims 192 hours between charges, six microphones for calls, and enough waterproofing to survive rain you didn't check the forecast for.

And if you want the room itself to disappear, the CMF by Nothing Headphone Pro is the over-ear option, ANC included, Hi-Res audio over LDAC, and a battery life measured in the triple digits rather than the single ones.