Recording Acoustic Drums - Noise Cancelling headphones?

I'm curious about the effectiveness of noise cancelling headphones during drum recording sessions.  
 
My ears cannot take the level of volume required to get the metronome and music in my headphones loud enough to overcome the invading volume of the acoustic drums.  At the moment, I'm using ear buds with shooting ear muffs squeezed over them and that actually works really good.  
 
But man that is a pain in the ass to take off and on, and I can only take the squeezing on those ear buds for so long and then I need a break.  It's not a permanent solution.  
 
So how do you all do it?  I'm wondering about noise cancelling headphones.  Something easier and more comfortable to take on and off.  

mikedocy
I use these (see link) for that purpose. I find that I have to put some of the overheads into the headphone mix or I don't hear enough drums. if you wear glasses the phones will leak a little sound because the frame of your glasses will prevent the phones from sealing to your head.
These things are basically "shooting" ear protectors with transducers built in. They are also good for listening to music while cutting the grass.  :-)
 http://www.extremeheadphones.com/studio-features-benefits/

 
Hey that's pretty cool.  Sound isolation might be a better direction for this.  Which model are you using?  I noticed they had a few different ones. 

batsbrew
I HAVE A PAIR OF THESE:
 
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDRAS800AP-Active-Smartphone-Headset/dp/B00NBMI5X8?psc=1&SubscriptionId=AKIAJM4NKIQGABP2PIRA&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B00NBMI5X8&tag=thewire06-20&ascsubtag=WC59200
 
Made for workout,
would work well for a drummer.
 
in ear, no bleed, also good for tracking vocals when over ear allows bleed..

I didn't see anything about noise isolation or cancellation with these.  Do you notice external noise being incredibly attenuated, like several orders of magnitude, like shooting ear muffs?  
 
I've actually been re-thinking this whole thing and I may just perform a DIY update on my current rig.  If I can harvest the transducers out of a cheap set of headphones and find a way to install them into the ear cavities of my shooting ear muffs, then I'd have a fairly simple and comfortable solution.  Stole the idea from a Youtube video.  

batsbrew
maybe these would work:
 
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/IsoHdph?adpos=1t2&creative=83049424441&device=c&matchtype=b&network=g&gclid=CNiwmfKmp8kCFYKUfgods9cDIg
 

Hey now those ain't bad at all.  And a little cheaper than the EX headphones.  Thanks for the tip.  I'll probably pull the trigger on these.  
 
And this is why I come here to ask questions.  I was down in the wrong rabbit hole, looking at noise cancellation and didn't realize noise isolation was probably the better and way more affordable direction for my broke ass.  
 
Thank you sir.

Noise-cancelling headphones are a ripoff. A good pair of snug-fitting around-the-ears headphones (e.g. Sennheiser HD280Pro) give better isolation than the Bose, for a third the price.
 
But if 28dB reduction isn't sufficient (which it might not be for a drummer) then IEMs are the way to go. Check these out - only 50 bucks.

my little sony earbuds work perfectly fine.
almost nothing comes in...
almost nothing comes out.
simple.

Voda La Void
 
batsbrew - I'm sorry but I don't see it.  

I meant for anything other than playing drums....
 

Sound quality and fit/comfort vary enormously among IEMs, and as Herb points out, the price you pay is not a reliable predictor. I've had several over the years, some of which refused to stay in place, some sat comfortably for hours. My favorites were from Shure (the since-discontinued SE-210s), which offered a reasonable compromise between comfort and sound quality.
 
The biggest problem with IEMs is reliability. Those itty-bitty wires break easily. Those itty-bitty drivers don't handle shock well. Some are prone to getting jammed up with impacted earwax than cannot be easily removed without damaging the driver. I just got tired of replacing them every year, so now I use some cheap Sennheisers, for air travel. They were like 30 bucks, so I won't cry when they inevitably break. 
 
On the off-topic of airplane usage, I actually did A/B tests on a long flight to Tokyo. I'd borrowed a pair of Bose noise-cancelling headphones in addition to my two closed-back studio headphones and two IEMs. They all did a decent job of filtering out high-frequency noise, but only the Shure IEMs did anything for the steady low-frequency roar of jet engines. I was especially disappointed with the Bose, which acted more like a low-pass filter than a noise-stopper. In a non-noisy environment (in a hammock under a mango tree), they were quite mediocre-sounding. Not awful, but given their price point I'm sticking with my "ripoff" assessment.
 
But this is off-topic: due to their percussive nature, drums are actually harder to attenuate than jet engines.
 
BTW, I did an experiment once using the Shure IEMs with OSHA-approved ear protectors over them. The kind you see the ground crew wearing at the airport. They're too clumsy to wear while playing drums, but wow, talk about isolation!

quantumeffect
I had a pair of the Vic Firth head phones and I couldn't stand them.  The wire framework in the headband was poorly engineered and they never fit comfortably or securely.   
 

You sure it was not your head?

... it looks like mikedocy is using them and it sounds like the current models are just as good as the originals.
 
 

quantumeffect
... it looks like mikedocy is using them and it sounds like the current models are just as good as the originals.

I use the less expensive model (extremeheadphones) and like it. The headphones don't sound as good as a good pair of studio headphones but the sound is good enough and the isolation and ease of use is what matters to me. The more expensive model is supposed to sound better.
 
About the headphone vs. in-ear debate: I like the convenience of the over-ear headphones. Easier to put on and take off. More robust. 
 

bit, they only reason I went off topic is to explain that noise cancellation headphones are not made for studio monitoring but for constant noise reduction.
 
"BTW, I did an experiment once using the Shure IEMs with OSHA-approved ear protectors over them. The kind you see the ground crew wearing at the airport. They're too clumsy to wear while playing drums, but wow, talk about isolation!"
 
bit, do what Alex Van Halen does and duct tape them to your head!  JK.  I use this method (without the duct tape!) to listen to music while using my leaf blower. While it does work, they hurt after a while. 
 
I did try the Vic Firth headphones and they weren't too bad, but I gave them to a vocalist and in an attempt to get total isolation she pushed on them hard.  These were the old ones with liquid filled earpieces and they leaked goo all over her! 
 
So for now I am using cheap Sennheiser 202s (~$20.00 on Amazon).  They work OK for isolation, stay on pretty good and allow one ear piece to be moved off the ear if necessary (since they are DJ cans).

Thanks for the tip, VLV. From the user ratings on Amazon, it does appear you've made a smart choice. Several mention using them while operating a lawnmower or leaf blower. Now that's an isolation test!
 
How are they for just kicking back and listening to music? I wonder if they might be an alternative to IEMs for air travel.

My sartorial coolness never survives a 10-hour flight. By the time I stumble off the plane at my destination, I look (and probably smell) like a refugee from the homeless shelter.