wrote:

I've heard students are often advised to steer clear of ANR since it is
advantageous for the student to hear more of the background aircraft
noise (wind, engine etc) during training.

you probably heard that from someone who does not understand what
an ANR headset is or does; on the contrary, you'll be able to
hear relevant noise -- things to which you should be paying
attention -- far better with an ANR.

by the way, I also bought the cheapest passive headset from
Lightspeed (for passengers) and they are real good (as far
as passive headsets go)

--Sylvain