Both me and my flatmate are musicians, so I know of similiar problems between the two of us or between us and the rest of the house. Luckily the times when he came home at 5am with a after-party crowd are over. Still, it is hard sometimes when he is working on new stuff. I guess the same holds true for me. Music-in-progress is hard to listen to for bystanders over 6 hours length.
If it really gets too hard for me, I sometimes leave the flat and go out. On the other hand, this is mostly at daytime or before midnight and he will turn down the volume, if asked to. As I will, when asked by neighbors, which happened once or twice.
But I can't see (or rather hear), how headphones could be so loud to be disturbing. Nor the voices of nice people nor the rain hammering on the window nor the wind in the trees. As others have said I sometimes put on a record before going to sleep and am lullabied by my favourite songs ...
(Now talk about city noises).
Also, I can't see, how alcohol is playing a role in here. People usually sleep better when drunk.
