How do noise cancelling headphones work? If you are on an airplane or a busy street, all that background noise can ruin your listening experience. Let's take a glance at how noise reducing headphones seek to eliminate this ambient noise and give you a more enjoyable listening experience.
Passive Noise Reduction
The first way to block outside noise is called passive noise reduction. These are headphones that are designed with a special foam padding or other insulation to absorb outside sound before it reaches your ears. These headphones fit snugly around one's ears and can block out ambient noise up to twenty decibels. These are ideal for at home, cafes or riding the subway.
Active Noise Reduction
But what if the noise is louder than twenty decibels, like the noise coming from a jet engine? Fortunately, there is another type of noise cancelling headphone, called active reduction, that utilizes some icy gadgetry. They can block out any background noise, making them the final travel headphones for the frequent flyer. They are formed much like their passive counterparts, except both headphones contain a special microphone. The microphone picks up background noise. The noise is then replicated and played back through outside speakers on the ear cups, like a mirror picture of the sound coming in. The mirror picture sound wave actually cancels out the ambient noise so the listener is left with a pristine audio session.
Since this method takes energy, active reduction headphones must be battery operated. But the trade off is worth it. Aside from being able to listen to music peacefully, these headphones can be used to get silence for the weary traveler to catch some Z's or generate a calm sanctuary for thought.
Passive Noise Reduction
The first way to block outside noise is called passive noise reduction. These are headphones that are designed with a special foam padding or other insulation to absorb outside sound before it reaches your ears. These headphones fit snugly around one's ears and can block out ambient noise up to twenty decibels. These are ideal for at home, cafes or riding the subway.
Active Noise Reduction
But what if the noise is louder than twenty decibels, like the noise coming from a jet engine? Fortunately, there is another type of noise cancelling headphone, called active reduction, that utilizes some icy gadgetry. They can block out any background noise, making them the final travel headphones for the frequent flyer. They are formed much like their passive counterparts, except both headphones contain a special microphone. The microphone picks up background noise. The noise is then replicated and played back through outside speakers on the ear cups, like a mirror picture of the sound coming in. The mirror picture sound wave actually cancels out the ambient noise so the listener is left with a pristine audio session.
Since this method takes energy, active reduction headphones must be battery operated. But the trade off is worth it. Aside from being able to listen to music peacefully, these headphones can be used to get silence for the weary traveler to catch some Z's or generate a calm sanctuary for thought.
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