How Do Noise Cancelling Headphones Work?
Hmm... how do noise cancelling headphones work? As someone who has frequently used noise cancelling headphones onflight, I find myself asking this same question too. Since the first day I put them on, I know for sure that I no longer have to live with the persistent hissing from the drone of the plane. Isn't it amazing that such a simple audio equipment can actually make one's flying experience a lot more pleasant.
The Technology Behind How Noise Cancelling Headphones Work
After some research on the net, I finally found out how do noise cancelling headphones work! Microphones embedded within the noise cancelling headphones can detect irritating low frequency sound waves - something like the humming of the aircraft or car engine - and generate a counter waves that's completely opposite of them. When both sound waves meet, the irriting sound is offset by more than 80%. In scientific terms, this is called active sound cancelling.
Active sound cancelling is the technology behind how do noise cancelling headphones work. People often confuse it with passive noise cancelling. Which is nothing more than using materials such as ear plugs, to soften sounds.
Because of how noise cancelling headphones do work, they have to be battery operated to power this active cancelling technology. For some headphones, the audio functions can still be set in passive mode even without the battery. That means, it can still work even if the battery runs out of power. For some brands however, once the battery dies off, the noise cancelling features gets disabled. Because of this concern, many travellers factor this whenever they review different noise cancelling headphones.
How Much Noise Can They Reduce?
Claims have been made by manufacturers and researchers suggesting that noise cancelling headphones can reduce up to 80% of all noise. It's very likely that such are based on laboratory tests on a single consistent low pitch hissing sound, which active noise cancelling headphones are especially good for. Total noise reduction is still not quite possible. Why?
Because some noises, such as the crying of a baby or quarrelling between 2 individuals are basically very irregular acoustic waves and can be quite tough to remove even with active noise canceling. Regardless, with the consideration of passive noise cancelling elements designed into these noise cancelling headphones, they're now significantly much better when it comes to reducing such external noises.
Now that you know how do noise cancelling headphones work, go get one now at our discount noise cancelling headphones store!