Whether you just want to enjoy the amazing quality of your favorite music or shut out the busy sounds of the big city, noise canceling headphones are not only the answer, but a necessity!
In today’s day and age, having a little time to enjoy one of life’s joys (music) is getting more and more difficult. Busy highways and streets, loud construction activity, rude people speaking loudly, and babies crying.. these are just a few of the ambient noises that are all part of living in the city. Thankfully there are noise canceling headphones!
Noise Canceling Headphones are designed to maximize your listening experience by keeping out ambient noise without sacrificing sound quality. Since ignoring the sounds around you is almost impossible, you really only have one choice.. noise canceling headphones. There are two categories of noise canceling headphones: Active and Passive.
Passive Noise Canceling Headphones
Almost every type of headphone can provide some passive noise reduction because the materials of the headphones block out some sound waves, especially those at higher frequencies. The best passive noise canceling headphones are circum-aural types that are specially constructed to maximize noise-filtering properties. What this means is they are packed with layers of high-density foam or other sound-absorbing materials which can reduce noise of about 15 to 20 decibels (dB). Unfortunately if you consider that a jet engine creates 75-80 dB of noise inside the aircraft cabin, passive noise canceling has some serious limitations.
Active Noise Canceling Headphones
Active Noise Canceling Headphones can do everything passive noise canceling headphones can, and more. In addition to the materials that make up the active noise canceling headphones (which blocks out high frequency sounds), they also actively erase low frequency sound waves by creating anti-noise that cancels the incoming sounds before they get to your ears.
Noise canceling headphones come in all shapes and forms, from full size to earbuds. Since you no longer have to crank the volume up to overcome background noise, this type of headphone lets you listen at lower levels, which leads to reduced ear fatigue. You’ll also hear more low-level detail in your music and are typically made for comfort so your ears don’t get sore after a few minutes of using them.
There are 5 factors to consider when selecting your noise canceling headphones.
- Noise Canceling Effectiveness
- Comfort
- Functionality (volume control, etc.)
- Sound Quality
- Durability
There are a number of popular noise canceling headphones on the market today. Some popular brands are Aiwa, Bose, Denon, Jensen, JVC, Panasonic, and Sony.
