When it comes to listening to music on the go, one thing that always gets in the way is external noise. Whether it’s a jet engine, road noise, or crowds of talkative people, external noise always gets in the way of listening to a great song – unless you have noise-cancelling headphones.
Most noise-cancellation systems focus on eliminating low-frequency noise by producing an inverse noise of their own. This is accomplished through a microphone on the outside of the earpieces and a complex computer system inside the headphones themselves. Most of these systems also rely on traditional noise suppression techniques, such as ear-cups, to block noise in higher frequencies.
There are several benefits that come with a system operating this way. By focusing only on low-frequency noise, the circuitry in a pair of noise-cancelling headphones is much simpler than if the system was designed to handle all noise. This means less power consumption and less chance of something breaking in the long run. Another benefit is two-fold: on the one hand, because high-frequency noise has a shorter wavelength, any attempt at active cancellation is ineffective, often resulting in additional noise as the headphones attempt to compensate and are unable to do so; on the other hand, for exactly the same reason, traditional methods of noise suppression (that is, passive isolation) work more easily and more effectively.
Even so, these devices aren’t perfect. Energy consumption, even reduced, is still higher than that of “regular” headphones; this means that most noise-cancelling headphones need extra batteries to work properly. They don’t always cancel all external sound perfectly, often resulting in additional unwanted noise that sounds like static. They are also bulkier than most “regular” pairs of headphones.
Noise-cancelling headphones are a fantastic technology, and some systems work better than others. Some of the best options have all of the upsides and none of the downsides, but they usually cost a fortune, introducing an all-new downside. But for reasonably priced options, look for the simpler design we’ve described here. It’ll get you what you want without all the hassle of a big-ticket item.
