Noise-Cancelling Headphones: How They Work & ANC Guide
This podcast comprehensively explains noise-cancelling headphones, detailing their operation and benefits. It explores two primary methods: Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and Passive Noise Cancellation (PNC).
ANC headphones utilize built-in microphones to detect external ambient sounds and generate opposite sound waves, known as "anti-noise". This process, called destructive interference, effectively neutralizes unwanted noise, creating a quieter listening environment. ANC primarily targets low-frequency sounds like engine hums but can also reduce higher frequencies. These headphones can function to reduce noise even without music playing.
PNC headphones, also called noise-isolating headphones, physically block sound through their design and materials, such as tight-sealing over-ear cups or snug-fitting in-ear designs.
The benefits of noise-cancelling headphones are extensive, including:
• Improved focus and productivity in noisy environments.
• Enhanced listening experience by allowing lower volumes.
• Stress reduction by creating peaceful environments.
• Better sleep by blocking disruptive sounds.
• Increased travel comfort by reducing aircraft hum and chatter.
• Enhanced call clarity through noise-cancelling microphones.
Brands like soundcore offer various models, such as the soundcore Space One, soundcore Q20i, and soundcore Space Q45, each featuring advanced ANC capabilities and other audio enhancements. The overview also notes that noise-cancelling headphones are safe to use and can help protect hearing by reducing the need to crank up volume in noisy settings.
0.000000 4.400000 Welcome to Everyday Explained, your daily 20-minute dive into the fascinating house and
4.400000 6.260000 wise of the world around you.
6.260000 10.120000 I'm your host, Chris, and I'm excited to help you discover something new.
10.120000 11.120000 Let's get started.
11.120000 12.520000 Can you ever just stop and listen?
12.520000 15.120000 I mean, really listen to the world around you.
15.120000 18.080000 It's amazing how much noise there is, isn't it?
18.080000 20.360000 Not just the big stuff, like planes or traffic.
20.360000 25.640000 It's the little things too, that hum from the fridge, the AC kicking on, even turning a page
25.640000 26.640000 in a library.
26.640000 28.380000 It's just constant.
28.380000 33.740000 So what if you could just, you know, hit pause on all that, create your own little island
33.740000 36.660000 of near silence, whenever you felt like it?
36.660000 41.060000 Today, we're doing a deep dive into something that promises just that.
41.060000 42.860000 Noise-canceling headphones.
42.860000 46.900000 These things feel like a modern marvel, honestly, a real sanctuary sometimes.
46.900000 50.500000 And our mission today is to unpack the, well, the magic behind them.
50.500000 54.460000 How do they actually work, whether they're tiny earbuds or the big comfy over-ear ones?
54.460000 58.540000 This fascinating mix of like, basic physics and some really cutting-edge tech.
58.540000 59.540000 Absolutely.
59.540000 61.380000 And it's not just about escaping noise, though, that's huge.
61.380000 66.180000 It's also about really hearing your music better, focusing more easily, and maybe even protecting
66.180000 68.140000 your hearing down the lines, quite a package.
68.140000 70.500000 Okay, so let's get into the basics.
70.500000 73.700000 What are noise-canceling headphones, fundamentally?
73.700000 78.580000 At their core, their device is built to, well, significantly cut down on all that ambient
78.580000 80.300000 sound around you.
80.300000 84.620000 And they do this using a combination of two pretty different methods.
84.620000 85.620000 Exactly.
85.620000 86.620000 You've got passive noise-canceling.
86.620000 89.500000 We call it PNC, an active noise-canceling or ANC.
89.500000 93.260000 Both want to quiet things down, but they take very different routes to get there.
93.260000 94.740000 One's physical, one's electronic.
94.740000 95.740000 Right.
95.740000 96.740000 Let's start with the physical one.
96.740000 99.060000 PNC, passive noise-canceling.
99.060000 102.460000 You can think of this as like your personal sound barrier.
102.460000 105.100000 It's all about the physical construction, the shape, the materials.
105.100000 108.940000 It's kind of like how earmuffs work, you know, blocking out the cold, but also the
108.940000 111.000000 noise, just way more sophisticated.
111.000000 114.940000 So with over your headphones, you get these thick, padded cups, right?
114.940000 117.940000 They're designed to create a really tight seal around your ears.
117.940000 119.340000 That seals the key.
119.340000 121.980000 It physically stops a lot of sound from getting in.
121.980000 124.700000 And for in-ear headphones, the little buds.
124.700000 128.140000 They work by fitting snugly right inside your ear canal.
128.140000 131.220000 Same idea, different execution blocking the path of the sound.
131.220000 136.060000 And get the materials they use actually matter, denser foam, better plastics, they can physically
136.060000 137.060000 block more sound.
137.060000 138.060000 Yeah, that's true.
138.060000 142.420000 So PNC, it doesn't involve any, you know, electronic wizardry, no chips, no microphones,
142.420000 145.100000 doing fancy stuff, but don't underestimate it.
145.100000 148.140000 It's incredibly effective, just on its own, from upling the world.
148.140000 154.380000 You can typically get maybe 25 to 30 decibels of reduction, just from that physical design,
154.380000 155.380000 which is significant.
155.380000 158.700000 That's why you'll sometimes hear these called noise isolating headphones too.
158.700000 159.700000 Same principle.
159.700000 160.700000 Okay.
160.700000 161.700000 So that's the physical block.
161.700000 166.780000 But then there's the really the active part, active noise-canceling, A and C.
166.780000 169.140000 This is the bit that feels almost like science fiction.
169.140000 172.860000 Your own personal sound-proofing team working in real time.
172.860000 178.620000 It works using a principle called sound wave interference, basically creating anti noise.
178.620000 179.820000 How on earth does that work?
179.820000 180.820000 Right.
180.820000 181.820000 Okay.
181.820000 182.820000 Here's what's called the fun part.
182.820000 183.820000 It's pretty clever.
183.820000 186.940000 So first, there are tiny microphones, usually on the outside of the headphones.
186.940000 188.060000 These mics are listening.
188.060000 191.060000 They pick up the sounds around you before they actually reach your ear canal.
191.060000 192.060000 Okay.
192.060000 193.060000 So they hear the noise first.
193.060000 194.060000 Exactly.
194.060000 197.460000 And there's a little computer chip inside the headphones.
197.460000 202.300000 This chip analyzes those incoming sounds instantly, like in milliseconds.
202.300000 205.260000 And based on that analysis, it generates a new sound wave.
205.260000 209.140000 But this new wave is precisely the opposite, the mirror image, the inverse of the noise
209.140000 210.700000 just picked up.
210.700000 211.700000 That's the anti noise.
211.700000 212.700000 Ah, the anti noise.
212.700000 213.700000 Okay.
213.700000 217.420000 Then the headphones play this anti noise through the speakers along with your music, or even
217.420000 219.100000 if there's no music.
219.100000 224.140000 And when the original incoming noise wave meets this perfectly opposite anti noise wave inside
224.140000 228.660000 your ear cup, or near your ear canal, poof, they cancel each other out.
228.660000 231.260000 It's a physics thing called destructive interference.
231.260000 232.260000 Wow.
232.260000 237.700000 It's kind of like, imagine a superhero whose only power is to perfectly mimic and cancel
237.700000 243.220000 out the villain's noise ray, leaving just silence or, well, near silence.
243.220000 244.420000 That's a great way to put it.
244.420000 246.500000 Now it's a, it's tricky to get perfect.
246.500000 249.500000 Exactly.
249.500000 252.700000 ANC works best on constant, droning sounds that think about that low hum on an airplane, or
252.700000 256.620000 the noise from an air conditioner, ANC is brilliant at cancelling those steady frequencies.
256.620000 257.620000 Right.
257.620000 258.620000 Those predictable sounds.
258.620000 259.620000 Exactly.
259.620000 263.620000 But sudden, sharp nicest, like someone shouting next to you or dog barking, those are much
263.620000 264.620000 harder.
264.620000 267.940000 The sound wave changes too quickly for the system to react perfectly in time.
267.940000 270.060000 So some of that might still get through.
270.060000 271.060000 That makes sense.
271.060000 274.420000 And I've noticed ANC seems to help with phone calls too, right?
274.420000 275.420000 Makes them clearer.
275.420000 276.740000 Oh, definitely.
276.740000 283.020000 Many good ANC headphones use what they call bi-directional mics or even a raise of mics.
283.020000 287.700000 Basically they have microphones focused on picking up your voice and others focused on picking
287.700000 289.860000 up that ambient noise.
289.860000 294.020000 The processing chip can then subtract the background noise from the signal.
294.020000 297.740000 So the person on the other end, here's your voice much more clearly.
297.740000 298.740000 Yeah.
298.740000 302.860000 So you're not like yelling your sensitive information into the phone on a windy street
302.860000 303.860000 corner.
303.860000 304.860000 That's genuinely useful.
304.860000 305.860000 It really is.
305.860000 306.860000 Yeah.
306.860000 312.840000 But all this tech, the mics, the processing chip, generating the anti-noise it takes power,
312.840000 318.020000 which means ANC headphones do tend to burn through their batteries faster than headphones
318.020000 319.700000 that only use passive isolation.
319.700000 320.700000 That's the trade-off.
320.700000 321.700000 Right.
321.700000 322.700000 Something to keep in mind.
322.700000 323.700000 And here's something cool.
323.700000 326.460000 I learned ANC can work even if you're not playing any music or podcasts, right?
326.460000 327.460000 Absolutely.
327.460000 332.380000 You can just switch on the ANC to create a quiet zone for studying, maybe meditating or just
332.380000 335.380000 trying to grab some sleep on a noisy train or plane.
335.380000 338.500000 It's like having a portable, do not disturb sign for your ears.
338.500000 340.820000 Really creates that island of near silence we talked about.
340.820000 341.820000 So valuable.
341.820000 344.140000 And that leads us into the broader benefits, doesn't it?
344.140000 348.020000 Why this technology is, well, kind of game-changing for a lot of people.
348.020000 350.620000 First off, focus and productivity.
350.620000 351.940000 It's huge.
351.940000 354.380000 Left background noise means fewer distractions.
354.380000 358.940000 You can concentrate better, whether you're working, studying, reading, it just lowers the
358.940000 359.940000 mental load.
359.940000 360.940000 Definitely felt that.
360.940000 363.300000 There's just the pure listening experience.
363.300000 366.780000 You don't have to crank the volume way up to hear the details in your music or podcast
366.780000 368.700000 when you're in a noisy place.
368.700000 372.740000 Everything sounds clearer, more immersive at a safer volume level.
372.740000 374.340000 Ah, safer volume.
374.340000 375.340000 That's important.
375.340000 376.940000 Critical, actually.
376.940000 381.740000 Listening too loud, especially for long periods, say over 80 decibels, really increases
381.740000 384.660000 the risk of hearing damage over time.
384.660000 388.780000 Noise canceling helps because you naturally tend to listen at lower volumes when you're
388.780000 390.740000 not fighting background noise.
390.740000 393.220000 So yeah, it's genuinely protective for your hearing.
393.220000 395.900000 That's a benefit people might not even realize they're getting.
395.900000 396.900000 Totally.
396.900000 399.140000 And then there's stress reduction.
399.140000 403.100000 Just being able to dial down the chaos, create a calmer environment.
403.100000 408.180000 It can genuinely reduce stress and anxiety, helps you relax, maybe even sleep better, especially
408.180000 410.180000 if you live in a noisy area or travel a lot.
410.180000 412.380000 Oh, for travel, they're indispensable.
412.380000 417.020000 That drone of the plane just melts away, makes flying so much more bearable.
417.020000 418.020000 100%.
418.020000 420.300000 Reduces fatigue on long journeys too.
420.300000 421.300000 Yeah.
421.300000 423.540000 And you know, sometimes it's not even about blocking out huge noises.
423.540000 426.740000 It's just quieting the everyday stuff.
426.740000 432.500000 That fridge hummus again, or the AC cycling, it creates this sonic solitude.
432.500000 433.500000 And okay, let's be real.
433.500000 436.540000 Sometimes it's just a great excuse not to hear someone calling your name.
436.540000 438.620000 Ah, well, yes, that too.
438.620000 442.740000 But that solitude, that control over your sound environment, it can actually feel quite
442.740000 443.740000 therapeutic.
443.740000 445.660000 It's like reclaiming a bit of personal space.
445.660000 446.780000 So are they safe, though?
446.780000 448.740000 All this tech cancelling sound waves?
448.740000 449.740000 Yes, definitely.
449.740000 452.860000 As long as you're listening at a reasonable volume, they're perfectly safe.
452.860000 455.140000 The ANC itself isn't emitting anything harmful.
455.140000 457.820000 It's just sound waves interacting with other sound waves.
457.820000 459.780000 No weird radiation or anything like that.
459.780000 460.780000 Okay, good to know.
460.780000 464.180000 There is one thing, though, it's rare.
464.180000 471.180000 But some people report feeling a bit dizzy or disoriented when using ANC, like a weird
471.180000 472.180000 pressure feeling.
472.180000 473.740000 Oh, why is that?
473.740000 478.580000 The main theory is that the very low frequency vibrations involved in some ANC systems, or
478.580000 483.420000 maybe even the slight air pressure changes created by the anti-noise, might subtly stimulate
483.420000 485.940000 the balance receptors in your inner ear.
485.940000 491.500000 Your brain gets slightly mixed signals, quiet sound, but a feeling of vibration or pressure,
491.500000 494.700000 and that can cause that odd sensation for some sensitive individuals.
494.700000 495.700000 Huh.
495.700000 497.340000 So what can you do if that happens?
497.340000 500.940000 Often newer headphones have apps where you can actually adjust the intensity of the
500.940000 501.940000 ANC.
501.940000 505.660000 Turning it down a notch might solve it, or you could try a model known for maybe slightly
505.660000 510.220000 less aggressive or suboptimal, as the engineers might say, noise cancelling, and if it really
510.220000 514.620000 bothers you, maybe sticking with just good, passive noise isolating headphones is the
514.620000 515.620000 best bet.
515.620000 516.620000 Right.
516.620000 517.620000 Options exist.
517.620000 519.020000 And it's amazing how this tech has shrunk, isn't it?
519.020000 520.740000 Used to be just those big, over ear cans.
520.740000 523.940000 Now you get really effective ANC in tiny little ear buds.
523.940000 526.500000 The miniaturization is pretty incredible.
526.500000 527.500000 It really is.
527.500000 528.500000 Yeah.
528.500000 530.940000 And the technology inside them keeps getting smarter, too.
530.940000 534.460000 We're seeing huge leaps in what's called adaptive noise cancellation.
534.460000 536.940000 This means the headphones aren't just cancelling noise.
536.940000 542.300000 They're constantly analyzing the type of noise around you and adjusting the cancellation profile
542.300000 543.300000 in real time.
543.300000 545.580000 So it gets better, depending on where you are.
545.580000 546.580000 Exactly.
546.580000 550.660000 It might focus more on low rumbles if you're on a train, but shift to tackle higher frequency
550.660000 553.660000 chatter if you walk into a busy cafe.
553.660000 559.180000 Some of the top end models now claim they can reduce noise by up to 98% across a really
559.180000 562.500000 wide range of sounds because of this adaptive tech.
562.500000 564.260000 It's impressive stuff.
564.260000 567.220000 To call clarity, as we mentioned, keeps improving, too.
567.220000 571.660000 More mics, smarter algorithms to really isolate your voice, plus for the audio lovers, we're
571.660000 575.460000 seeing better wireless audio quality alongside the noise cancelling.
575.460000 580.140000 Technologies like LDS allow for higher resolution audio transmission over Bluetooth.
580.140000 583.620000 So you get the quiet and really detailed, rich sound.
583.620000 584.940000 It's the best of both worlds.
584.940000 587.140000 And even the passive part keeps improving.
587.140000 588.140000 Oh, yeah.
588.140000 591.660000 Better materials, your tip designs, cushion shapes.
591.660000 595.780000 They're always refining that physical seal to block more noise before the electronics
595.780000 597.460000 even need to kick in.
597.460000 598.620000 Every little bit helps.
598.620000 601.100000 So looking ahead, what's next?
601.100000 603.460000 More shrinking, better batteries.
603.460000 605.140000 Pretty much all of the above.
605.140000 610.220000 Expect longer battery life, even more powerful and efficient processing chips, maybe even smaller
610.220000 613.060000 form factors, and definitely new styles.
613.060000 617.580000 The innovation isn't slowing down, we'll likely see decades more refinement.
617.580000 621.340000 So wrapping up then, noise cancelling headphones, whether it's the physical
621.340000 625.860000 barrier of PNC, or that clever, anti-noise trick of ANC.
625.860000 629.740000 They offer this really powerful way to take back some control over the sounds around us.
629.740000 631.380000 They're more than just accessories.
631.380000 633.380000 They feel like tools for modern life.
633.380000 634.380000 Absolutely.
634.380000 637.100000 They give you that permission to just, you know, check out for a bit, spend some quiet
637.100000 641.340000 time with your thoughts, your music, or just violence, creating that little bubble, free
641.340000 644.860000 from the constant barrage of ambient noise and distractions.
644.860000 646.260000 It's a space to just be.
646.260000 648.060000 So it makes you think, doesn't it?
648.060000 651.500000 That noise, are you really longing to cancel in your life?
651.500000 653.580000 And if you could find that quiet, what could you do with it?
653.580000 654.580000 Deeper focus.
654.580000 655.580000 More calm.
655.580000 660.260000 Or maybe just finally hearing all the nuances in your favorite album, worth considering
660.260000 662.580000 how this tech could change your daily day.
662.580000 665.620000 And that wraps up today's episode of Everyday Explained.
665.620000 669.060000 We love making sense of the world around you five days a week.
669.060000 673.140000 If you enjoyed today's Deep Dive, consider subscribing so you don't miss out on our next
673.140000 674.140000 discovery.
674.140000 676.220000 I'm Chris, and I'll catch you in the next one.