Noise cancellation in headsets: What exactly is it?
Business
Noise canceling in headphones: what exactly is it?
Author
Daniel Gniazdo
Published< /p>
April 24, 2015
Reading time
4
minutes
If you've ever purchased headphones or earphones, I bet you've heard the term "noise cancellation" used once or twice. I can also bet you weren't always quite sure what that meant. It's not your fault: Depending on the context, noise cancellation can mean a number of things, and companies aren't exactly consistent in how they use the term. Let's try to solve the riddle.
First of all, there are two main types of noise cancellation: one in the microphone(s) and one in the headphones themselves. The first type helps the person on the other end of the line to hear your voice instead of the heckling in the bar you're calling from. The second type protects you
you
- the carrier - so that you are not disturbed by this same bar noise.
Now, let's look at each in a bit more detail.
Microphone Noise Cancellation
It does not directly benefit you. Instead, it helps others hear you better. Noise-canceling microphones are designed to pick up your voice while ignoring background noise. We have already covered noise canceling microphones
in a previous post
.
This noise suppression can be achieved
in different ways
, including microphone shape and placement, digital signal processing, and other technical terms. Some helmets even come with a
special windsock
which virtually eliminates all wind noise.
More advanced headsets use multiple mics to really reduce notch noise. How? In a nutshell, the two mics have a certain distance between them, which means that one of them is closer to your mouth than the other. While the first picks up your voice, the other picks up more surrounding noise. Combined with certain digital algorithms, they "subtract" the surrounding noise from the equation, leaving only your voice. It may sound like voodoo, but it works.
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Companies use different brands for their dual-mic noise cancellers. Jabra calls theirs
Noise BlackoutTM
, for example. In the end, the basic principle is the same: your voice gets the green light, while the background noise is stopped at the door.
So if you don't want to be the friend who always sounds like they're in a wind tunnel or on the set of an action movie, headphones with noise-cancelling microphones might be for you.
Noise canceling in headphones
This is what most of us tend to think when we hear the words "
noise canceling headphones
". This is what helps the wearer to muffle out ambient noise and focus on talking to someone or listening to music. You see people wearing these type of headsets on long flights to avoid the cries of babies and the noise of airplane engines.
To make things even more confusing, there are two types of noise cancellation: passive and active. What is
that
mean? I'm glad you asked the question...
Passive noise reduction
This is the noise reduction achieved through the physical characteristics of the headphones, such as the design and materials used. It's really just a fancy term to describe the effect you get just by wearing the headphones. Those bulky earmuffs you see construction workers wearing? Yes: passive noise cancellation.
Passive noise cancellation is ideal for filtering out irregular high-frequency sounds, like your co-worker Bob who can't stop excitedly talking about the latest episode of his favorite TV show. Although this is typically used in music headphones, some
new office headsets
are also designed to completely cover your ears and block out external sounds. If you work in a busy open space, this can be a godsend!
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Active noise cancellation
Active Noise Cancellation uses more advanced technology to – startle – actively counteract noise. Basically, it detects and analyzes the sound pattern of incoming noise, then generates a mirror signal"
anti noise
to cancel it. The end result is that you hear a significantly reduced noise level.
This type of noise cancellation works best for stable low-frequency sounds, like ceiling fans, engine noise, or that same coworker Bob who won won't stop humming the theme from his favorite TV show. You usually find active noise cancellation in stereo headphones, which have the ability to block both your ears and truly eliminate noise, but
some mono headphones
also use it to help you hear better. You can learn a lot more about Active Noise Cancellation in
This article
.
Most modern helmets
use both a microphone and a noise canceling headset to improve the sound of the conversation on both ends of the call.
***
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