subject: Headphones noise cancelling [print this page] By the means of active noise control (ANC) the noise cancelling headphones does the fabulous job of reducing the effects of ambient noise or acoustic noise. To reduce unwanted noise it would involve the employment of more than one microphone which needs to be placed side by side over the ears.
The electronic circuitry actually captures the signal of the microphone and produces an anti noise signal. The speaker driver present in the headphone is responsible for a phenomenon called the destructive interference which results in the cancellation of the ambient noise that is produced within the headphone's enclosed volume space.
The ANC factor of the headphone does a fabulous job in making you enjoy good music without the need to raise the volume of the sound. It can also help you enjoy a sound and peaceful sleep in a noisy vehicle which would otherwise cause some amount of dizziness and uneasiness, like an airliner.
The ANC technique is vehemently used by retail noise cancelling headphones. They do an effective job of cancelling the low frequency noise from reaching the ears. They depend on methods like soundproofing that are quite traditional methods which make use of soundproofing to prevent high frequency noise from reaching the ears.
In this way expensive electronic circuitry use can be avoided which are complicated and again at the same time cannot result in the active cancellation of high frequency noises.
The emitter and sensors used for cancelling the waveform should be close to the eardrums of the user in order to cancel the high frequency components that reach the ears from all directions. This is really not feasible.
Majority of the headphones and headsets for the purpose of noise cancellation use analog circuits to achieve this. But usually active noise and vibration control is done by digital devices and this is the standard method.
They have some disadvantages as well. The power consumed by them is supplied by battery or a U.S.B. which requires frequent recharging.
They are not very effective with discrete audio signals like speech; they are good at controlling continuous audio signals like the sound of refrigerator or an airplane.
They can also introduce high frequency additional noise at times.
The Panasonic noise control headphones are some of the best products available in the market. They have not found real good competitors in their field as of now. Though the Bose QC2 use the QC2 (quiet comfort 2) technology to give you a good experience. But it is said that Panasonic is very good at delivering a great performance in this regard. But once you choose to turn on the movie you will find that you do not experience any hissing for either of the two products.
The ear cups provided by Panasonic are considered small for those who have big ears but otherwise its performance delivery is really smooth. They are really ideal for flights, as the clamping pressure produced is easily nullified by the soft cushions present.
So perhaps these are the reasons why Panasonic has been considered as the best noise cancelling headphones.
