How to choose noise canceling headphones.

How to choose noise canceling headphones.

How to choose noise canceling headphones.

Noise canceling headphones are designed to reduce the amount of ambient noise you hear while you are trying to listen to music or other audio.

Think of yourself on a plane and trying to listen to music or a movie. Whatever you are listening to, you are also hearing the roar of the engines. This ambient noise not only reduces your enjoyment of whatever you are listening to, but can also be very tiring.

Of course, planes are not the only places where people like to wear noise canceling headphones. You'll see them in use on trains, subways and buses as well.

It is worth noting that in all these examples, it's the lower-frequency sound waves we are trying to reduce...the roar of engines and the rumble of wheels. Noise canceling headphones are particularly good at reducing these lower frequency waves, but are not so strong on the higher frequencies.

That's why purchasers of this type of headphone are often disappointed to find that they do little to reduce the sound of a baby screaming or cell phones ringing, for example.

Noise canceling headphones come in two broad types – passive and active.

The passive type reduces ambient noise simply by creating a barrier between the outside world and your ears. Typically, this involves an over-the-ear design and the use of dense materials to keep out ambient noise.

In-the-ear headphones work in a similar fashion, fitting snugly in the ear canal and creating a physical barrier against outside noise.

This is why frequent fliers are big customers for companies making noise canceling headphones. They claim that wearing them significantly reduces their experience of jet lag.

Technically these are not noise canceling headphones at all, they are noise-isolating headphones.

The active type also use dense materials to help keep out higher-frequency noise, but also uses a specific, active technology to keep out lower-frequency sound.

The earpieces include tiny microphones which pick up the noises around you. The headphones then play the exact same noises back, but 180 degrees out of phase with the incoming waves. It's just like identical ripples, with the same amplitude and frequency, coming from opposite sides of a pool, meeting in the middle and cancelling each other out.

Which noise canceling headphones should you choose?

There are plenty to choose from and your choice will likely be determined by your budget. As with most things, the more you pay, the better the quality.

Manufacturers you can depend on include Bose, Sony and Sennheiser.