Remember the times when you're listening to music on your headphones while in a subway train or airplane, but there's still that annoying background noise from the tracks or aircraft engine?
What noise-canceling headphones, such as the Aurvana Platinum or Gold, use to counter this noise is known as an active noise reduction system. The headphones' built-in microphones pick up this ambient noise signal and electronically produce an anti-noise signal that cancels out the noise. This method requires the headphones to be battery-powered.
The Aurvana Platinum headset even offers you the flexibility of choosing one of three optimized levels of noise reduction with the Tri-Mode Advanced Noise Cancellation (ANC) selector: for air travel, outdoor or indoor use.
Various environments produce different types of noises with varying degree of loudness which can be effectively negated by choosing one of these modes.
An airplane's jet engine typically produces low frequency, humming noise at about 250Hz. Using the air travel mode in an airplane cabin cancels out this noise aggressively by up to 90%. The outdoor mode blocks out 85% of the noise in a similar range and hence suitable for negating surrounding noise from the street or while commuting in a subway train or bus.
For a less or intermittently noisy environment such as in an office or a home setting, using the indoor mode can cancel out noise moderately by about 70% around 700Hz of the audible spectrum. This mode blocks out typical office equipment noises and general low-level office din.
Noise-isolating earphones, on the other hand, use a passive system – that is, simply sealing the ear canal with foam eartips. With the outside noise physically shut out, you hear mostly just the sound that’s being sent directly into your ears. These earphones need no batteries, so they’re usually lightweight and compact.
The Hitz MA350 and Aurvana In-Ear3 are examples of effective noise-isolating in-ear earphones. Over-the-ear headsets such as the Aurvana Platinum or Gold are equipped with specially designed earcup padding that also provides good noise isolation. Keeping the audio in and shutting the noise out, you’ll get to enjoy your music in its purest form, with minimal disturbance!
| Noise Cancellation | Noise Isolation | |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | Produce anti-noise signal to cancel out the noise | Use of foam eartips to seal the ear canal |
| Battery-powered | Yes | No |
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Check out Creative's noise-canceling headphones and noise-isolating headphones now.
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