Testing Noise-Cancelling Headphones
Test Approach: I began by firing up the noise generator system and setting volume levels to approximate those within an airliner in flight (pretty loud, but of course not deafening). I noted the volume settings on the NuForce preamp so that I could re-create the same noise levels for future tests. Then, I ran five tests:
• Test 1: Noise generator = On; headphone circuits = Off; Music = Off. This test let me assess the headphone’s passive noise isolation capabilities.
• Test 2: Noise generator = On; headphone circuits = On; Music = Off. This test let me assess the headphones’ active, noise cancellation capabilities.
• Test 3: Noise generator = On; headphone circuits = On; Music = On. This test let me assess the headphone’s overall sound quality in a moderately noisy environment.
• Test 4: Noise generator = Off; headphone circuits = On; Music = On. This test let me assess the headphone’s sound quality in a quiet environment.
• Test 5 (for models that offered a “passive mode,” only): Noise generator = Off; headphone circuits = Off; Music = On. This test let me assess “passive mode” sound quality for headphones that offered a passive (that is, unamplified) option for use in case battery power ran out.
Summing Up: I learned an awful lot from conducting these tests and found that today’s best noise-cancelling phones do a surprisingly good job of blocking/cancelling out a great deal of noise while delivering rich, full, well-balanced sound quality with plenty of sonic detail, subtlety and finesse.
Granted, those seeking optimal sound quality will find today’s best high-end, non-noise-cancelling headphones still enjoy a performance edge, though I would say the better noise cancellers can nearly compete on an equal footing with their high(er)-end brethren. But for use in environments where moderate to high levels of noise are present, noise-cancelling designs are just what the do
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Comments
Excellent article.
I travel a lot so I have used a number of noicse cancelling headphone and noice isolation headphone.
All the ones I used are less than $100. One reason is they have to be relatively small and robust (that rule out the older bose)
Some are vey good. However most of do a good jobe is cancelling higher frequency and not the lower ones. This is a shame because most aircraft engine produce a lot of low frequency noise. It would be nice if you can hight light this aspect in your test.
Is the cause of this the limitation of the microphone used in the cheaper headphones ?
Thanks
Good points. If you'd like to read about a measurement system that provides objective data, here is a link to a test developed for SoundCheck by Listen, Inc.
http://www.listeninc.com/site/download_noise-cancelling_headphone_sequen...