Noise-Cancelling Headphones!

It seems to be me that noise-cancelling headphones achieve their affect by emitting external sound waves that act to "cancel out" ambient sound waves; thus, no more sound is actually being emitted into the ear, but sound waves are being emitted in the opposite direction of the ear. (I briefly glacned at a howstuffworks.com article and that is what I gathered, at least).

First: Is the abovementioned description correct?

Secondly:
Any suggestions for a pair under $100? I found a pair of Sannheisers for about $75 that seem to be good.

 

They work by emitting a sound wave that is 90 degrees out of phase and thus "cancelling" the waves picked up on a mic on the exterior. As to buying them, have you concidered passive noise isolating rather than active noise cancelling headphones? They can be nearly as good, and don't require batteries.

 

Yeah, thats basically how they work, I find that they work best with sounds that repeat, such as a motor or a fan or something like that. But with loud short term sounds, such as dropping something then they don't work as good, still do it a little but not as good as it does with a repetitive sound.

 

For the most part. There's also noise-cancelling earphones that achieve the same effect by relying on a good seal between the earbud and ear canal. Can be discomforting for some people but at least that annoying hum isn't there like in headphones.

 

I always like the in-ear headphones or just a good ol' giant set of cans as opposed to active noise cancelling. The hum drives me crazy after a while and I start to feel sick.

Granted it's been a couple of years since the last time I tried a pair so maybe the tech has gotten better.

 

@sirmetman - I think the wave would have to be 180 degrees out of phase to cancel out.

@Fewmets - noise-canceling headphones have an adaptive filter algorithm that automatically adjusts its coefficients based on the surrounding noise. As Syndrome said, it would work best on repetitive noises as one the coefficients have locked on the noise then they can produce the required opposite phase wave to cancel it (changing the coefficients of the filter formula depending on the nosie is called 'tracking').

I agree with Raziel66 that a pair of in-ears or just big-cans type would be sufficient. I personally use a pair of large headphones and when the volume is upped the surrounding noise wont bother you.

 

Thanks for the info! Any suggestions for passive noise-cancelling headphones <$100?

 

Are you set on headphones, or are in-ear buds ok?

 

I'd honestly prefer headphones, although if there is a really good pair of in-ear buds out there, I may consider

 

For the price full sized headphones are usually higher in sound quality. For instance to get some IEM's that compete with my 200$ cans then I had to spend 900$.

 

Which kind did you get for $900? The most I've spent so far on IEM was around $180 for UE Superfi 5 Pro's. Not bad at all, but definitely looking for more. I keep eyeing all of those different headphones with the customer earpieces...

 

I use Westone ES3X, they are custom fitted and sound amazing. And thats 900 with the custom art on them, which I would honestly advise against getting, because it tends to come off. I'm going to send mine back in for a refit and make have them redone in a solid color.

And I have to say that I think they sound better than my full sized cans, well maybe not better, but I like their sound signature better. The mids on the ES3X are soooo smooth and the bass is great. Highs are also there but I really like the mids of those phones, very enjoyable.

 

I prefer IEMs myself. Less bulky and intrusive, and they don't act like earmuffs when it's warm out. I like my Super Fi 5 Pro's myself. I'm eyeing the custom fitted ones... but I just can't justify shelling out that much cash for headphones, at least not unless I'm making a bunch more money.

 

Do you have issues with the UE's staying in? Mine start to wiggle loose after a short while, which is mainly why I don't wear them as much as I used to. I keep wanting to try those Comply foam eartips to see if they fit better but I always forget to order them.

 

I was using the foam tips for a while, and still have a stash, but to save some cash, I started using the medium rubber single flange ones. I do have to adjust them from time to time, but as long as I keep them clean of ear wax (aka lubricant), they stay in place fairly well.