I read a lot about some people saying that noise cancelling feature from headphones is just a gimmick. Most of these people are saying that normal headphones with noise isolation will do the same thing. I did few experiments and found that they are indeed different.
Headphones with noise isolation basically use physical means to block noises from outside. Think of it as covering our ears using our palms to hear less sound. For in-ear headphones, the earbuds are usually designed to act as snug-fit seal so our ears will hear less noise from our surrounding. Over-ear models usually use thick padded cups to absorb as much noise as possible. Naturally, there is no single product that can actually “block” 100% of external noise. Some manufacturers refer to noise isolation with “passive noise cancellation”.
Noise cancellation uses digital processing. It requires power to listen to the sound around us, do some processing then play the opposite sound to cancel it out. For over-ear models, usually there is enough room to add the processing unit so noise cancellation generally doesn’t add significant volume to the product. For in-ear models, they usually have separate processing module attached to the cable. Since active noise cancellation requires power, some products use traditional AAA or AA batteries while some others use rechargeable Lithium battery.
Which one to choose? It depends on each person’s unique situation and personal preferences. For my personal preferences, I can’t stand to wear in-ear headphones with noise isolation for more than 2 hours due to its snug-fit earbuds. My ears got tired and uncomfortable after a while. Similar case also happens with around-ear headphones with noise isolation because they are either too heavy or they squeeze my head too tight. But I have friends who absolutely have no problem with these issues, so I would say this is purely personal preferences.
Headphones with active noise cancellation depend a lot to the quality of their digital processing. All products will claim that they can “cancel” most noise. In reality, many of them could only cancel 50%-70% at most.
It is important to have realistic expectations on the ability of active noise cancellation. It continuously “listen” to constant noise nearby and calculate the opposite sound to cancel it out. The process of calculating the opposite sound requires time, therefore any sudden noise such as dropped plate or slammed door will not be cancelled. This kind of “cancelling” module is best for constant noise like jet engines in long flights, noisy air conditioning unit at work, or something similar.
The downside of active noise cancellation is the need to change batteries or to recharge them. For in-ear models, the external processing unit is sometimes bulky and becomes a burden. For most products, the “addition” of the opposite sound to cancel the noise reduce the sound quality of our music. The trade-off might be worth it in long annoyance like 20 hours flight, but it becomes less beneficial when we use it for an hour trip on a train, for example.
Some people like to use headphones with (active) noise cancellation only to enjoy some quiet moment. They wear the headphones and turn on the noise cancellation without listening to any music. We can head a subtle hissing sound when headphones with noise cancellation is turned on without music. This is normal and to be expected. I tried this during a very long flight from Melbourne to Stockholm (20+ hours) and find it a very good idea. I prefer the subtle hissing sound compared to the constant noise of jet engine.
To directly compare noise cancelling vs. noise isolating products, I carried 4 earphones in my long flight. The first one is Apple Earpods, which represents in-ear headphones without noise cancellation and noise isolation. The second one is Sony Balanced Armature XBA-2VP, which represents in-ear headphones with noise isolation. The third one is Philips SHN2600/10, which represents low-end in-ear headphones with active noise cancellation and (arguably) a little bit of noise isolation. The fourth one is Bose QuietComfort 20i, which represents high-end in-ear headphones with active noise cancellation and no physical noise isolation.
Apple Earpods is my everyday commuting earphones and usually it sounds ok. However, these earphones were naturally the worst performer during the long flight. I could barely hear any decent music even at loud volume because the sound of jet engine was too loud.
Sony XBA-2VP with noise isolation earbuds gave me better listening experience because it blocked some of the external noise. I could still hear the jet engine, but it’s no longer at the annoying volume. I could enjoy the music, but the tight-fit of the earbuds made me uncomfortable after about an hour of music listening.
Philips SHN2600/10 is a combination of noise isolation and low-end noise cancellation. The earbuds are arguably designed to provide physical seal to block noise, and it did, a little. The noise cancellation helped a but further to reduce the sound of jet engine, but also not to the point that I expected. In the end, the combination effect of noise blocking was a bit similar to Sony XBA-2VP plus a little bit of hissing sound. Just like my experience with Sony XBA-2VP, I gave up wearing Philips SHN2600/10 after an hour and a half. My ears felt numb.
Bose QC20i gave me the best experience as the funny design of its earbuds do not push themselves towards my ear canals. When I wore QC20i without turning on the noise cancellation, I can hear external noises almost as bad as my experience with Apple Earpods. This proves that QC20i does not use physical seal to block noise as I can clearly hear the noise. The magic comes with the active noise cancellation module. Once I turned it on, suddenly I get almost silent world. I can still hear the crying baby, but faintly and no longer disturbing the music. I can enjoy my music at half volume level and could hear detailed sound, even the breathing sound of the singers. The downside? QC20i is bloody expensive.
I only tested in-ear models during my long flight because the idea of carrying several around-ear headphones in one flight doesn’t sound like a good idea. I needed to travel light, and extra bulk in my cabin bag is the least thing I’d like to have.
Again, there is no single product for everyone. People has different expectations, different environments, different lifestyles and most importantly different budgets. Is the extra cost for active noise cancellation worth it? Yes for some people, no for others. Is the extra cost for high-end models worth it? Yes for some people, no for others.
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