Noise-cancelling headphones are headphones that suppress unwanted ambient sounds using active noise control (ANC).
Active noise cancellation makes it possible to listen to audio content without raising the volume excessively. In an aviation environment, noise-cancelling headphones increase the signal-to-noise ratio significantly more than passive noise attenuating headphones or no headphones, making hearing important information such as safety announcements easier.[1] Noise-cancelling headphones can improve listening enough to completely offset the effect of a distracting concurrent activity.[2]
- ^ Molesworth, Brett; Burgess, Marion (2013). "Improving intelligibility at a safety critical point". Safety Science. 51. Elsevier: 11–16. doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2012.06.006.
- ^ Molesworth, Brett; Burgess, Marion; Kwon, Daniel (2013). "The use of noise-cancelling headphones to improve concurrent task performance in a noisy environment". Applied Acoustics. 74. Elsevier: 110–15. doi:10.1016/j.apacoust.2012.06.015.. Recognition and recall of audio information improved when 65 dB(A) background noise was blocked by noise-cancelling headphones, and performance was "no different" when listening with the headphones while at the same time working a mathematical puzzle, than while trying to listen to the same audio with neither puzzle nor headphones.