Are Noise Canceling Headphones Needed To Play Games?

You have more than likely heard quite a bit with regards to noise cancellation headphones recently and how useful they are at eliminating surrounding noise.  However, have you heard of sound isolating headphones?  A recent study discovered that sound isolating headphones were actually more beneficial at reducing surrounding noise than noise canceling headphones.  Portable music players are commonly utilized in noisy environments such as on the bus, at the beach or at the fitness center so screening out the background noise can make your music listening experience a great deal better.  So, precisely how do the two distinct kinds of sound proof headphones operate and which kind would help you the most?

Noise canceling headphones also known as active noise reduction headphones use electronic circuitry to eliminate noise after it has entered the headphone.  There are actually tiny microphones inside each headphone cup that sample the noise field and generate a signal that is the opposite or inverse of the surrounding noise signal thus canceling it out. These types of headphones are commonly limited in the frequency range that they’re able to cancel out.  They tend to not cancel out high frequencies very effectively.  Noise canceling headphones must also have a source of power and generally utilize batteries which is why they are generally larger than in ear headphones.

Sound isolating earphones work on a much less complicated concept.  A foam, rubber, or plastic sleeve surrounding your phone lets it to fit inside of instead of outside your ear.  The foam or rubber results in a snug fit which helps prevent outside noise from entering the ear canal.  Sound isolating ear phones are passive and don’t need batteries or any specialized circuitry.

The investigation showed that sound isolating earphones have the ability to isolate nearly 44 dB while noise canceling headphones eliminated 26 dB.  It also showed that the sound isolating earphones were even more effective at eliminating high frequency noise.  The analysis concluded that one of the top sound isolating earphones blocked 16% more noise than the top noise canceling headphone.  That being said, if you use your music player in noisy locations then you might want to look into buying a pair of sound isolating earphones.  They can help make your music listening experience much quieter and far more satisfying.