Music and noise- both are two different forms of sounds. One is soothing and entertaining, but the other one is equally irritating, right?
I know you agreed with us at that point. And just like any music enthusiast, you don’t like it when some highway noises or conversations from the crowd get mixed up with the music in your headphone.
And that’s the reason why noise-isolating headphones are there. As the word ‘isolation’ means, these headphones can really do the wonder of preventing ambient noise from entering into your ears when you’re deep into some music.
But have you ever wondered about how do noise isolating headphones work?
We bet you did. And that’s the curiosity that brought up you into this post.
Without further delay, let’s find the facts out. Let’s start with some basics-
Table of Contents
Noise Cancellation vs Noise Isolation
Before explaining the process of how noise isolating headphones work, let’s discuss on this debate.
As you know, both noise canceling and noise isolating headphones are quite trendy in the market. But what are the differences? Or are the difference actually?
We would like you to know about it.
What is Noise Cancellation?
It’s an electronic process which was originally developed to improve noisy radio communication. Aircraft pilots and co-pilots were the primary target users of this technology.
In this process, there is a built-in microphone in the earcups of the headphone, where it samples the ambient noise near the ear. Eventually, that noise is fed into an electric circuit, and the opposite noise is created electrically.
As a combination of the opposite noises, the ambient noise actually gets diminished and what you will hear is only the original sound.
What is Noise Isolation?
Noise isolation or sound isolation is the process of passively separating your ears from the ambient noise. There are some soft and pliable sleeves which get fitted into your earphone.
What this fitting does is- it isolates you from the external noises, when you’re listening to some sort of music or conversation.
These sleeves that are used in this technology, are of many types. There are different sizes, styles isolation capacities and so on.
Noise Isolation Technology: Hoes Does It Work?
This is the part of the content that you might be actually looking for. And the concerned topic is- how in the earth the noise isolation technology works in the headphones?
Well, we will tell you.
First thing first, it’s not an electric process and this isolation process does not require any batteries. Through equipment like earcups, paddings, etc, there is a barrier created which separates the ambient noise from entering into your ear. This barrier also prevents the music waves to go outside.
Now, this physical process of separating the music/audio from the ambient noise is not 100% efficient. All it can do is, it can deduce 3040 dB of noise from what comes onto the way of it.
In case you’re listening to music, the external conversations between people, the traffic noise, the wind noise, etc. will be significantly dropped down. So, the music will be more hearable and more soothing. Even, if you play the music into a lower volume, you can still get the details of the notes, sounds, and vocals.
Types of Noise Isolating Headphones
There are mostly two kinds of noise isolating headphones that you can see in the market-
- In-ear noise isolating headphones.
- Over the ear noise isolating headphones.
If you’ve been up to listening to music, you already know the structural difference between in ear and over the ear headphones. All that matters here is, whether the headphone build is inserted into your ear, or it’s coming all over the head to connect two ear cups of it.
In a general sense, noise isolation takes place in a better way if it’s within over the ear headphones. Although, there are some pretty smart and efficient in-ear models as well.
How Many Reductions It Can Do?
This is quite an important question, actually. Because the ambient noise has no higher or lower limit. So, it’s very important to know how much of this noise can be separated by one such headphone.
Well, the straightforward answer is, a noise isolation headphone can isolate you from any noise level lower than 30dB.
To let you understand this capacity in a practical sense, just keep in mind that a regular person-to-person conversation sounds around 60 dB. If you go down into whispering, it sounds around 15-20 dB.
That means that when you’re out with a noise isolation headphone on, you would hear the external noises in a partial amount.
That being said, there is also a role of how loud your music is playing. The louder the music is, the more cancellation of noise will take place. That doesn’t mean that the isolation capability of the headphone will increase. That only means that you’ll be detached to those extra noises to a greater extent.
Some Significant Advantages of Noise Isolating Headphones
Behind their vast popularity, noise-isolating headphones have some really good perks. At this section, we are going to note down some of the major advantages of noise isolating headphones over ordinary ones-
You can lower down the music
First of all, listening to music at a high volume is risky for the ears. But when you’re at a busy outdoor, you have to raise the volume of the music to get rid of the external noise and listen to the music. With a noise isolating headline, you don’t have to do that anymore. With one good quality noise isolating headphone, you can enjoy music at a lower volume even outdoor.
No Battery Power Required
As you know, noise cancellation is an electric process where opposite signals or ambient noise is generated and canceled before entering into the user’s ear.
And this process requires battery power to take place.
On the other hand, noise isolation is a physical process where some sort of barrier is being created in between your ears and the source of ambient noise. So, it doesn’t require any electric power and still reduces noises for a better audio experience with your headphone.
No Distortion or Overpowering
If you have been really up to classical music, you might notice that the real beauty of it has lied inside its low notes. But a noise outdoor can really hold you back from dipping deep into it. Where a noise isolating headphone can really take you through every high and low of the music.
It Makes Music Richer and More Enjoyable
No matter it’s classic instrumental or rock music, a noise-canceling headphone can really get you the most out of any music. There can be complete emotions with the music, you can feel every bit of it.
Should You Prefer A Noise Isolating Headphone over Noise Cancelling One?
This question is pretty much hard to answer. There are several facts that come into the discussion.
First of all, there are both pros and cons in both noise canceling and noise isolating headphones.
Noise canceling headphones might deduce the external noises out there, but they are not likely to filter noises like conversations, etc. All it does is canceling sounds that are mostly like background noises.
On the other hand, noise isolation headphones provide partial isolation from every noise out there apart from the music. But the level of accuracy is not as much as the canceling ones.
Also, the price point plays a big role here. You have to pay more bucks after noise canceling models comparing the noise isolating ones. As noise cancellation is electronic technology, it costs more to manufacture.
Some Popular Models of Noise Isolation Headphones
So far, we’ve tried our best to let you know how do noise isolating headphones work and how it differs from noise canceling headphones. Now, let’s finish up the discussion with a list of recommended noise isolation headphones in the market.
As you know, there are two major kinds of noise isolation headphones- in-ear headphones, and over-the-ear headphones. Apart from these two, there is another type, which is mostly a sibling of in-ear headphones. And it’s called capsule headphones.
However, we’ve got a recommended product list for all three of them. Here is the list-
Over the ear Noise Isolating Headphones
- Beyerdynamic DT 770M 80ohm
- Sennheiser HD25
- Audio-TechnicaATH-M50X
- Sennheiser HD 280 PRO
- Bose QC35 II (recommended)
- Sony WH1000XM3 (recommended)
In-ear Noise Isolation Headphones
- ISOtunes PRO
- KZ AS-10
Capsule Noise Isolating Earbuds
- Etymotic Research HF5
- Bose QuietControl 30
- Sony WI-1000X
Bottom Line
Hope you found the exact information you’ve expected to. And we’ve tried to add some cherry on the top with some extended points of discussions as well.
In case you’re wondering about what are the best noise-isolating headphones on the market, we’ve also got a complete roundup post in this concern.
