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Comment on What is the absolute max level of ear protection you can get?

Fyde@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

I did some research about this for myself, the best I could find is an advertised -45dB (Remote Audio HN-7506), which makes me very skeptical, I couldn’t find any third party measurements but multiple reviews I read mention that they have about the same isolation as Etymotic earphones.

Active noise canceling is good but only for lower frequencies, it does almost nothing to mid and high frequencies, which is not necessarily a bad thing since mid and higher frequencies are easier to attenuate passively.

The best noise canceling headphones have an average noise cancellation of -27dB (-20dB in the bass frequencies), but the best noise cancellation that I could find (other than the HN-7506 that I don’t really trust) is from Etymotic earphones, they are completely passive and have an average attenuation of -32dB with -21dB reduction in the bass frequencies which is really impressive, they work so well because they are inserted much deeper in the ear which can be a bit uncomfortable. I read a lot of experiences from musicians and apparently if you use foam tips instead of the stock ones you can get even better isolation and slightly better comfort.

Another option is custom molded IEMs or earplugs, I couldn’t find measurements for those but based on comments from people that have them they seem to have slightly less isolation that Etymotic earphones but they’re are obviously infinitely more comfortable since they’re custom molded to your ears (there are also soft wraps that increase isolation but I don’t know how effective they are).

So if you want the best noise cancellation I recommend the Etymotic ER4XR or the Etymotic ER2XR (afaik most Etymotic earphones have the same body (so same isolation), choose them based on the sound signature you prefer), if you want good balance between noise cancellation and comfort get custom molded earplugs or IEMs.

My sources:

Headphones with best ANC

Etymotic

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WhoPutDisHere@lemmynsfw.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
ANC isn’t protective in any way. If anything it’s probably just as damaging. It’s taking the outside signal and flipping it 180 (out of phase) and putting that in your ear to eliminate it.

Remote Audio isn’t fucking around. Those cans squeeze the shit out of your head to get that -45db, but they work very well.

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- HelixDab2@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  
  ANC isn’t protective in any way. If anything it’s probably just as damaging.
  
  That’s just not true.
  
  Your ear largely hears things through changes in air pressure. Projecting the same frequency and amplitude at the opposite phase prevents the change in air pressure in the first place. It’s literally cancelling the sound.
  
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  - WhoPutDisHere@lemmynsfw.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    If you had loudspeakers on the outside of your head, and passive attenuation in your ears, yes that would reduce pressure for you, but everyone else would have experience an increase. But adding more pressure in the cavity of your ear to reduce pressure makes very little sense.
    
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    laughterlaughter@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    You’re so wrong about this. ANC pretty much eliminates pressure inside the ear canal. That’s how ANC works. No pressure waves, no sound, no damage.
    
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    HelixDab2@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    You’re not adding more pressure anywhere; you’re cancelling that pressure out.
    
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    BearOfaTime@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Except that’s exactly how nose canceling ear phones work. It’s not like that have an external speaker projecting sound 🤦🏼‍♂️
    
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- Drummyralf@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I know nothing about this subject, but my instinct would tell me that anc would actually be protective. If you phase out sound, it seizes to exist, right? That is the whole point of it?
  
  Again, pure instincts, don’t know shit myself.
  
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  - BearOfaTime@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    *ceases, FYI (not being snarky, maybe autoincorrect got you on voice to text)
    
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    Drummyralf@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Thanks for the heads up. Non-native, always willing to learn.
    
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- englislanguage@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  This is partially correct, partially wrong.
  
  As many have commented, flipping a signal by 180° cancels it out. However, this is only true for static noise though. Transient noise cannot be canceled out completely, because you would need to see into the future to know which signals to play to cancel out the noise.
  
  The ANC headphones I own mainly cancel noise through passive shielding of the ears. The “active” noise canceling feature is not contributing a lot.
  
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BearOfaTime@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

Active noise canceling is good but only for lower frequencies,

Can you define lower here?

In my experience, they’re most effective for higher frequencies (voices and higher), as lower frequencies are hard to attentuate (why we can hear/feel subwoofers from cars a fair distance away).

For example, a couple pairs I have are ineffective against the bass from the gym idiots running the aerobics room (wtf does it have to be loud outside the room - those women must be getting hearing damage), but it’s great for all the people talking, and some of the tvs.

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- Fyde@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I don’t know the exact frequencies but it’s something I read and noticed myself, and wikipedia seems to agree.
  
  Active noise cancelling is best suited for low frequencies. For higher frequencies, the spacing requirements for free space and zone of silence techniques become prohibitive.
  
  (Don’t know what that means.)
  
  Personally I used the Sony XM3 a lot, on planes etc. which have great ANC, and I also used the Moondrop Blessing 3 which are just normal IEMs with no ANC and I only notice a difference in the low frequencies, you can also see that in the rtings measurements (XM3, Blessing 3), isolation in mids and treble is about the same, they seem to consider anything under around 250Hz as bass.
  
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  - BearOfaTime@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Yea, that “low frequencies” is rather ambiguous.
    
    I could see over-the-ear headphones being better at “lower” frequencies than in-ear, both from material absorption and speaker size. Every ANC pair I’ve had, of any style, was pretty good at nearly eliminating the higher frequency noise while flying (engines, airflow noise, etc), and almost eliminated voices.
    
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