I am going to question the effectiveness of noise canceling headphones.

J

Jack Arnott

Senior
Jan 29, 2011
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I know that they do reduce the level of the surrounding noise.
But, is there always pressure there, so the ears are just as "used", or "worked", basically not protected.

1) when you put them on your ears want to pop. There is always that pressure feeling.
2) been wearing them a lot recently. (Air travel, and lots of loud TV.) And my ears are fatigued on a daily basis.

Discuss.

Regards, Jack
 
Constant pressure is better than massive amounts of change in pressure. Yes damage can come from too much pressure but the more fluctuation in pressure the harder it is on your hearing.

Sent from my ADR6300
 
Re: I am going to question the effectiveness of noise canceling headphones.

Jordan Lahr said:
Constant pressure is better than massive amounts of change in pressure. Yes damage can come from too much pressure but the more fluctuation in pressure the harder it is on your hearing.

Sent from my ADR6300
Click to expand...

Hello,

The statement is not necessarily true. There are other factors .... Of course, constant pressure and intense/ instantaneous pressure increases are two different things. To what degree (measurements) of pressures are the key issues. There have been numerous studies by the American Military, the Soviet Military and during WW2 by the Germans.

If one were to observe the Osha's workplace noise standards, one could get a brief glimpse at the possible damages caused by intensity, and intensity versus duration.

Hammer
 
Re: I am going to question the effectiveness of noise canceling headphones.

Jack Arnott said:
I know that they do reduce the level of the surrounding noise.
But, is there always pressure there, so the ears are just as "used", or "worked", basically not protected.

1) when you put them on your ears want to pop. There is always that pressure feeling.
2) been wearing them a lot recently. (Air travel, and lots of loud TV.) And my ears are fatigued on a daily basis.

Discuss.

Regards, Jack
Click to expand...

With noise cancelling headphones, the sound isn't getting to your ears. The speakers in them send out a signal 180 degrees out of phase with the noise coming in, so as a result of the destructive interference, the sound you would normally be hearing gets cancelled out before it hits your ears.
 
Re: I am going to question the effectiveness of noise canceling headphones.

I'm not sure, but there may be something else going on. Do all closed back cans, or hearing protectors stress your ears? There may be Eustachian tube issues (tube to equalize air pressure between inner ear and real world.)

A very tight fit closed back can, put on at sea level before take off, could play games with pressurizing the outer ear, as cabin pressure is reduced at altitude. IIRC the Eustachian tube connects to atmosphere via the nose. it seems this could clear itself automatically with a leaky seal on the cans.

Ears could pop, if you take off the cans after up at altitude, and not outer ear is not equalized for pressure due to leaks.

While fatigue is another story... good noise canceling should not fatigue more than usual cans. By definition they need to match exterior noise with unity gain, to cancel.

JR
 
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