| By :
Roger Brown
ANR, or Active Noise Reduction in aviation headsets, like Bose, Lightspeed, and Sennheiser, is the leading technology for reducing sound in an aviation environment, but how do they do what they do? This is how they work… There are 2 ways aviation headsets reduce sound: 1. Passively 2. Actively They reduce noise passively via the pressure they exert through the ear cup and the seal around your ears. The effectiveness of the headset at is of course highly dependent on the shape of your head and the shape and size of your ears which determines their fit. All headsets rely on this type of physical sound reduction. ANR headsets however, also go a step further and reduce sound actively. Better said, they have technology on board that actually cancels your perception of the ambient noises in the cockpit. The way they accomplish this is through 3 pieces of equipment: 1. A microphone that picks up the ambient sound 2. Electronic components that interpret and process the sounds 3. A speaker that adds countervailing, canceling sound into the ear cup The microphones first pick up the frequency and amplitude of the sound and then deliver it to the electronics, or computer. The electronics then process the sound and produce sound that dampens the noise. The speaker then broadcasts the cancelling sounds into the ear cup to effectively dampen the energy of the original sound and thereby cancel the perception of the ambient noise. It is important that the electronics process the sound properly and match the ambient noise in order to cancel it. If they misinterpret the incoming noise, they can send a signal that injects MORE noise into the ear cup - resulting in greater noise and no cancellation. The level of sophistication and accuracy of these 3 components determines how effective your ANR headset will be at cancelling noise in the flight environment. These acoustic components are attuned to the sounds typically produced in flight. Aviation headset manufacturers must design their products to accommodate a variety of physical characteristics - that is, the various shapes that our heads come in. There are design tradeoffs they make to accommodate the largest possible pilot audience based on these factors: 1. Clamping force - how the headset feels around your ears and on top of your head 2. ANR technology - the range and accuracy of sound the equipment will cancel It is a tradeoff that will impact their sales because those factors drive how they set their prices. Higher priced headsets tend to be very comfortable and do an excellent job of cancelling ambient noise. However, buying a headset is like buying a hat or a pair of shoes - what fits you probably won't fit me. In order to find the right ANR headset for you, it is wise to decide your price range, read the reviews, then go try several in flight conditions that you normally encounter.
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