Keeping Out the Noise, Letting In the Sound
Only a month ago, I wrote about the differences between the Flents Quiet Please and their successor, the Flents Protechs Quiet Please. I found changes in durability but they remained my favorite low frequency noise reduction earplugs for sleeping. Now we have the Soft formula, another change to the Quiet Please, and it’s a big …
Read moreFlents Protechs Quiet Please SOFT vs Predecessors: An Improvement?
AirPods Pro 2 have an upgraded, powerful active noise cancelling function that can make a gas-powered lawn mower, many power tools and other machinery and even music bass appear a lot quieter. Sometimes the results are stunning. Perhaps you are wondering: “Why not get rid of earplugs and ear defenders and use my AirPods Pro …
Read moreWhy I Wouldn’t Use AirPods Pro for Hearing Protection
Apothecary Products, the owner of the Flents brand, has changed the branding of several of their most popular earplugs, including the Quiet Please, one of my favorite earplugs for blocking low frequency noise. For decades known as Flents Quiet Please (or Quiet! Please) by earplug lovers[1], these cylindrical PVC earplugs are now called Flents Protechs …
Read moreAre Flents Protechs Quiet Please Worse Than the Old Flents?
Many readers have asked me for suggestions for true wireless earbuds and noise reduction earmuffs that work well together. Others already own a specific earbud model (e.g., Soundcore A40, AirPods Pro) and are wondering which earmuffs would be compatible, if any at all. In this post I’d like to point you in the right direction …
Read moreWhich True Wireless Earbuds Work Well Under Which Earmuffs?
Several readers have asked me how the Howard Leight Verishield VS130 earmuffs compare to their still widely available predecessor, the Leightning L3, so here is my review. I haven’t used the L3 much recently because the headband had deteriorated to the point where I was constantly getting black flakes in my hair. The L3 are …
Read moreHoneywell Howard Leight Verishield VS130 Review: Better Than the L3?
In recent months, I have focused on using noise cancelling earbuds as my go-to noise reduction tool during the day. My ears are already itching. Before that, I tested an almost excessive amount of inexpensive, reusable push-in earplugs, including many moderate-noise reduction earplugs (Hi-Fi earplugs) for dampening irritating noises while commuting, exercising, walking around town, …
Read moreEarplugs or ANC Earbuds for Noise Sensitivity? A Big City Report
To understand how well and consistently the Space A40 reduce noise and how useful they are in everyday life, I have made them my main earbuds for about a month in loud city environments. I have also conducted systematic noise reduction tests and compared them to the best of the best as well as to …
Read moreSoundcore Space A40 Practical Review and Noise Reduction Test
The objective of headphones with adaptive transparency mode / adaptive awareness mode is to allow you to hear your surroundings as you would without headphones while at the same time reducing loud noises. Wouldn’t that be great? Walking around town and being aware of traffic but not stressed out by excessive honking, sirens, loud motorbikes, …
Read moreHow Can Adaptive Transparency Help Noise Sensitive People?
More and more noise cancelling headphones and earbuds are being advertised as having adaptive noise cancellation. But is that just a sales pitch or are we getting some real benefits? I recently experienced several such adaptive noise cancelling headphones and earbuds. The results were sometimes stunningly good, but in other situations the same adaptive headphones …
Read moreAdaptive Noise Cancelling: Better Than Old-School, Fixed ANC?
This post reports on my experience with the active noise cancelling function (ANC) of the AirPods Pro 2 in daily life. We are also looking at measurements and tips/hacks on how you can improve the noise reduction performance. This article is from the perspective of a noise sensitive person. So far I have been using …
Read moreThe AirPods Pro 2 ANC, Strong when It Wants To: How to Improve It?