Keeping Out the Noise, Letting In the Sound
I have lived in quite a few apartments and stayed in countless hotel rooms where traffic noise was waking me up several times a night. Over time, I have developed a good understanding of what works to block out enough noise to help me fall and stay asleep. Whether you have traffic noise keeping you …
Runners and cyclists use bone conduction headphones because they want to keep their ears open and maintain awareness of what is going on around them. Used this way, bone conduction headphones are not suitable for very loud environments because the louder the environmental noise, the more it drowns out the headphones. But what if you …
This article looks at when and how active noise cancelling headphones (=headphones that use electronics to reduce noise) can help to protect your hearing. Used correctly, good noise cancelling headphones have the potential to protect hearing in many situations, but they are not safety earmuffs. And, they can also damage your hearing if you play …
Read moreDo Noise Cancelling Headphones Protect Your Hearing?
Yes, many active noise cancelling headphones (ANC headphones) work without music, and in fact, there are some unique benefits of using them without music. I’ll get to these benefits in a minute. For most ANC headphones to cancel noise, you just need to turn them on. This engages the active noise cancelling electronics: the headphones …
To our neighbor the music might sound perfectly balanced, but for us “it’s all about the bass.” Or, suppose the bass is coming from a party across the street or a dance club. You live pretty far away, but still, the rhythm of the drums coming through your windows and door is inviting you to …
I purchased all Bluetooth earmuffs reviewed here at standard retailers and put them through some good testing. This post reports on my findings and personal favorites. You probably already have your use case, but if not here is why you would want a pair: They can spice up your work day and make you more …
Update [March 2025]: 3M has released a new version of these earmuffs. I have published a comprehensive review of the new Worktunes Connect v2 based on hands-on testing. The review also includes practical comparisons with this original model. Combining hearing protection earmuffs and Bluetooth headphones for listening to music and making phone calls is what …
Back sleepers have it easy. They can sleep with almost any type of headphones or earbuds as long as they are comfortable. However, if you are side sleeper, you may have found it almost impossible to sleep with your favorite over-ear headphones and uncomfortable to sleep with most earbuds and in-ear headphones. Perhaps you have …
Your partner or roommate is snoring like a chain saw, and nothing seems to work. You have tried earplugs but they either don’t block enough of the snores or you just can’t tolerate them. Now you are wondering, “Do these expensive noise-cancelling headphones block out snoring?” I have asked myself the same question. And I …
Foam earplugs are very effective at reducing noise across the whole frequency range. Unfortunately, not everyone can tolerate foreign objects in their ear canal. Other people like me, sometimes need or want to give their ears a break from earplugs without completely giving up on noise reduction when going to bed. Others yet may be …