Being able to work in quiet while others are yammering around you is priceless.
And they make headphones for that.
But if you’re out walking around in the city you absolutely want to be aware of whats around you, and it’s absolutely not a niche usage. That’s why the airpods, and lots of other headphone offer both. Transparency for when you want to be aware, noise cancelation for when you don’t.
solrize@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Hmm ok, I do see some that no longer advertise outside sound as a feature, and I haven’t tried the latest ones, but I’ve never tried any so far that work as well as acoustic hearing protectors from the hardware store. If you have a model to recommend I might check it out.
fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Full blown hearing protection and headphones with ANC are completely different beasts. Unless that hearing pro also has Active Noise Cancelation.
Hearing protection reduces the audio level by X decibels. They’re great for if you’re at a job sight with a lot of loud shit, or the shooting range where there’s extremely loud things that will destroy you hearing.
ANC tries to actively cancel it out so if done right you don’t hear anything at all. Airpods pro with well fitting ear tips work extremely well for blocking out office noises. They’re not so great for sudden super loud noises. My friend swears by the comply foam tips. Just know you’ll need to replace them often because the foam absorbs ear wax like crazy.
solrize@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I haven’t experienced any ANC headphones that block noise as well as hearing protectors do, but I haven’t tried the newest ones, and it’s hard to test them in a relatively quiet environment (office level rather than retail store level). I wonder if it’s possible to try Airpods Pro. Do you have suggestions of over the ear ANC headphones that block out office noise? I prefer those to sticking things in my ear. It is possible that this stuff has gotten better since last time I looked into it.
Reducing the audio by X decibels is exactly what I want, if I can get X=100. The best I’ve been able to find is around X=30. That helps but if there are ANC devices with higher X, then I’d like to try them. Thanks.