MARCH 2022 T3 45Noise-cancelling earbuds
ith things getting back to
something approaching
normality and the good
weather hopefully on its
way, we’re all starting to do the
things we haven’t been doing for
such a long time. We’re pounding
pavements, going back to the gym,
commuting or exploring by bus, tube
or train and maybe even travelling by
aeroplane to faraway destinations.
And all of those things have a
soundtrack: traffic, people, engines
and other potential irritants. If you’d
rather listen to your podcast than the
person puffing away on the machine
next to you, or hear your favourite
music without a rumbling engine
accompanying it, active noise
cancelling earbuds can make your
world sound a lot less stressful.
Noise-cancelling earbuds are a
must-have unless you only listen to
music or podcasts at home, and even
then they’re worth having: thanks
to ours we haven’t heard a peep from
the kids in days. But noise-
cancelling headphones aren’t all
made equally. Some prioritise
isolation over sound quality; others
sound spectacular but don’t deliver
great battery life; and some are
designed to work not just with one of
your devices, but all of them: Apple’s
AirPods connect instantly and
switch seamlessly between Apple
devices, while Fast Pair on Android
offers single-tap connections.
Noise-cancelling earbuds have
come on leaps and bounds in the
last few years, and the intense
competition between manufacturers
mean prices are keener than ever: at
the time of writing you can get a pair
of Apple-made Beats Studio Buds for
£105 or a pair of Jabra Elite 75t
earbuds for under £70. That’s great
news for anyone on a budget: you
don’t need to wade into the murky
waters of no-name knock-offs to get
the features you need for the price
you want to pay. Even high-endheadphones are more affordable
than ever: Bose’s QuietComfort are
often discounted below their usual
£249 RRP, and Sony’s superb
WF-1000XM4 earbuds can often
be found for under £200.
There’s more to buying noise-
cancelling headphones than simply
picking the most expensive pair you
can afford, however. If you stick to
the well-known brands it’s pretty
much impossible to buy a bad pair,
but it’s important to know what
additional features are available and
which ones will have a positive effect
on your audio experience.
But first, let’s travel back in time.
Noise-cancelling headphones were
invented in the 1950s by Dr
Lawrence Jerome Fogel, who
designed systems to help pilots
communicate more easily above the
noise of their aircraft’s engines.
The headphones incorporated a
microphone to listen to the ambient
sound and a small amplifier to createW
Words: Carrie Marshall Photography: Phil BarkerWhether you’re all about that bass or prefer to play podcasts, the
latest noise-cancelling earbuds are ideal for every kind of audio
– and active noise cancelling is just one of their many talents
Noise-
cancelling
earbuds
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