Noise Isolation .vs. Cancellation .vs. Reduction – protect your ears and work in peace & quiet
Most of the time, Developers’ day-to-day jobs can be a bit stressful. With tight deadlines, high expectations, and often unwieldy applications/codebases to manage, you can see how there really is a need to be able to concentrate in order to succeed in this role. Of course, this applies to non-technical roles as well, but in particular you want to maximize the productivity of those building your company’s mission critical applications, products and services. That’s of course assuming whatever industry you’re in, those have already been in some way affected by the pervasiveness of the internet, always-on mobile devices and constantly adapting technology in all its various forms. For instance, the frequent headlines about how modern cars now contain more lines of code than airplanes (not just the passenger/cargo planes, even when compared to military fighter jets).
Noise Isolation
Noise Isolation means that the headphones, earphones or similar device is ergonomically designed to block out as much noise as possible from entering the ear canal through careful selection of optimum construction materials and muffling/insulation layers. It does not do much to block low-level surrounding noise and does not make use of any power or electronics to do “Active” blocking of noise. This “Passive Noise minimization” approach typically does not offer much if any protection to your ears against loud noises, but can definitely help your podcasts, audiobooks, music, radio, E-Learning courses, etc take over from the ambient and background noises in your office or around your home.
Ideal usage: task concentration, or, distraction-free multi-tasking
Noise Cancellation
Also known as Active Noise Control (ANC), or active noise reduction, is a method for reducing unwanted sound by the addition of a second sound specifically designed to cancel the first.
Idea usage: …
Noise Reduction
NRR rating for protecting your ears from sudden loud noises.
Idea usage: …
Conclusion
Check out the video below for a nice overview of the difference certain Noise Cancelling technologies make to the sound you hear with and without music: