Canceled

Fortunately, the headsets we use to communicate over the radio and with others on board the airplane also help quiet the din of a noisy engine (or two).

There are two basic types of aviation headsets: passive noise reduction and active noise reduction (ANR), commonly called noise-canceling. Passive headsets block ambient noise using the ear cup as a physical barrier, whereas ANR headsets use microphones, processors, and speakers to counter that noise electronically. Superior noise reduction can preserve hearing, reduce flying fatigue, and increase comfort, but the advantages come at a price: Passive headsets can be found for a couple hundred dollars, but ANR headsets often run more than $1,000. For many pilots, it’s worth the investment.

ANR headsets “cancel out” noise with sound that is effectively its opposite. A microphone in the ear cup senses the noise around you, electronics in the headset process the noise, and a speaker delivers a sound that is the same frequency but opposite amplitude.

Remember that sound travels in waves that vibrate the eardrum and are processed by the brain. The opposite-phase sound produced by ANR anti-noise speakers has peaks where the other sound has troughs, dampening its energy and significantly reducing the sound that reaches your ear. That helps guard against hearing loss from long periods of flying, makes radio transmissions easier to hear, and results in less clamping than passive headsets because the headset relies less on the physical barrier and seal of the ear cups.

ANR technology is most effective with lower frequency, continuous sounds such as engine noise, which makes these headsets especially suited to aviation. The sound is reduced, but not completely eliminated, so pilots should still notice changes to engine rpm or other sounds that may indicate a developing problem.

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