Few years ago, we could see the first sound cancelling headphones arriving on the market. Lots of individuals use them on airlines to cover the sound of the aircraft. Amar Bose, from Bose Technology was one of the first to develop sound cancelling headphones. He realised that the standard head phones were unpleasant and presented a number of problems. In the 80s, Bose Technology was the fisrt company to release this technology to the public. The question is, how do they work and what makes high quality sound cancelling headphones?

The technology is based on inverting the sound around you to cancel out what you are hearing outside the head phones. It does this by a microphone picking up the sounds around you. It does this by a microphone picking up the sounds around you. It inverts those sound waves so they are the opposite and when played back, the outside sound disappears. This technology works best for a constant sound such as an airplane engine or an air conditioning unit. They are less efficient on rapidly changing noises such as speech as the sound waves change quickly and the inverting technology, working in real time; struggle to keep up with the changes.

To allow this technology to work, a battery power source is needed. In several models the battery is housed with the cables which can make it fairly inconvenient. But most sound cancelling headphones today have both the technology and the battery located in the head phones themselves. This reduces the outside bulk and makes them much more convenient and portable. Some models allow the head phones to continue working as standard head phones without the sound cancellation technology when the battery runs out.

The 2 main versions of head phones are the over ear surround model and the on ear models. The around ear tend to eliminate more sound as they work on an ear muff principle, passively reducing sound plus the sound canceling technology. They are well cushioned but a number of individuals find them heavy and when worn for long periods of time to be hot and sweaty.

The on ear version of sound cancelling headphones rest on the outside of the ear. With more airflow the trade off is less noise being eliminated.  They are also less capable of filtering out loud noises.

On feature to watch out for when evaluating models is whether the cable can be separated. Some individuals like to use them without listening to music. They just want the constant noise around them to disappear.  Being able to detach means you won't be tied to a set of headphone cables.

If you use your sound cancelling headphones for travel or work, it is a good idea to keep them protected while not in use. The final accessory you should look at is the carry case that is provided. Soft cases are easier to fit into odd spots in your luggage or hand bag, but they do not provide the level of protection a hard case will.

Would you like to learn more? Visit http://topheadphones.info to get tips and videos on how to pick the right sound cancelling headphones as well as a collection of the top headphones at the best price.