ENC or ANC |  What is the best noise canceling technology?

ENC or ANC | What is the best noise canceling technology?


Ambient Noise Cancellation and Active Noise Cancellation may have similar names, but the technologies are very different; find out which one is best suited to your use

When looking for new headphones, you’re likely to come across two noise-canceling terms: ENC (Ambient Noise Cancellation) and ANC (Active Noise Cancellation). Both technologies offer advantages and disadvantages, but each has specific uses for very different cases. In this article we explore the particularities of each to help you understand which one best suits you based on your needs.



What is ENC (Environmental Noise Cancellation)?

ENC, or ambient noise cancellation, is a technology Noise reduction applied to the microphone during calls to focus on the speaker’s voice. It uses algorithms to identify noises and sounds around the user, from objects used in everyday life to external forces such as wind, barking and voices, or noises from planes, helicopters, cars, hammers and more.

Since it is a technology that does not require specific equipment and can be implemented via SoftwareENC is more popular and convenient than ANC, which has very different functionality.




Active noise cancellation uses internal and external microphones to prevent you from hearing ambient noise (Image: Playback/Sony)

What is ANC (active noise cancellation)?

Instead of focusing on the user’s voice, active noise cancellation aims to focus on sound quality by using microphones to eliminate unwanted external noise.

He needs hardware more specialized with outward-facing microphones that pick up ambient noise and inward-facing microphones that measure what you’re hearing. This creates an inverted sound wave of the same amplitude to isolate sound coming from outside such as voices, engines, sirens and more.

In this way, active noise cancellation results in greater comfort as it allows the user to listen to music at a lower volume thanks to the reduction of ambient noise, which ultimately also helps to preserve hearing health.

ENC or ANC: Which is the best option?

The choice between ENC and ANC depends on your needs, but both features are excellent for ensuring better daily use and can be used at the same time.

Since ambient noise cancellation (ENC) is aimed at voice isolation, differential headphones will result in clearer calls so people on the other end can hear you more clearly.



Both technologies are present in different headphones of different price ranges (Image: Playback/Beats)

Active noise cancellation (ANC) ensures greater comfort and silence when used in noisy environments, reducing external noise so you can listen to your music without compromising your hearing.

In other words, you can use both during a call, with ANC taking care of ensuring that you correctly hear what the other person is saying, while ENC will be responsible for allowing the other person to hear you clearly , for example.

It’s worth mentioning that ANC can work differently depending on the headset. In-ear models with silicone tips are efficient, but the headphones offer even more isolation thanks to the acoustic shells.

Therefore, we recommend that you consult our buying guide to find out what are the best noise canceling headphones in 2024.

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Source: Terra

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