eli5 how does noise canceling/transparent mode work on earbuds?
In: Technology
Sound is is when air vibrates. The speakers inside earbuds vibrate to move the air, to make sound.
You can still hear when wearing earbuds because the earbuds are moved back and forth by the air, because of sounds around you. Again air between the earbud and your eardrum moves back and forth because of the earbud: sound. Microphones on the earbuds pick up how the air moves back and forth around you, and make the speaker move in the opposite direction. If the movement in the opposite direction is just right, the air in your ears doesn’t move, and you don’t hear anything.
To make the earbuds “transparent” we can make it move the speaker in the *same* direction, so that your eardrum is pushed and pulled *harder* by sounds around you, because the earbud is “helping”.
TL;DR: Air pull ear one way, headphone push other way, like tug of war perfectly matched. No movement, no sound.
Latest Answers