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Mobile device chipmaker Qualcomm has announced a new audio technology that could make a wide range of headphones outperform Apple’s AirPods Pro, called Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation.
By now, many readers will be familiar with Active Noise Cancellation, or ANC. The technology uses microphones to understand ambient sounds around you, such as the roar of the train car or the hum of the airplane cabin, and then produces the opposite sound to cancel it out, creating almost silence.
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ANC relies on a tight seal around the earbuds in the ear canal, which often means trying different sizes of rubber ear tips until you find the one that fits you best and creates the most tight seal. This can cause discomfort after prolonged use.
Apple advanced this technology with its AirPods Pro in late 2019, thanks to an ANC system that adjusts 200 times per second to create a better listening experience. But the AirPods Pro is still dependent on you choosing the correct rubber tip size and creating an airtight seal.
Now, Qualcomm thinks it has created a solution. Called Adaptive ANC, the system reduces the need for a tight seal by constantly adjusting the noise and audio cancellation performance based on the tightness of the fit and the level of outside noise that is filtered.
The technology will hit many headphones in the coming months. Qualcomm
Qualcomm says the technology means users don’t need to push or twist the earbuds into place, which helps increase comfort. The company also says its technology ensures consistent performance, even if the user is running or shaking their head in a way that could dislodge other headphones and impact their ANC capabilities.
The company says its new technology works with all styles of headphones, including those with snug rubber ear cups, but also those that don’t create a tight seal. To that end, Qualcomm wants to “improve user comfort by reducing the reliance on forming an airtight seal when placing headphones in the ear.” Adaptive ANC is said to work for all types of audio, from music to phone calls, and adjusts accordingly.
Qualcomm is only announcing the technology for now, rather than revealing any hardware. However, we expect to see headphones using Adaptive ANC in the near future from Qualcomm’s existing audio partners, which include Skullcandy, Sennheiser, Jabra, Bang & Olufsen, Audio Technica, and others.
Now we will be interested to see what Apple has up its sleeve, especially as speculation grows around the company’s first on-ear headphones, expected before the end of 2020.
