Noise-Cancelling Headphones Test Sequence

A test sequence that measures passive, active and total noise cancellation.

Introduction

When measuring noise cancelling headphones there are three important pieces of data to collect. Passive Attenuation is the amount of noise that is reduced at the ear simply by the headphones being worn. Active Attenuation is the amount of noise that is further reduced by turning on the device’s active cancellation circuits. Lastly, Total Attenuation is the combined reduction in noise from passive and active sources and is what the end user of the product will experience.

To calculate these metrics this sequence performs three separate measurements using a Head and Torso Simulator and a small speaker which serves as a noise source. The alternative to using the small speaker would be to use a diffuse background noise environment with multiple speakers playing uncorrelated noise. This is a far more complicated arrangement and would require additional steps in the sequence.

The sequence begins with an option to load example data from disk. If the user selects ‘No’ a message will appear instructing the user to leave the HATS ears open with no headphones in place. A 10 second pink noise signal is played through the loudspeaker, and the signal at the HATS ear is analyzed with an RTA analysis step. This 1/3^rd octave spectrum is called the un-occluded ear measurement. Next the user is prompted to place the headphones on the HATS but leaves the noise cancellation turned off. The pink noise signal is once again played, and the RTA spectrum is called the Occluded Ear measurement. Finally, the user is instructed to turn on the headphones noise cancellation, and a third round of the pink noise is played. This final RTA spectrum is called Noise Cancellation Engaged.

These three measurements comprise the raw data in dBSPL versus frequency. Since the speaker has not been calibrated, these spectra will include the response of the speaker. This is not a problem, as the attenuation parameters are all relative calculation based on the three measurements. Passive Attenuation is the difference between the occluded and un-occluded measurements; Active Attenuation is the difference between the Occluded ear and noise cancellation engaged measurements. Total Attenuation is the difference between the Un-occluded ear measurement and the noise cancellation engaged measurement.

Two graphs are displayed at the end of the sequence showing both the three original measurements and the three calculations derived from the measurements. A table also displays the average of the Passive and the Active Attenuation curves.

Overview of measuring Headphone Active Noise Cancellation.

Required Software

• SoundCheck 18
• p/n 2017 – Stimulus editor
• p/n 2005 – RTA
• p/n 2004 – Post Processing

Required Hardware

• HATS (B&K 4128 or equivalent)
• AmpConnect p/n 4042 or AudioConnect(4050)
• SCAmp(4060) or equivalent power amplifier
• Small full range loudspeaker

Setup Diagram

Hardware Setup and Calibration

1. Calibrate the amplifier as instructed in the SoundCheck manual.
2. Calibrate the HATS ear as instructed in the SoundCheck manual.
3. Connect output 1 of your audio interface to the input of the amplifier.
4. Connect the output of the amplifier to your loudspeaker.
5. Position your HATS ear about 1 foot away from the loudspeaker, and connect it to the microphone power supply input
6. Connect the output of the mic supply to the input 1 of your audio interface

Get Sequence

Download Sequence (zip file)
Download Sequence documentation (PDF)