This article asserts that the upcoming AirPods Adaptive Audio feature can be used to mitigate hearing loss. If you ignore the aspect of the assertion which is specific to Apple’s new feature, the premise is that noise cancelling headphones can mitigate hearing loss.
I don’t understand the physics involved but someone here might. Is there validity to this assertion? Active noise cancellation isn’t filtration - it’s the generation of some form of sound that cancels the ambient noise. Is the sound pressure lowered as a result? Or perhaps the author is just claiming that it’s the passive cancellation qualities that mitigate hearing loss.
Yes, of course, but only, if the embedded software of the respective earphones allows for transparently transmitting outside sounds at appropriately reduced SPLs.
For such a feature to work satisfactorily, it needs very good full range inbuilt microphones and clever coding, to not introduce off-putting artifacts into the experience.
Thanks @Marin_Weigel. I should have done a bit more reading rather than post. The information is readily available including in the Wikipedia article on Active noise control.
This image, from the article, illustrates what I was I was curious about. The “anti noise” generated by ANC is “destructive interference”. It literally reduces the pressure of the wave it is in opposition to.
