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by shahar2k 2170 days ago
as someone who sleeps with bose qc35s on I have intermittently also used cheap construction hearing protection and found those to be just as effective (with the difference ben that the passive construction headphones do BETTER but the quality of the sound is less calm if that makes sense, the bose are also slightly more comfortable due to being smaller and having less pressure)

I'm assuming one of the biggest things limiting sound cancelling is processing speed? being able to react to changing waveforms as they arrive at the ears
2 comments
kranner 2169 days ago
> I have intermittently also used cheap construction hearing protection and found those to be just as effective

I use both (Bose QC35ii and 3M Peltor X5A) and I find the Bose is better in two ways: ear comfort and it doesn't trigger my tinnitus. It seems the Bose lets in just enough ambient sound that my brain doesn't go into a tinnitus-crescendo-loop.

Also, of course, the construction headphones don't play bluetooth audio.

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nl 2169 days ago
Processing speed isn't a huge issue anymore.

Fitting both microphones and speakers in the device is the current challenge. The Bose device shows we are very close to solving that too, and the rapid shirking of wireless in-ear headphones is helping.

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jacquesm 2169 days ago
Maybe the speakers could serve as microphones at the same time that they are driven by measuring their back-emf?
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