What’s The Difference Between ANC Headphones And Noise Canceling Headphones?

So with these functional differences, you may wonder which one is better suited to actually cancel out noise. Both ANC and PNC have pros and cons depending on your situation. If you’re looking for the best noise cancellation with an absolutely pure final output into your ear, it could be worth your while (and your cash) to get custom-fitted PNC headphones. A fine pair of custom-fitted PNC headphones could potentially cancel noise out just as well as ANC headphones, without considering your battery level before each use.

Standard PNC headphones may be your better choice if you’re looking for pure, unadulterated sound transmission. Since ANC headphones mitigate sound tones by emitting opposite sound tones, the audio that actually hits your ear won’t be the same as it would if you were using PNC headphones. At the same time, the tones that ANC headphones mitigate would otherwise reach your ears and muddle the audio you’re attempting to listen to anyway.

At the same time, with ANC headphones there is an option to turn ANC off, leaving you with the passive noise cancellation that’s present whether or not ANC is active. One major selling point with ANC headphones is the fact that, even when the tech isn’t turned on, they still provide some level of noise cancellation because of the way they either fit on or in your ears.