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Headphones may be the original wearables, but they’ve come a long way since their early days as personal sound-transmitting devices, adding noise-canceling and smart digital features to their audio arsenal. by Jordan Yerman illustration Ricardo Polo
Many airlines offer high-end headphones to their premium passengers, but Panasonic and Soundchip have gone bigger with Panasonic HD-AUDIO, an entirely digital, integrated experience. Paul Margis, president and CEO of Panasonic Avionics, said in a press release, “Our X Series systems are renowned for their unmatched picture quality and today we are bringing that same level of innovation to sound by reinventing the audio experience.” It seems like magic, but it’s straight-up science. Noise-canceling headphones attack low-frequency ambient noise with a sort of anti-noise: Imagine two sound waves with opposite peaks and valleys that negate each other. Combined, they present a much flatter line, and that flatter line means less ambient noise bombarding your eardrums. Meanwhile, the higher-frequency sounds are generally blocked out physically by DJ-style ear cans. Instead of turning the movie’s volume up, you’re turning the outside world’s volume down. For the listener, this means less aircraft hum and more of that
Nicholas Sparks flick you’ll later swear you didn’t watch. A key feature of HD-AUDIO is OpenEar, which lets you revert to the world beyond the screen in front of you without messing around with your headphones. Soundchip CEO Mark Donaldson says, “When Open-Ear is enabled, the Panasonic HD-AUDIO system also pauses the media being played, allowing you to engage and then disengage in conversation with others without having to scramble in finding the remote control and removing the headset.” You’ll have more control over what you hear and how you hear it than ever before. Donaldson calls it “smart wearable sound,” and Soundchip’s mission is to tear through the industry’s in-flight entertainment and communications (IFEC)
Inside noise-canceling headphones
Sound waves created by headphone speaker
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december 2014 - january 2015
Noise created by external source
= Silence
systems like a rampant Gordon Ramsay, leaving digital modernity in its wake. Speaking with 15 years’ IFEC experience, Donaldson says, “Bose produces great noise-canceling headphones. We, on the other hand, are focused on delivering something completely different: Something very special, which delivers fantastic, advanced noise-canceling in concert with high-definition digital audio and a suite of amazing new features made possible only through the tight coupling of headset to IFEC system.” Panasonic’s HD-AUDIO system can be updated without gutting the entire cabin. However, the advantage of all-digital in the IFEC environment that you’ll notice most is the lack of interference from the surrounding circus of signals, sounds and vibrations – including the chatterbox sitting next to you. Panasonic HD-AUDIO will pop up in premium cabins at first, but Donaldson has a message of hope for those stuck in coach: “We have an exciting proposal for economy, so stay tuned!” The future is clearly – and smoothly – digital. And noise cancelation? It was basically invented for air travel.
Airline Passenger Experience Association