Test Bench 1.7: Changelog

What's Changed?

We've expanded Noise Isolation to include more of a variety of sounds and scenarios. We've kept our original measurements for bass, mid, and treble attenuation, but now you can see and hear the differences in performance when it comes to scenarios like the office, wind noise, or voices.

This page will give you an overview of what's been updated so that you can find the right headphones for your needs. The following test groups have changed:

Test Group	Description
Noise Isolation - Full Range (previously called Noise Isolation)	We've replaced our test signal with pink noise. In this test's graph, you can now see passes we've taken at three different dB settings, in addition to the average of the passes, to give you a better idea of how the headphones perform overall.
Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios (New!)	This test covers noisy environments you're likely to encounter in everyday life. You can see and hear how well the headphones tackle sounds like airplanes, offices, and busy streets. You'll also hear recordings of how the headphones block out each of these sounds.
Noise Isolation - Voice Handling (New!)	This test provides four audio recordings of different voices so you can hear how well the headphones isolate these sounds.
ANC Wind Handling (New!)	This test measures how well the headphones tackle wind at different directions. There's a wind handling recording so that you can hear the performance for yourself.

New Tests

Noise Isolation - Full Range (previously called Noise Isolation)

In the past, we tested noise isolation using a sine sweep. However, we've replaced this signal with pink noise. This change especially impacts headphones with an adaptive ANC system as they now have the time to adapt to our test signal to attenuate it, leading to more accurate results. We've also added the responses of three passes at different volumes (60 dB, 70 dB, and 80 dB) into our graphs so you have a better idea of how the headphones perform overall.

Here's a before and after comparison of our noise isolation graph using the Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless.

The Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless' noise isolation graph on TB 1.6.

The Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless noise isolation graph on TB 1.7.

If you're looking for headphones with high noise isolation in our full range test, you can look at this table. It has all of the headphones we've tested on this test bench, sorted by this test's performance.

Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios

While results generated from pink noise help us understand overall noise isolation performance, it's unlikely that you'll be hearing this noise day-to-day. A new addition to our methodology is Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios, which provides more true-to-life examples of noise to help you with your own uses. These audio recordings are created by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) as part of their organization's background noise database. We've selected three different scenarios, of which you can hear the reference samples below:

Airplane noise

Office noise

Street noise

The Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios graph of the AKG N700NC M2 Wireless.

These common scenarios can help you see how ANC works in more dynamic environments. If the headphones have ANC, we'll conduct this test with ANC enabled. If there's no ANC, then this test is done passively. You'll find below raw recordings from the AKG N700NC M2 Wireless. Remember that you may need to raise your device's volume for the most accurate playback since the recordings are quite quiet.

Airplane Noise Isolation Audio

Office Noise Isolation Audio

Street Noise Isolation Audio

If you're looking for a list of headphones that can tackle a specific scenario, you'll want to check out these tables for airplane, office, and street noise. We've already sorted them by noise attenuation, so you can quickly see which headphones give you the best performance per scenario.

Noise Isolation - Voice Handling

This test includes four different voice recordings (two male and two female) so that you can hear how well the headphones can isolate you from speech. These audio recordings are sourced from Peter Kabal's Telecommunications & Signal Processing Laboratory Speech Database at McGill University. You can hear the following reference samples below:

Male Voice 1 sample

Male Voice 2 sample

Female Voice 1 sample

Female Voice 2 sample

This test isn't scored but gives you a better idea of real-life performance. Below are four raw recordings from the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Truly Wireless. Like the previous test, remember that you may need to raise your device's volume for the most accurate playback since the recordings aren't very loud.

Male Voice 1 audio

Male Voice 2 audio

Female Voice 1 audio

Female Voice 2 audio

ANC Wind Handling

If a pair of headphones have ANC, we'll also see how they perform when it comes to handling wind noise. Unlike previous sounds, which are from an external source, wind noise comes from how wind interacts with the headphones as it passes over the ANC microphones. It's also dynamic, as the wind angle can impact wind noise volume, so we assess wind handling at three different angles. This test isn't scored either.

This test only applies to headphones with ANC. If headphones have an ANC mode that specifically tackles wind noise, we'll also test this mode as it could impact the overall ANC attenuation. Below is a raw recording from the Sony WF-1000XM5 Truly Wireless. They lack a wind reduction feature. You may need to raise your device's volume for the most accurate playback, as the recordings aren't very loud.

ANC Wind Noise audio

Let Us Know What You Think!

You play an important part in what we do! Please let us know if you have feedback (whether it's something you want us to investigate or add to our tests). All comments help us improve what we do!

81 Headphones Updated

We have retested popular models. The test results for the following models have been converted to the new testing methodology. However, the text might be inconsistent with the new results.