Qualcomm Launches Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation Tech For Next-Gen Wireless Earbuds
When one wants to block out the sounds of the world, active noise cancelling is the feature to look for. Now, Qualcomm is one-upping active noise cancelling with adaptive active noise cancellation. Their first product to support this adaptive ANC will be the Qualcomm QCC514x Bluetooth SoC.
According to Qualcomm, the new adaptive ANC (AANC for short?) aims “to deliver an improved user experience for earbuds with integrated ANC.” When Qualcomm polled customers, ANC was a highly requested feature among users. As such, Qualcomm stepped in to help deliver a consistent baseline for ANC so customers could have a solid experience.
As far as user experience goes, the goal is to make it “as seamless as possible from the moment a user takes the earbuds out of the box, with no need to conduct a fit test, self-calibration or to try out multiple sets of eartips.” This simplifies the process by which ANC is self-adjusted on a per user basis for best results.
Also, for best results, the AANC will now “support automatic adjustment to environmental conditions, by ramping down the ANC strength for quiet spaces or conversely ramping up for noisier environments.” Along with these simplifications and improvements, Qualcomm is making ANC transitions seamless as well. They want to allow users to switch between calls, video, and music without interruption to ANC.
Overall, it seems Qualcomm is looking to reduce the number of pain-points in their products. Active noise cancellation is a great technology, and it is nice to see it be updated with new quality of life features while providing consistency. Eventually, this AANC feature will first make its way into the world on the premium Qualcomm QCC514x Bluetooth SoC. We will have to see how big of a difference this makes in real-world applications, but it is neat innovation, nonetheless.
