What is transparency mode on your earphones?

What is transparency mode? You’re probably asking this question because you’ve picked up one of the best noise-cancelling headphones, saw it mentioned as a feature, and were curious to see what all the fuss was about.

Before we dive into what transparency mode is, it’s worth recapping how noise cancellation works — or more specifically, active noise cancellation. Passive noise cancellation, in brief, simply means physically plugging your ears with something, such as a foam ear tip, to block out sound. Active noise cancellation, on the other hand, requires a fair bit of tech and clever software to work, which is what we’re going to focus on.

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In essence, active noise cancellation works by using built-in microphones in the headphones/earbuds themselves, to monitor your external environment. These microphones are constantly picking up everything around you, from people talking, to the hum of airplane engines, traffic, birds, and anything else that happens to be around you. Specially tuned algorithms then create something like an anti-signal, to put it crudely, which cancels out these external noises. While they’re not perfect, they excel at things like constant low noises, such as the aforementioned plane engines. And while it can’t completely block out all sound, active noise cancellation can massively reduce the noises from your external environment. 

This, incidentally, is where transparency mode comes in. Sometimes, you’ll want to be able to hear what’s going on around you. From train announcements to gate departures, or simply interacting with a barista at a coffee shop, you can’t block out the outside world all the time. And yes, while you could simply remove your headphones, wouldn’t it be more convenient to let in all that external noise when you need it, before blocking it out again?

Transparency mode (which also goes by other names such as ambient mode), does exactly that. Once turned on, it uses those external-facing mics to amplify environmental sounds, almost giving you enhanced hearing in some cases. Normally activated with a button press or a tap (it varies depending on your headphones), it can be turned on and off in an instant, letting you make use of its power when you need it, before shunning the outside world when you don’t.. Higher-end noise-cancelling headphones can also let you mix in the level of transparency, letting you dial in the perfect amount for your needs.

It’s all rather clever, and you should definitely consider a pair of active noise-cancelling headphones with the feature, especially if you’re a regular commuter. If you’ve experienced the pain of missing a platform announcement while you were overly engrossed in your music, you’ll know what a difference a feature like this can make.

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Esat Dedezade Contributor

About

Esat has been a gadget fan ever since his tiny four-year-old brain was captivated by a sound-activated dancing sunflower. From there it was a natural progression to a Sega Mega Drive, a brief obsession with hedgehogs, and a love for all things tech. After 7 years as a writer and deputy editor for Stuff, Esat ventured out into the corporate world, spending three years as Editor of Microsoft's European News Centre. Now a freelance writer, his appetite for shiny gadgets has no bounds. Oh, and like all good human beings, he's very fond of cats.