What is ENC (Environmental Noise Cancellation)?
What is ENC (Environmental Noise Cancellation)?
What is ENC? You might be familiar with ANC, or Active Noise Cancellation, for your headphones, but have you heard of ENC? To start, ENC stands for Environmental Noise Cancellation. This technology is commonly found in headphones with microphones and is not a widely used term. ENC is commonly presented alongside ANC in blogs and videos about headphones and mics nowadays, but ANC and ENC are not the same thing.
ANC is for your own personal hearing; when you’re listing to your music or you’re watching the big reveal scene of your favorite movie, ANC takes the noise around you and tries to reduce it so that you can hear your music or movies better. There are a multitude of ways to do so, but the most known type uses a microphone and speaker to invert the soundwaves around you so that it minimizes the noise. In other words, if your noise is at +5, the technology will create a soundwave at -5, and what you’ll hear through your speaker is 0.
On the other end, ENC is for the hearing of whoever you’re talking to. Similar to ANC, ENC uses a two-microphone, noise reduction technology, but it does so for the benefit of the other line. The easiest example to showcase is our Alto 8060.
You can see on the Alto 8060 boom mic that there are two microphones: one on the inner part of the attachment, closer to the mouth, and one on the outer part. The inner microphone does the obvious; it takes the voice of the user and amplifies it. The second microphone takes in the noise around it, recognizes the frequency it’s at, and reduces all noises from that frequency. Then, both optimized sounds are sent through, so all your caller hears is your amplified voice.
This technology is a great innovation for so many situations. In office settings or call centers, customers won’t hear the bustle or murmur of the people talking right next to you. When taking interviews in a café or from home, your interviewers won’t hear the laughter of the kids behind your screen. For true wireless earbuds, you’ll be able to pick up a call while jogging in the park and still have a quality conversation.
One thing to note is that all audio wear is made differently. With true wireless/Bluetooth earbuds, they may boast ENC or noise-cancellation technology, but since the microphone might be placed much farther from your mouth than it would be with a headset with a boom mic, the voice clarity may not be as great.
In all, ENC is a great addition to the different features you may want to look for in your next set of wireless headphones or earbuds. Avantree prides itself in always trying to improve our products. Here are some of the products we have that have ENC:
Links to products on images or in text below
Current Products
To Be Launched
~ Aria 8090T with ENC (mid 2022)
* The current Aria 8090T does not support ENC
FAQs
What is ENC (Environmental Noise Cancellation)?
ENC stands for Environmental Noise Cancellation, a technology that reduces background noise during voice calls. It uses multiple microphones to capture ambient sounds and filters out unwanted noise, ensuring the person on the other end hears a clearer, amplified voice without distractions from the environment.
How does ENC differ from ANC (Active Noise Cancellation)?
ENC improves call clarity by filtering background noise from the microphone input for the listener on the other end, while ANC reduces ambient noise heard by the user by creating anti-noise sound waves to cancel environmental sounds for better personal listening.
How does ENC technology work in headphones or headsets?
ENC uses two microphones: one captures the user’s voice, and the other detects surrounding noise. Noise reduction algorithms then minimize background sounds, mixing the clean voice signal with reduced ambient noise to deliver clearer audio to callers.
What are the benefits of ENC in real-world scenarios?
ENC is ideal for noisy environments like offices, cafes, or outdoors, allowing clear communication without background distractions. It helps maintain high-quality voice calls amid chatter, traffic, or other ambient noises for professionals, gamers, and remote workers.
Are there any limitations of ENC in wireless earbuds or headphones?
In true wireless earbuds, microphone placement farther from the mouth can reduce ENC effectiveness, sometimes leading to less clear voice pickup compared to headsets with boom mics. Still, ENC significantly improves call quality by reducing ambient noise during conversations.
Got questions? Feel free to email us at support@avantree.com and we'll get back to you within 24 hours.