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For most wireless headphones, active noise cancellation (ANC) is a primary feature, especially at the mid-range to premium levels. ANC is a popular tool, especially for headphones youre going to use in a variety of locations and settings. To help you cut through the noise of all the options on the market, weve compiled a list of the best noise-canceling headphones you can buy right now. Judged primarily in terms of ANC performance, this guide not only offers suggestions in various scenarios and prices, but also gives you advice on what to look for on a spec sheet while youre shopping. How to choose the best noise-canceling headphones for you Design When youre shopping for a pair of wireless headphones, the first thing youll need to decide on is wear style. Do you prefer on-ear or over-ear? For the purposes of this guide, I focus on the over-ear style as thats what most noise-canceling headphones are nowadays. Sure, you can find on-ear models with ANC, but over-ear, noise-canceling headphones are much more effective at blocking sound since your ears are completely covered. Type of noise cancellation Next, youll want to look at the type of ANC a set of headphones offers. Youll come across terms like hybrid active noise cancellation or hybrid adaptive active noise cancellation, and there are key differences between the two. A hybrid ANC setup uses microphones on the inside and on the outside of the device to detect ambient noise and cancel it out. By analyzing input from both mics, a hybrid system can combat more sounds than regular ANC, but it does so at a constant level that doesnt change. Adaptive ANC takes the hybrid configuration a step further by continuously adjusting the noise cancellation for changes in your environment and any leakage around the padding of the ear cups. Adaptive ANC also does a better job with wind noise, which can really kill your vibe while using headphones outdoors. For the purposes of this best headphones list, Im only considering products with hybrid ANC or adaptive ANC setups because those are the most effective at blocking noise. Customization Youll also want to check to see if the ANC system on a prospective set of headphones offers adjustable levels of noise cancellation or presets. These can help you dial in the amount of ANC you need for various environments, but it can also help you save battery life. Master & Dynamic, for example, has ANC presets that provide both maximum noise blocking and more efficient cancellation that is more energy efficient. Other companies may include a slider in their companion apps that let you adjust the ANC level to your liking. How we test noise-canceling headphones The primary way we test headphones is to wear them as much as possible. I prefer to do this over a one-to-two-week period, but sometimes deadlines dont allow it. During this time, I listen to a mix of music and podcasts, while also using the headphones to take both voice and video calls. Since battery life for headphones can be 30 hours or more, I drain the battery with looping music and the volume set at a comfortable level (usually around 75 percent). Due to the longer battery estimates, Ill typically power the headphones off several times and leave them that way during a review. This simulates real-world use and keeps me from having to constantly monitor the process for over 24 straight hours. To test ANC performance specifically, I use headphones in a variety of environments, from noisy coffee shops to quiet home offices. When my schedule allows, I use them during air travel since plane noise is a massive distraction to both work and relaxation. Even if I cant hop on a flight, Ill simulate a constant roar with white noise machines, bathroom fans, vacuums and more. I also make note of how well each device blocks human voices, which are a key stumbling block for a lot of ANC headphones. ANC-related features are something else to consider. Here, I do a thorough review of companion apps, testing each feature as I work through the software. Any holdovers from previous models are double checked for improvements or regression. If the headphones Im testing are an updated version of a previous model, Ill spend time getting reacquainted with the older set. Ditto for the closest competition for each new set of headphones that I review. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-noise-canceling-headphones-130029881.html?src=rss
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If you use Sonos speakers, chances are youve used their app and encountered at least a little frustration at some point. I dont think its a bad app when you consider the many functions it needs to juggle: finding and playing music from dozens of services, managing multiple connected speakers, running people through setup and troubleshooting and so on. But at the very least, its fair to suggest that its a little long in the tooth. Sonos knows this, too, and is announcing a totally new app for Android and iOS that was written from the ground up. Itll be available on May 7. I spoke to Sonos VP of user experience and user research Neil Griffiths about the redesign, and he said that it came as a result of talking to hundreds of customers about their listening habits and the way they want to use the app. From those conversations came two principles the company followed for the new app. One was to make it easier for people to play back whatever audio content they have, whether its streaming music, podcasts, radio, audiobooks, devices plugged into Sonos speakers like TVs or turntables and more. The second is making the app into a hub thats better-suited to getting to exactly what you want to hear. The end result is a much simpler app the old one had the usual five tabs along the bottom, three of which could be used to find music. Now, theres a single, customizable home screen with a persistent search bar and rows of content. By default, youll see a recently played section at the top that pulls things in from any service you use; below that youll see a carousel of the different services you have hooked up to Sonos. Theres also an area that controls different inputs, like line-in to speakers that support it or TVs plugged into soundbars. That way, you can tap those to switch between streaming music and playing back the connected device. Sonos Theres still a now playing bar at the bottom of the app that you can tap to get the full playback controls and volume adjustments, but if you swipe up from the bottom of the screen youll instead get a view of your whole Sonos system. This shows all your speakers and whats playing where; you can adjust volume for each from here or group speakers together. Easily the best thing about this new app is the customizable home screen, though. Not only can you change the order of things that appear there, you can also pin content directly from within different apps so you can get to it immediately. For example, Spotify, Apple Music and basically every other music service typically have a new releases for you section that shows recent albums based on your listening habits. If you always want to see that, you can pin it straight to your home screen and itll dynamically update when Spotify has new picks. And you can re-order these carousels so your most-used one is right at the top of the screen. The old Sonos home screen had a recently played section at the top and let you pin songs, albums, playlists and stations from across your services, so it had some degree of flexibility. But being able to add full, dynamically updating sections from the apps you use feels like a major step forward. I can easily see pinning a half-dozen lists from different apps to my home screen, which will make the process of starting music from the Sonos app itself a lot more fluid. I still mostly use AirPlay or Spotify Connect to broadcast to my speakers, but I think itll be worth setting up my home in this new app and see if I use it more. Pulling together content from the too many streaming apps I use in one place sounds like a nice improvement over jumping in and out of apps depending on what I want to hear. Sonos also made it easier to jump right into the service of your choice. All of the streaming apps that youre logged in to will appear in a carousel as well, with your default / favorite option always at the beginning of the list. The same goes for search when you open the search bar and type something in, youll get the results from your favorite service first. Sonos The company is also replacing its existing desktop controller app for Mac and Windows with a web app that'll offer the same functionality and design as you get on your phone. That's probably a good call, as the Sonos controller feels pretty out of step with the company's current design and feature set, though I'm sure some will bristle at it being a web app. That should also start rolling out on May 7, and the existing Mac and Windows app will eventually be shut down. For a lot of people, I wager the Sonos app will still be a set it and forget it kind of thing, used to get speakers set up and then tucked away in case something goes wrong. If you only have one or two speakers and do nearly all your listening through Spotify, for example, itll probably be preferable to just use the Spotify app itself still. But people who have a more involved speaker setup and use multiple sources for audio should find a lot to like here when the app arrives in a few weeks.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-rebuilt-sonos-app-focuses-on-getting-you-to-your-tunes-faster-130022601.html?src=rss
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Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness, the director's cut version of Castlevania for the Nintendo 64, is a classic today despite issues like blurry graphics and wonky gameplay. You'd think a title designed in the last century (well, 1999) would have no new surprises, but there's a twist to the story. A new Konami Code has been found and it's interesting enough that Castlevania fans may want to give it a fresh look. The trick was first revealed by Moises and LiquidCat on the Castlevania 64 Discord server, as shared by YouTuber JupiterClimb. To unlock it, you just need to double the inputs of the original Konami Code (press B A, twice), and all the characters from Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness Cornell, Reinhardt, Carrie and Henry are instantly unlocked. It also opens up all their alternate costumes, along with the game's hard mode. Without the code, you have to win the game (twice!!) to unlock all four characters. Along with the main code, Moises and LiquidCat also dug up codes to fill all inventories, regardless of character being played. The PAL and JPN version also lets players max out their jewels and weapon power. JupiterClimb speculates that the code was a developer shortcut accidentally left in the game, as has happened before with Konami titles. In any case, it's a fun surprise that breathes some new life into the 25-year-old vampire game. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/castlevania-fan-uncovers-new-konami-code-in-1999-game-124727119.html?src=rss
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