Described are a headphone and a method for controlling an audio system. The method includes tapping a headphone or head of a user to cause an acoustic pressure change in an ear canal of the user wherein the ear canal is sealed by an acoustic noise reduction (ANR) headphone having an ANR module. A current provided to the ANR module is sensed. A peak value of the sensed current is determined and compared to a value of an adaptive threshold to determine if a tap occurred. If a tap is determined to have occurred, an updated value for the adaptive threshold is determined based on the peak value and at least on prior peak value. A mode of operation of the audio system or an attribute of an audio input signal may be changed in response to the determination of an occurrence of a tap.

An active road-noise control system and method include using a sensor arrangement to generate a first sense signal representative of at least one acceleration, motion and/or vibration that occurs at a first position on a vehicle body and a second sense signal representative of sound that occurs at a second position within the vehicle body; they also provide a noise-reducing signal by processing the sense signals according to a first or a second mode of operation. They include the generation of noise-reducing sound within the vehicle body at the second position from the noise reducing signal and the operational state of the sensor arrangement; the first sense signal and the second sense signal are processed in the first mode when the sensor arrangement is in a proper operational state and in the second mode when a malfunction of the sensor arrangement has been detected.

Described are a headphone and a method for controlling an audio system. The method includes tapping a headphone, ear or head of a user to cause an acoustic pressure change in an ear canal of the user wherein the ear canal is sealed by an acoustic noise reduction (ANR) headphone having an ANR module. A current that is responsive to a pressure change in the ear canal and provided to the ANR module is sensed. A first peak in the sensed current is determined. A dual tap is determined to have occurred if a second peak in the sensed current is determined during a first time window initiated at the determination of the first peak. The use of dual taps for controlling an audio system can prevent unintended changes to an audio system that may otherwise occur as a result of an accidental or unintended tap for an audio system utilizing single tap control.

A method performed by an audio output device is provided for detecting instabilities and taking mitigating actions. Specifically, an A-weighted dBA level of a raw feedback signal exceeding a threshold level trigger, at least, muting the driver. The described methods apply to detecting instabilities across a broad frequency spectrum.

An example active road noise control includes generating with a sensor arrangement a primary sense signal representative of at least one of accelerations, motions and vibrations that occur at a first position, and providing a noise reducing signal by processing the primary sense signal according to an adaptive mode of operation or a non-adaptive mode of operation. It further includes generating within the vehicle body noise reducing sound at the second position from the noise reducing signal, evaluating the primary sense signal and controlling the processing of the primary sense signal so that the primary sense signal is processed in the adaptive mode of operation when the magnitude of the primary sense signal undercuts a first threshold and in the non-adaptive mode of operation when the magnitude of the primary sense signal exceeds a second threshold, the first threshold being equal to or smaller than the second threshold.

A headphone detector including a headphone and a processor. The headphone has a microphone and a speaker, and the microphone is configured to generate an audio signal based on an output of the speaker. The processor is configured to receive the audio signal, determine a characteristic of the audio signal, and assess whether the headphone is on ear or off ear based on a comparison of the characteristic to a threshold. The threshold corresponds to one or more of an audio response of the audio signal at a corresponding frequency and an audio response of a feedback microphone signal at a corresponding frequency, under one or more known conditions.

A system includes a first earpiece having an earpiece housing configured to isolate an ambient environment from a tympanic membrane by physically blocking ambient sound, a microphone disposed within the housing and configured to receive a first ambient audio signal from the ambient environment, a processor operatively connected to the microphone wherein the processor is configured to receive the first ambient audio signal from the microphone and determine if the first ambient signal exceeds a threshold sound level, and a speaker operatively connected to the processor. In a first mode of operation the processor determines that the first ambient audio signal exceeds the threshold sound level and processes the first ambient audio signal to modify the first ambient audio signal. In a second mode of operation the processor determines that the first ambient audio signal does not exceed the threshold sound level and reproduces the first ambient audio signal at the speaker.

The technology described in this document can be embodied in a method that includes receiving an input signal representing audio captured by a microphone of an active noise reduction (ANR) headphone, processing, by one or more processing devices, a portion of the input signal to determine a noise level in the input signal, and determining that the noise level satisfies a threshold condition. The method also includes, in response to determining that the noise level satisfies the threshold condition, generating an output signal in which ANR processing on the input signal is controlled in accordance with a target loudness level of the output signal, and driving an acoustic transducer of the ANR headphone using the output signal.

An audio processing system includes at least one first microphone, at least one adaptive filter, and a processor. The at least one first microphone acquires a first audio signal and outputs a first signal based on the first audio signal. The first audio signal includes at least one of a first audio component generated at a first position and a second audio component generated at a second position different from the first position. The first signal is input to the at least one adaptive filter. The at least one adaptive filter outputs a passing signal based on the first signal. The processor, when executing a program stored in a memory, performs: making a determination of which of the first audio component and the second audio component the first audio signal includes more; and controlling a filter coefficient of the adaptive filter based on a result of the determination.

Described are a headphone and a method for controlling an audio system. The method includes tapping a headphone or head of a user to cause an acoustic pressure change in an ear canal of the user wherein the ear canal is sealed by an acoustic noise reduction (ANR) headphone having an ANR module. A current provided to the ANR module is sensed. A peak value of the sensed current is determined and compared to a value of an adaptive threshold to determine if a tap occurred. If a tap is determined to have occurred, an updated value for the adaptive threshold is determined based on the peak value and at least on prior peak value. A mode of operation of the audio system or an attribute of an audio input signal may be changed in response to the determination of an occurrence of a tap.