Embodiments of active noise control (ANC) headphones and operating methods thereof are disclosed herein. In one example, a headphone includes a speaker, an internal microphone, and a processor. The speaker is configured to play an audio of interest based on an audio source signal. The internal microphone is configured to obtain a mixed audio signal including a noise signal and the audio of interest played by the speaker. The processor is configured to determine a first current system parameter of the headphone based on the mixed audio signal at a first time point, and determine if the first current system parameter of the headphone is higher than a predetermined threshold to determine if the headphone is worn by a user.

An earphone system comprises at least one earphone configured to be inserted in an ear of a user, wherein each of the at least one earphone comprises at least one sound reproduction unit, and a remote unit that is separate from each of the at least one earphone, wherein the remote unit comprises at least one microphone configured to capture ambient sound. The remote unit is configured to evaluate, analyze and/or process the ambient sound captured by the at least one microphone, to determine one or more of at least one ambient sound parameter, at least one control parameter, and at least one control command, based at least on the evaluation, analysis and/or processing of the ambient sound, and to send the at least one ambient sound parameter, the at least one control parameter and/or the at least one control command to the at least one earphone.

A transducer arrangement for head- or earphones comprises a sound steering unit, which comprises a frontal chamber and at least one sound canal. Each of the at least one sound canal comprises at least one internal opening towards the frontal chamber and an external open end for directing sound towards the outside of the transducer arrangement. The transducer arrangement further comprises a rear chamber and at least one loudspeaker arranged between the frontal chamber and the rear chamber.

A respiratory mask system is presented. This respiratory mask system includes an inflatable harness and a bone conduction device to provide audio to a user while wearing the respiratory mask system. The bone conduction device is installed on or interconnected with a portion of the inflatable harness, such as a tube of the inflatable harness that is positioned at least somewhat in proximate to a user's ear. Inflation of the inflatable harness may press the bone conduction device against the user to enhance the delivery of audio to the user.

Embodiments of the present disclosure disclose an earphone including a fixing structure, a first microphone array, a processor, and a speaker. The fixing structure is configured to fix the earphone near a user's ear without blocking the user's ear canal and including a hook-shaped component and a body part. The first microphone array is located in the body part and is configured to pick up environmental noise. The processor is located in the hook-shaped component or the body part and is configured to estimate a sound field at a target spatial position using the first microphone array and generate a noise reduction signal based on the estimated sound field. The target spatial position is closer to the user's ear canal than any microphone in the first microphone array. The speaker is located in the body part and is configured to output a target signal according to the noise reduction signal.

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.

The present disclosure provides a method and an apparatus for noise reduction, and a headset. The method of noise reduction includes: acquiring a first reference noise signal; acquiring an initial direction of desired speech in response to a trigger signal; acquiring a real-time direction of desired speech based on a real-time orientation of the headset and the initial direction of desired speech, the real-time orientation being obtained by orientation tracking for the headset; filtering out a desired speech signal from the first reference noise signal to acquire an undesired noise signal, the desired speech signal being extracted in the real-time direction of desired speech; and filtering the undesired noise signal to output an inverse noise signal for speaker playback. Thus, using the method of noise reduction, not only the undesired noise in the ambient noise can be cancelled, but also the desired speech signal can be retained.

A hearing device is disclosed, comprising a main microphone, M auxiliary microphones, a transform circuit, a processor, a memory and a post-processing circuit. The transform circuit transforms first sample values in current frames of a main audio signal and M auxiliary audio signals from the microphones into a main and M auxiliary spectral representations. The memory includes instructions to be executed by the processor to perform operations comprising: performing ANC over the first sample values using an end-to-end neural network to generate second sample values; and, performing audio signal processing over the main and the M auxiliary spectral representations using the end-to-end neural network to generate a compensation mask. The post-processing circuit modifies the main spectral representation with the compensation mask to generate a compensated spectral representation, and generates an output audio signal according to the second sample values and the compensated spectral representation.

An ear-mountable listening device includes an adaptive phased array of microphones, a speaker, and electronics. The microphones are physically arranged into a ring pattern to capture sounds emanating from an environment. Each of the microphones is configured to output one of a plurality of first audio signals that is representative of the sounds captured by a respective one of the microphones. The speaker is arranged to emit audio into an ear. The electronics are coupled to the adaptive phased array and the speaker and include logic that when executed causes the ear-mountable listening device receive a user input identifying a first sound for cancelling or amplifying, steer a null or a lobe of the adaptive phased array based upon the user input, and generate a second audio signal that drives the speaker based upon a combination of one or more of the first audio signals.

A processor is configured to perform headphone playback with a playback audio signal. The processor produces a feedback signal from an internal microphone, compresses the feedback signal according to a variable compressor setting, and determines a context of usage of the headphone, as being one of running or jogging, transportation, and critical listening. In response, the processor changes the variable compressor setting and drives the headphone speaker with the compressed feedback signal combined with the playback audio signal. Other aspects are also described and claimed.