Hi All,
It's been a while since I posted on here and I am now in the very early "feeler" stage for a new project. My hope is to design some noise cancelling headphones.
My current line of thinking is:
Would something like a ESP32-Pico be viable here to process multiple mics? I note the ESP32 uses a SBC audio codec so I could also handle receiving the audio this way. I imagine I could also use it to handle the capacitive touch buttons which saves me using a secondary dedicated chip like on my previous boards and keep the size down.
As I say this is early stages and I'm just getting a feel for how most would go about this kind of project and so if you'd take it in a totally different direction please let me know. For me this is a project to push myself in several areas: software, PCB development, and casing design.
Thanks in advance!
Jonny
It's been a while since I posted on here and I am now in the very early "feeler" stage for a new project. My hope is to design some noise cancelling headphones.
My current line of thinking is:
- Touch capacitive media controls (similar to a board I've done previously for my TPA3116 amp project)
- CNC'd aluminum casings for each ear piece. Need to look into the capacitive touch requirements - assuming a plastic or glass cover would be needed over the "touch" area.
- Headband TBC, (likely looking into something similar to Airpods Max as I find them particularly comfortable).
- 40/50mm drivers.
- Active noise cancellation.
Would something like a ESP32-Pico be viable here to process multiple mics? I note the ESP32 uses a SBC audio codec so I could also handle receiving the audio this way. I imagine I could also use it to handle the capacitive touch buttons which saves me using a secondary dedicated chip like on my previous boards and keep the size down.
As I say this is early stages and I'm just getting a feel for how most would go about this kind of project and so if you'd take it in a totally different direction please let me know. For me this is a project to push myself in several areas: software, PCB development, and casing design.
Thanks in advance!
Jonny
I should add I have also seen the AS34nn chips which look like they could be a simpler & more power efficient solution for noise cancelling coupled with an integrated Bluetooth amplifier. Does anyone have any experience with these ICs?
I think you need DSP for effective noise cancelling; it's not a trivial task to accomplish that and run from a single AAA cell. Consider passive noise isolation techniques, or look for the best deal on a set of Bose Quietcomfort 'phones. I looked on a couple of used sites and found Quietcomfort headphones for $60, just a twenty minute bike ride from me. The earpads rot, so you might find some used that just need new pads.
The noise canceling feature on the Bose phones is the only thing they're really god for, as the audio they reproduce itself is way sub par for higher end listening tastes. I'd much rather prefer the sound signature of the HD6xx Sennheiser cans to most anything out there, but with noise cancelation, these phones won't work being open designs. Perhaps the sealed HD25s could qualify for this project.
AKG has some reasonably priced decent sounding sealed designs like the K553s, which could benefit from good noise cancelation.
AKG has some reasonably priced decent sounding sealed designs like the K553s, which could benefit from good noise cancelation.