# Electronic Noise Cancelling in our cars



## Gabzqc (Oct 15, 2016)

After searching the forums with this idea, I came across @StevePopiel 's similar idea...

I wonder when Tesla will use the in car microphones to develop noise cancelling software to help block out road noise in our cars?

Thoughts? is this possible?


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## TrevP (Oct 20, 2015)

Anything is possible, headphones can do it with minimal circuitry. The question is: is it on the list or even a priority for them?


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## FF35 (Jul 13, 2018)

TrevP said:


> Anything is possible, headphones can do it with minimal circuitry. The question is: is it on the list or even a priority for them?


It should be. With how noisy the cabin is, active noise cancelling is an easy way to improve the driving experience.


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## shareef777 (Mar 10, 2019)

I’d imagine noise cancelling headphones are easier as there’s not much space between the microphone/speaker and your ear. In a car the distance will vary depending on the driver and it’d likely be strange for passengers.


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## MelindaV (Apr 2, 2016)

FF35 said:


> It should be. With how noisy the cabin is, active noise cancelling is an easy way to improve the driving experience.


it really depends on the surroundings. I mostly only drive in slow traffic, and it is not loud until next to an obnoxious oversized truck or ridiculous 'FF' car trying to prove something. around most normal stock cars and even semi trucks there is not much noise that comes into the car with the sound system at a normal level.
if you are always on an interstate freeway at 85MPH, maybe your experience is different, but I don't see an issue with the noise coming into the car on a regular basis.


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## Dr. J (Sep 1, 2017)

Maybe they could divert the pedestrian warning sound into the cabin.


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## Love (Sep 13, 2017)

MelindaV said:


> it really depends on the surroundings. I mostly only drive in slow traffic, and it is not loud until next to an obnoxious oversized truck or ridiculous 'FF' car trying to prove something. around most normal stock cars and even semi trucks there is not much noise that comes into the car with the sound system at a normal level.
> if you are always on an interstate freeway at 85MPH, maybe your experience is different, but I don't see an issue with the noise coming into the car on a regular basis.


Funny rating for "ridiculous FF car"... have had them rev next to me like wanting to race. Not interested in racing at all, personally.

Back on topic: the noise canceling I'd be interested in would actually be any inside the car made by the car itself. Internal noises drive me nuts.


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## Mr. Spacely (Feb 28, 2019)

Everyone. Yes, everyone who has been in my car says they can't believe how quiet it is. I think some folks on this forum are so used to the lack of other sounds in their Model 3 that they fixate on a bit of road noise when on rougher roads. When I get back in my wife's Acura MDX you can really tell how quiet the Tesla is...


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## JasonF (Oct 26, 2018)

There are two issues with active noise cancellation:

1. It does distort music when the music frequency gets too close to the cancellation wave. It's harder to tell while wearing headphones somewhere noisy (like an airplane) because there is so much background noise. But in a car, where the amount of ambient noise varies so much - especially an EV which can become dead silent at low speeds - you WILL hear the distortion.

2. Some people are very sensitive to the pressure-on-the-eardrum sensation the active noise cancellation causes. Yes, you can make it possible to disable it, but when you get into the area of perceived hearing damage...Tesla already has enough trouble with Autpilot lawsuits.


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## mswlogo (Oct 8, 2018)

JasonF said:


> There are two issues with active noise cancellation:
> 
> 1. It does distort music when the music frequency gets too close to the cancellation wave. It's harder to tell while wearing headphones somewhere noisy (like an airplane) because there is so much background noise. But in a car, where the amount of ambient noise varies so much - especially an EV which can become dead silent at low speeds - you WILL hear the distortion.
> 
> 2. Some people are very sensitive to the pressure-on-the-eardrum sensation the active noise cancellation causes. Yes, you can make it possible to disable it, but when you get into the area of perceived hearing damage...Tesla already has enough trouble with Autpilot lawsuits.


Plenty of other cars have active noise cancelation I've not read anything about lawsuits.

My Jeep Summit had it. It could NOT be defeated. It only applied to low frequencies. It had 4 separate Mic's in each corner of the headliner (independent of the HandsFree Mic's, which I believe were in the Rearview mirror).

The Audio system was the best OEM system I've ever heard, Active noise cancelation didn't seem to hurt it.


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## FRC (Aug 4, 2018)

Lovesword said:


> Not interested in racing at all, personally


FEATHERFOOT!!!


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## TomT (Apr 1, 2019)

A number of cars use active noise cancellation these days so it is not uncommon. It's also becoming more common in commercial aircraft.


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## mishakim (Sep 13, 2017)

The active noise cancellation in cars today is harmonic cancellation - cancelling specific, known harmonics of the engine/powertrain. Some systems also insert missing harmonics to make the sound smoother. That can be done in an open-loop fashion, based on the engine RPM, it doesn't need a microphone in your ear (as in ANC headphones). The mics in the cabin can be used for error correction / fine tuning, but they're not the source of the cancellation signal.
Cancelling road or wind noise is much harder, as the noise is chaotic, so it must be cancelled based on microphone inputs, and the cancellation will be localized to specific points. Getting those points to correspond to all the passengers' heads, over a variety of seating positions, is much harder than doing so in headphones, especially with a limited number of microphones. Various companies are working on it, but I don't believe any have brought an effective system to market.


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