Technical & Applied Article

Measurement of insertion loss and gain in variable hear-through and noise cancellation modes of true wireless earbuds

¹ Audiolab, School of Physics, Engineering and Technology, University of York Genesis 6, Church Lane, Innovation Way, Heslington, York YO10 5DQ North Yorkshire United Kingdom
² BBC Research and Development, The Lighthouse White City Place, 201 Wood Lane, London W12 7TQ Greater London United Kingdom

^* Corresponding author; jay.harrison@york.ac.uk

Received: 28 November 2024
Accepted: 4 March 2025

Abstract

This paper presents the results of objective tests to assess the insertion loss and gain performance of three true wireless earbuds that featured both active noise cancellation (ANC) and hear-through functionality. An acoustic test fixture (ATF) was used to examine the earbuds’ attenuation and boosting of broadband noise, linearity of performance for different presentation levels, and consistency of performance over time. The results show that devices are capable of a wide range of both attenuation and boosting, with hear-through modes providing significant levels of boosting in frequencies that are considered important to the intelligibility of speech. Furthermore, none of the hear-through modes tested were found to provide responses that suggested the devices were capable of providing full acoustic transparency. The results may also be useful for those seeking to produce models that replicate key aspects of insertion loss and gain performance in contemporary true wireless earbuds.