Why we test at -42dB

By The Bench July 17, 2026

Active noise cancellation is quoted in decibels, but a decibel figure without a method is marketing, not measurement. We publish -42dB for Halo One because that is the mean attenuation across the 100Hz-1kHz band on a calibrated head-and-torso simulator, not a single flattering frequency.

The test rig sits on an isolated bench, fed pink noise at 75dB SPL. We seat the cups five times and average, because a millimetre of seal is worth more than any firmware tune. If a unit cannot repeat within a decibel, it fails.

Numbers should be reproducible. Ours are.