What Your Noise-Cancelling Headphones Can and Can’t Do

Wait 5 sec.

This old Amazon commercial bugs the heck out of me. In it, a young boy jumps on a bed, raucously playing an electric guitar while another kid plays drums. Meanwhile, a father relaxes blissfully undisturbed because he’s wearing noise-cancelling headphones. This scene drives me bonkers because, as a headphones expert, I know the truth: That’s not how noise-cancelling headphones work.