ANR for the whole cockpit
Hello,
From my basic understanding of ANR headsets, the mic detects the "background" noise and the electronics do the magic to remove it. Given that the cockpit is an unhealthy place for our ears to be (70-80 dB), and that many airline pilots have some hearing loss in one ear more than the other, why build ANR into the cockpit sound system? There are lots of mics and lots of speakers all over the place, why not cancel the background noise so the cockpit can be quieter? My current headset gives about 20dB passive and 15dB active, and I must say, the difference is a world apart.
I must say that for all the physics I've done, I've never studied acoustics past the Doppler effect, so my idea may be totally daft, but I'd like to know why.