Ask HN: Is active music cancelation possible?
A proposed method combines active noise cancellation with music fingerprinting to cancel music sounds using inverted waveforms. Challenges include real-time processing, latency, and copyright issues for practical implementation.
The idea of combining active noise cancellation with music fingerprinting and waveform inversion to create headphones that can cancel out music is intriguing. The concept involves using existing technology to recognize a song playing in an environment, download it, and then invert its waveform to produce destructive interference, effectively canceling the sound for the listener.
Active noise cancellation (ANC) headphones already filter out certain background noises, but they typically struggle with complex sounds like music, which are not repetitive. The proposed method suggests that by having the exact song available in advance, the headphones could apply corrections more effectively, as they would be able to synchronize the inverted waveform with the original sound.
This approach would require advanced real-time processing capabilities to measure delays and frequency shifts accurately, ensuring that the cancellation is effective. While theoretically feasible, practical implementation would face challenges, including the need for rapid song recognition, potential latency issues, and the complexity of accurately inverting a wide range of musical compositions. Additionally, copyright and legal considerations regarding the downloading and processing of music in real-time would need to be addressed. Overall, while the concept is conceivable, significant technological advancements and regulatory frameworks would be necessary to bring it to fruition.
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6 commentsThe README explains the method: once the contaminating song is identified, it syncs up the recordings in time with a correlation analysis, adjusts for frequency-dependent gain effects, then subtracts the undesired content.
Warning: I'm not an audio engineer, the output sound quality is NOT good! This was just a toy project in my early days of learning to code. I assume there are much better ways to approach this that would yield significantly better results.
Unless your correction system can respond in real-time, you've accidentally created an audio-frequency bistatic radar :P
Masking with a static noise source can also help.
Fingerprinting a song introduces latency because the song has to play long enough to get an adequate sample for the fingerprint.
What would the headphones do before a match is established?
B. Space Domain
Canceling requires a waveform 180 degrees out of phase. It needs to be about the same size as the song. If you stream that waveform, there’s latency and mechanical rights issues. If it is stored locally, you need space for all-the-songs.
C. Music is bigger than Texas
Remixes, covers, recordings of live performances add complexity to fingerprinting and increase the size of the phased wave database.
Good luck.
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