What kind of noise do noise cancelling headphones eliminate?

Question

I know that noise-cancelling headphones will eliminate airplane noise and other steady noise that can disrupt music, but is that all they do? I really don't want them to drain out airplane noise, but I really want to just drain out the people around me and the noise they make so I don't have to keep my headphones at a dangerously high volume to my ears. For example, some music that I tend to listen to is very quiet in my headphones (a capella music) compared to the harder stuff I listen to. With my family and the radio in the car, I can't drain them out without turning my headphones WAY up, which causes them to yell at me. I intend on being a music major, so I like to hear EVERYTHING about the music with no distractions.

Thanks!

Answer 1

I think they eliminate ALL of the noise. And will probably be good if you want to hear all of the music.

Answer 2

well it like.. detects the sound and stuff, then puts out the opposite pitch of the noise it detects and so you cant hear it.  

Answer 3

Noise canceling headphones take the outside frequencies around you and play the opposite frequencies, thus canceling out the wave.  For all intents and purposes, they will essentially remove all outside noise, depending on the quality of the headphones.