Many listeners prefer passive noise cancellation because it leaves the wanted sound unmodified

Evidence

Both active and passive noise cancelation systems can work very effectively, and many people (including both authors!) tend to prefer the passive type, because only the wanted sound is being presented to the ear and the sound itself is not being modified in any way. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 2567

Categorization

• CANDY: A neat, shareable tidbit: both authors of the textbook personally prefer the simpler passive system.