An ear device (10; 110; 210) comprising: at least one ear covering (18; 118; 218) positioned to in-use cover a user's ears, the or each ear covering (18; 118; 218) including an outer cup comprising at least one passive noise dampening member and an inner cup which in use define an enclosure; an audio capture device (56; 156; 256) which is positioned in the enclosure; a noise-attenuation-and-generation assembly (46; 146; 246) which comprises a noise cancelling circuit (48; 148; 248) and a noise masking circuit (64; 164; 264); the noise-cancelling circuit (48; 148; 248) receiving an input from the audio capture device (56; 156; 256) and producing a signal; the noise masking circuit (64; 164; 264) comprising an adaptive spectral noise analyser and generator which determines and generates a compensation frequency or a compensation frequency and volume to mask a residual signal; and a speaker (36; 136; 236) positioned in the enclosure and/or a support stem thereof; characterized in that the signal from the noise cancelling circuit (48; 148; 248) is communicated to the noise masking circuit (64; 164; 264), so that the noise masking circuit determines the residual signal after attenuation by the noise-cancelling circuit (48; 148; 248) and the adaptive spectral noise analyser and generator determines the frequency or the frequency and volume of the residual signal and based on this frequency or frequency and volume of the residual signal dynamically generates a suitable compensation frequency or a compensation frequency and volume to mask the residual signal which is sent to the speaker alongside the signal from the noise cancelling circuit (48; 148; 248) to be output by the speaker (36; 136; 236) to the user's ears in order to counter the input from the audio capture device. at least one ear covering (18; 118; 218) positioned to in-use cover a user's ears, the or each ear covering (18; 118; 218) including an outer cup comprising at least one passive noise dampening member and an inner cup which in use define an enclosure; an audio capture device (56; 156; 256) which is positioned in the enclosure; a noise-attenuation-and-generation assembly (46; 146; 246) which comprises a noise cancelling circuit (48; 148; 248) and a noise masking circuit (64; 164; 264); the noise-cancelling circuit (48; 148; 248) receiving an input from the audio capture device (56; 156; 256) and producing a signal; the noise masking circuit (64; 164; 264) comprising an adaptive spectral noise analyser and generator which determines and generates a compensation frequency or a compensation frequency and volume to mask a residual signal; and a speaker (36; 136; 236) positioned in the enclosure and/or a support stem thereof; characterized in that the signal from the noise cancelling circuit (48; 148; 248) is communicated to the noise masking circuit (64; 164; 264), so that the noise masking circuit determines the residual signal after attenuation by the noise-cancelling circuit (48; 148; 248) and the adaptive spectral noise analyser and generator determines the frequency or the frequency and volume of the residual signal and based on this frequency or frequency and volume of the residual signal dynamically generates a suitable compensation frequency or a compensation frequency and volume to mask the residual signal which is sent to the speaker alongside the signal from the noise cancelling circuit (48; 148; 248) to be output by the speaker (36; 136; 236) to the user's ears in order to counter the input from the audio capture device. <EOS>