Abstract: A method and apparatus is described for actively canceling a primary noise source to produce a desired noise level at at least one location. The apparatus comprises a signal processor which drives at least one actuator, at least one error sensor and a primary noise reference signal. The error sensors are positioned proximate to each of the locations. The output of the error sensors and the primary noise reference signal are sent to the signal processor. The relationship between the driving output of the processor and the output of the error sensors is modeled by a block of filter coefficients. Based upon the model and the primary noise reference signal, the processor drives the actuator to generate a canceling noise at the location. The processor calculates differences between the desired noise level and the output of the sensors. A variable convergence factor and a gradient block are derived from the residual noise and are used to adapt the filter coefficients.