Various implementations include a computational architecture for a personal active noise reduction (ANR) device. The device includes a communication interface that receives an audio stream, a driver, a microphone system and an ANR processing platform. The platform includes a first DSP configured to: receive the audio stream and signals from the microphone system, perform ANR on the audio stream according to a set of parameters in the first DSP, and output a processed audio stream. The platform includes a second DSP configured to: generate state data in response to an analysis of the source audio stream, signals from the microphone system, and the processed audio stream; and alter the operational parameters on the first DSP. The platform includes a general purpose processor configured to characterize a malfunction in response to instability or error condition events detected by the second DSP.