
What No One Tells You About Noise Cancelling Headphones - ducaale
https://www.pointchaser.com/noise-cancelling-headphones-ear-pain/
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moreira
This is so strange to read about. I’ve worn my QC35 (and QC25 before them)
almost every day for about 8-10 hours a day, for years, and not once have I
experienced any kind of discomfort related to their use. I’m on the completely
opposite camp, where I’ll sometimes even have them on just for the noise-
cancelling effect, but nothing playing. I don’t need it (not even surrounded
by noise most of the time), I’m just used to it.

To hear that people are feeling “searing ear pain” seems so... weird. These
are by far the most comfortable and enjoyable headphones I’ve had, and they
hurt people.

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SallySwanSmith
I'm really confused, as the author talks about their "searing ear pain" and
then says

> When I activated the noise cancelling button, things got worse. The ear pain
> got more severe and so did the pain close to my jaw.

I'm really confused as to the claim being specific to noise cancelling
headphones given the ear pain happened when that feature was off.

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stebann
I thought the same.

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xutopia
I didn't try those specific headphones but another pair I had always had noise
cancelation on. The button to turn NC on was actually just turning it up
higher.

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ficklepickle
Google cache link as it won't load for me
[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https:/...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https://www.pointchaser.com/noise-
cancelling-headphones-ear-pain/)

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46Bit
> Does everyone else just put up with the discomfort? Noise exposure doesn’t
> seem as bad as the searing ear pain that comes from wearing noise cancelling
> headphones.

Not everyone else gets searing ear pain.

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jhbadger
Exactly. I've never experienced it from mine, nor have I heard of this
problem. No doubt it is real for some, but it isn't that the rest of us are
just not telling others about our pain.

~~~
jockc
I've used noise cancelling headphones for thousands of hours by now, luckily
no issues. My latest pair is Sony 1000xm3. I love them so much, it would be a
huge bummer if I was afffected by the pain issue and had to give them up.

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Emma_Goldman
I do not find this. My problem is that my headphones press the upper-half of
my ear into my head. After a couple of hours it gets sore. Simply taking the
headphones off for a few minutes usually relieves the pain, and I can
continue. I think I've got used to it: when I first started using my
headphones, my ears would begin to hurt after ~20 minutes.

~~~
UI_at_80x24
The headphones are too small. For "best results" nothing about the headphones
should ever touch any part of your ear. The soft foam padding should surround
your ear making a seal with your skull. The 'clamping force' may also be too
tight if you get headaches. The desired clamping force should enough to keep
everything in-place if you briskly turn your head side-to-side but loose
enough to dislodge if you try to turn your head quickly.

Without a real metric/measurement I'd compare it to the 'normal' speed you
turn your head to do a should-check-before-turning on a calm sunday drive, vs
the 'Quickly twist and look if the monster is still chasing me' shoulder-
check.

After 5 seconds you should be able to 'feel' the headphones at all. They
should stop existing and you are left with the sweet blissful embrace of your
favorite music.

~~~
Forge36
I own two larger pairs of headphones. I haven't had issues with clamping
force. I agree with the sentiment they shouldn't rest on your ears. The
largest pair I can go 10 hours with no complaints

~~~
killjoywashere
Yeah, in the modern era, I can't understand how on-ear headphones made it out
of the lab. Walkman days: sure. Today? DIWhy?

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Invictus0
I'm not hearing the evidence here. This guy got some headaches and found a
bunch of anecdotes to corroborate his account. Are we to believe that noise
cancelling headphones can cause ear infections just from this story? There are
a lot of potential causes for the discomfort discussed in this article besides
the noise cancelling feature, as other commenters have mentioned: headphones
too tight, ears too big, etc. And although there very well might be some
people that experience negative effects from NC headphones, there is nothing
to suggest that everyone else will experience any negative effects. And of
course there is no data to be found. The title is unnecessarily aggressive for
the content here.

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ivank
Not loading here but
[http://web.archive.org/web/20190220061538/https://www.pointc...](http://web.archive.org/web/20190220061538/https://www.pointchaser.com/noise-
cancelling-headphones-ear-pain/)

If anyone wants to block outside noise without noise-cancelling algorithms:
try in-ear monitors and replace the tips with foam tips designed for isolation
(perhaps in a larger size for more sound blocking) - you effectively get a
combination earplug/headphone.

~~~
Hates_
I definitely prefer noise isolation to noise cancellation. I found a pair of
Shure SE215s with Comply Isolation tips perform far better than the Bose QC25s
I tried to replace them with.

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bitwize
I feel vague pressure when I wear my Bose QuietComforts. like "sitting in an
airplane on the initial climb" type pressure. Generally, it's not too bad,
though sometimes I get paranoid and wonder if I'm undetectably blowing out my
ears by subjecting them to constant ambient counternoise.

~~~
DHPersonal
I get that feeling a little, too, but noise-cancelling headphones have an
added bonus for me that makes it all worthwhile: they completely negate my
tinnitus.

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gumby
I use earplugs and then put some "can" headphones which reduce the noise that
the earplugs need to reject. The big headphones aren't connected to anything
but apart from being soft and reducing the noise a lot discourage people from
bugging me. I just used this setup on a plane and it worked amazingly well.

As a bonus the foam plugs _touch_ the headphones so if I _do_ choose to play
something it is nice and clear.

(Same as the author, I use some Beats Solo 3 that I picked up in an Apple
freebie givaway)

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anotheryou
I don't own any , but I think it's harsh low frequency stuff. Sound pressure,
even if you don't hear it.

When I tried them it felt the same as low frequencies on expensive speakers.
Expensive speakers are prone to cause listening fatigue, while the cause is
not certain, any audio-guy can tell you about it.

from
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listener_fatigue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listener_fatigue)
:

"Listener fatigue (also known as listening fatigue or ear fatigue) is a
phenomenon that occurs after prolonged exposure to an auditory stimulus.
Symptoms include tiredness, discomfort, pain, and loss of sensitivity.
Listener fatigue is not a clinically recognized state, but is a term used by
many professionals. The cause for listener fatigue is still not yet fully
understood. It is thought to be an extension of the quantifiable psychological
perception of sound. Common groups at risk of becoming victim to this
phenomenon include avid listeners of music and others who listen or work with
loud noise on a constant basis, such as musicians, construction workers and
military personnel." (and open-office workers....)

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loourr
I have these headphones and definitely feel a weird pressure that I don't like
whenever I have noise canceling on, so I keep it turned off or the setting
very low.

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guardiangod
Some headphones mechanically clamp too tightly and your head will hurt after a
while. Another possible reason is that the sustained weight of the
wireless+noise canceling headphones eventually injured the author's neck
muscle, similar to stiff neck.

Sample size of 1: My old man's pretty happy with the Sony XM2 (Bose QC35's
only competitor) and hasn't experience any pain.

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adamparsons
My QC25's make me feel like my ears are blocked or pressurised in the same way
you experience when travelling in an elevator. I find myself intentionally
swallowing out of instinct. Not quite headache inducing but definitely feels
weird until I get used to it each time

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AdmiralAsshat
I can't say I've ever had trouble with wearing noise cancelling headphones. I
wear a pair every weekday for about an hour or so while I walk outside (my
walking path is right next to a highway and the constant sound of cars zooming
by makes it very difficult for me to relax), although admittedly they're a
much cheaper pair than Bose.

Ear fatigue itself is something I'm intimately acquainted with, however. I
have a couple of daily cans I use around the house, all over-ear, and pretty
much none of them can stay on for more than an hour or two without causing my
ears some level of discomfort. I don't know how anyone can stand on-ear
headphones--those are agony after just 15 minutes or so. Maybe I have large
ears.

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m463
This is the first time I've noticed someone has had a similar experience to
mine with noise-cancelling headphones.

I first tried them years and years ago, and noticed a weird "pressure" feeling
when I put them on.

I just figured they were not for me and concentrated on earplugs, earbuds and
over-the-ear closed earphones.

For earplugs, the 3M classic superfit 33 earplugs (33 nrr) are comfortable and
quiet.

For earbuds, any klipsch in-ear headphones with the oval silicone insert works
well - comfortable and an excellent seal.

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Macha
I wonder if it correlates with feeling ear pain during airplane landings?

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Jemm
Ear pain during plane landings has to to with an increase in air pressure in
the cabin causing a disequilibrium.

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hi56793
If you consider that you hear sound (waves) carrying a certain frequency and
amplitude, this sound has a total energy. Add anti noise to it and you add
additional energy. Of course the energy has to go somewhere, while it
propagates through air basically the air molecules carry it. Of course then it
goes into your body. Wave Physics 101, you can look it up when you google for
destructive interference.

Of course that's just Physics and not Biology/Medicine. I'd be curious to hear
more about it.

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canada_dry
I wonder if this same very low frequency noise from wind farms (those huge
swirling electricity generators) is the thing that seems to aggravate some
people (and animals) in a similar manner?

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syntaxing
I've had weird ear pains before with old NC technology but haven't had the
problem with the new Sony or Bose headphones. I highly recommend the author to
try the new Sony XM3. Blows away both the XM2 and QC35 in terms of comfort and
NC.

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sqldba
The article doesn’t seem to point out that this only happens to some people.

I don’t have this issue. But yeah there should be refund policies in place for
people who are affected.

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greenhatman
I wear my Sennheiser PXC 550 most days for more than 8 hours a day. I've never
had pain or discomfort from it.

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timwis
This happened to me, had to return them :(

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cmcguinness
I only wear mine while on a plane — the environment is sufficiently hostile
that they can't make it worse.

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golem14
Maybe off topic , but this feels like a crypto marketing article.

~~~
Rockslide
This reads like a SEO article for "Bose QuietComfort 35" (just count how often
it is needlessly spelled out) and - oh wonder - contains referral links to the
same product they warn against in the article.

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_bxg1
The clickbait title should be changed.

