What No One Tells You About Noise Cancelling Headphones | Hacker News Reader

What No One Tells You About Noise Cancelling Headphones

pointchaser.com

35 pointsducaale41 comments

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.

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.

I thought the same.

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.

Yeah I'm the same. I understand there is a pressure equalization type of affect, like taking off in a plane, but you get used to that after a week or two. Maybe if people have bad sinus issues then that can cause headaches, in which case they already have serious issues and the headphones 'pressure' effect triggers pain. But that's reaching IMO. I've been using them between 4 and 6 hours a day at work for 3 years now. The only other thing I can think of is loudness causing a problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war

Loud (in terms of dynamic range) can easily cause headaches after prolonged listening even without headphones. If these people are listening to loud music at high volume with these headphones that could cause headaches easily. In fact, compared to my other headphones I found myself lowering the volume on my QC35's quite a lot. My comfortable listening volume is now ridiculously low, you don't need it loud with the noise cancellation. So for example, on 'normal' headphones, I might listen to the music at 60/100 to 100/100, depending on the situation, with the QC35's I rarely go above 10/100, usually lower in fact. So I think these people either have sinus issues or are listening to dynamically loud music at medium to high volume, or both. The fact the author states he was getting a headache and the noise cancelling wasn't even on suggests listening to loud music at high volume, in which case you'll get a headache no matter what headphones you listen on.

Google cache link as it won't load for me http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https:/...

> 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.

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.

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.

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.

I used to have this issue with a lot of headphones, and then I tried Sony's noise canceling (the WH-1000XM3) and they are massively more comfortable. I feel like an ad but I just wanted to share since I was surprised by how much more comfy they were.

It's stupid how comfortable and how good the NC are on the XM3. I traded my XM2 with friends XM3 on a long flight to try them out for about an hour. The difference was night and day. I almost bought a pair myself when we landed.

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.

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

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

Simple problem, simple solution - buy headphones with bigger earcups. Larger headphones like the AKG K701, the Sennheiser HD650 and the Beyerdynamic DT880 are extraordinarily comfortable, even for all-day wear.

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.

Not loading here but http://web.archive.org/web/20190220061538/https://www.pointc...

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.

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.

Agreed. I find myself using my Jabra Elites for exams and deep work more than my QC35s. Not only do I get mild discomfort from the QC35s pressing on my (somewhat large) ears, but the Jabra Elites are much easier to pack and take with me anywhere.

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.

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.

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)

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 :

"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....)

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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?

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.

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.

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

This happened to me, had to return them :(

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

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

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.

The clickbait title should be changed.

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