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Comment by radicaldreamer | Hacker News Reader

There have been theories about ANC headphones, earphones, and in-ear-monitors causing tinnitus over the years, but nothing concrete with evidence.

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There are also theories that they will prevent tinnitus because one can play music at a lower volume and still enjoy it.

I don't have tinnitus on most of my devices at medium to high volumes. only apple devices and more recently built wireless in ear monitors. victim blaming is great though.

I personally like to pick apart all of the layers of music and hear all of the nuance/production. At low volume this is generally not possible. Not all of us have audiophile tendencies though I suppose.

I think the point the parent was trying to make was that when using ANC you likely listen to things using a lower volume setting--reducing the chance you'll develop tinnitus. Without ANC what you're listening to competes with what's around you and you're likely going to keep the volume higher. I immediately noticed I was using a lower volume when I first used some headphones with ANC.

I've head some people suggest using AirPods Pro with ANC as a form of hearing protection at concerts--I think Apple might have even mentioned that in today's presentation.

Yeah, they should lower the noise floor and allow same dynamic range at lower volume, just like Apple touts here for the new AI noise cancellation (which also mentions they use eartips for part of the reduction).

You can also set max volume levels which has helped me listen to music at more reasonable volumes.

What do you do when that piece starts and you remember you don’t really care about anything anymore and you just need some of that energy shot into your brain at the highest volume possible even if it hurts?

Nothing can stop a sufficiently motivated individual

The burden of evidence should be on the side who wants us to put their electromagnetic devices in our body-cavities.

To put it less bluntly: even if there is no evidence of harm, one can rationally decide to avoid these products out of caution.

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