Noise cancellation is a great audio technology that can really help you focus and improve your overall listening experience. But what are the disadvantages of noise-cancelling headphones? Well, there are probably things you’re doing with them that are harming the headphones or even your own well-being. These are habits you should stop if you use noise-canceling headphones regularly.
To understand why certain habits can be harmful, it’s important to understand how noise-canceling headphones work. The process differs depending on whether the headphones use active noise cancellation (ANC) or passive noise cancellation (PNC). ANC detects ambient noise around you and generates an opposing “anti-noise” that cancels it out. PNC involves designing the physical construction of the headphones in such a way that your headphones are isolated from outside noise. Both methods are effective enough at suppressing noise, but they also make it easy to develop routines that you should unlearn as soon as possible.
Setting ANC levels too high
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Most of the best noise-cancelling headphones use active noise cancellation and allow you to adjust ANC levels, usually through an app that connects to the headphones via Bluetooth. When you increase the ANC levels, it increases the intensity of the noise canceling, which can create a feeling of pressure in your ears. This ANC pressure may cause headaches, but it would not be harmful to your hearing.
What can be a problem, however, is when the ANC makes the user feel like they need to turn up the volume. A study published in the journal Applied Acoustics (via ScienceDirect) found that when ANC blocks most ambient noise, the user can still perceive higher frequency ambient noise. This makes these high-frequency sounds more pronounced, which may prompt the listener to turn up the volume to overcome them.
Another study, conducted by Listen, Inc., highlighted that ANC can degrade perceived sound quality. If the user perceives the sound quality to be lower, it is often natural to try to increase it to increase clarity. The higher your ANC setting, the more you might feel the need to turn up the volume. Active noise cancellation isn’t particularly harmful on its own, but constantly listening to loud music can cause injury to the inner ear over time and damage hearing.
Use active noise cancellation when you don’t need it
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It might seem like a hassle to turn ANC on and off all the time, but you really should turn it off when you don’t need it. The good news is that there is no evidence that ANC wears out the speakers or degrades the physical longevity of your headphones. However, this causes your earphones’ battery to drain up to 50% faster.
An average pair of rechargeable wireless earbuds can go through up to 500 charge cycles before the lithium-ion battery reaches a point of failure. This translates to about 3 years of regular use before having to throw away the cans. But if ANC makes you go through those charge cycles 50% faster, your earbuds could lose up to a year of life if you’re still using ANC.
Why does it consume so much battery, anyway? When ANC is activated, the battery powers several additional processes: detecting ambient noise, processing that noise in real time, and generating anti-noise, all in addition to the usual functions that a headset is supposed to provide. With so much going on, it’s easy to see why you shouldn’t buy cheap noise-cancelling headphones; Keeping costs low means making big compromises somewhere, and battery life is usually one of the first things to sacrifice.
Wear your noise-cancelling headphones all day
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It can be tempting to use your cute noise-canceling headphones all the time, especially if you share a living space with someone, but your headphones – and your ears – deserve a break. As with any type of headphones, excessive use increases the risk of hearing loss or ear infections.
It’s especially important to take off your noise-canceling headphones when you’re outside, but not quite for the reason you might think. Noise cancellation does not always completely eliminate sounds. You may notice that ambient noise is often muffled or further away. This noise reduction can actually be more dangerous than complete noise cancellation. If you know that your headphones block out all sounds, you’ll be more likely to look for dangers around you. But if you think you hear something coming, you might wrongly ignore it if it seems farther away than it really is.
If you still want to wear your noise-canceling headphones all the time, wherever you go, consider using transparency mode when you’re on the go. Audiophiles might wonder if transparency mode makes audio sound better than noise cancellation, but that’s more a matter of awareness than anything else. Headphones with transparency features can pick up ambient sounds and filter them directly into your ears. This allows you to stay completely in touch with your surroundings, even when your favorite headphones are at max.
