Being an audiophile, while you are thinking of buying a headphone, the thing that you care about most is the sound quality. Apart from sound quality, you also look into many other features and specs. And our today’s topic is the best headphones for sensitive ears.
And after examining all the features you finally choose a headphone that matches your expectations and preferences. Generally, we expect headphones to give us the best music listening experience and provide isolation from the outside world.
So that we can listen to our favorite things in comfort and solitude. But there is another very important thing that we may look over at times. And that is the sensitivity of our ears. Before buying a headphone, we must look into it properly if it can be harmful to our ears.
Why You Have to be Careful about Sensitive Ears
It is very necessary to be careful about our ears, as they work as a sensory organ in our body. And they are also one of the most sensitive parts of our system. They can face problems even with the slightest mismanagement.
And loud headphones can do a lot of damage to our ears. That doesn’t mean you will have to back off from buying a headphone in the first place. You can still listen to music comfortably using headphones if you be careful and take some measures before buying a headphone.
As these many audiophiles keep wearing their headphones for a long time, they really need to consider more hearing protective options while buying a headphone, instead of caring about other features more.
According to experts, the more someone keeps using personal headphones and earphones in noisy environments, the more they use headphones with really highly leveled up volumes that can be potentially dangerous.
According to the estimation of the World Health Organization, because of listening to personal audio devices with a damaging level of volume, almost 900 million people around the world will face hearing loss, which is really concerning.
Especially if children get exposed to the loud volume of headphones, their ears get damaged easily and they face hearing loss. There are tiny hair cells in our ears that work to transmit sound signals to the brain, and these can b killed off by letting our ears exposed to loud noise for a long time. And if enough of these cells get damaged, one will end up with hearing problems.
The Solutions for Sensitive Ears
So, while using headphones you might think you can dial down the volume and just listen to that or you might think about not using headphones at all. But they are not the perfect solutions.
Using headphones can give you great listening comfort, which an audiophile won’t like to sacrifice. So as a solution you can start using headphones that are good for sensitive ears.
When you are using your headphone to listen to something in a quiet environment, the headphone style won’t matter much in this case. But when you are outside in a noisy environment and trying to use your headphone there, the style can have a lot of effects here.
To prevent the outside sound, many dials up the volume to listen better, but they still don’t get much better results and end up listening to hear a damaging loud sound. So, the best headphones to use to protect your sensitive ears are noise-canceling headphones.
The headphones that have active noise cancellation are perfect for our sensitive ears.
As with active noise cancellation, you don’t have to play with a very high volume trying to listen better in a noisy place, the problems get minimized. You can easily listen with a moderate sound and don’t have to turn the volume up to a really high level.
In headphones with an active noise cancellation feature, a battery-powered technology is used that creates sound waves which cancel out the outside noises essentially. There are some headphones with passive noise isolation that can partially block some of the outside sounds, but that doesn’t work as well as active noise cancellation.
So if you are looking forward to buying a headphone, you should choose a headphone with good active noise cancellation features. That will help you to keep your ears safe and sound.
Other Solutions
Apart from using active noise-canceling headphones, you can take some measures to reduce the chances of headphone-related hearing damages. If you listen to music with a very loud sound, then you should reduce the usage per day.
If you don’t listen to loud sounds for a long time every day, then it won’t cause any trouble for your ears. There are some headphone models that can keep track of how long you have been listening to music and how loud you’ve been listening.
You can easily adjust your volume level or listening time with the help of that feature. And the other thing you should follow to keep your sensitive ears safe is to use both earphones. Don’t keep listening by using one ear only, which many people tend to do.
As both ears work together to provide us with a better sense of loudness, if you use only one earphone you might increase the volume to listen better. As a result that particular ear might get damaged.
So make it balanced, use both earphones together. And if you need to keep attention to outside noises, then it is recommended to not use headphones at that time. As active noise cancellation won’t be of any help on that matter.
5 Best Headphones with Active Noise Cancellation
There are many good headphones available currently in the market with a functioning active noise cancellation feature. Apart from ear safety, they also offer a great music experience with zero distraction. They can help you to fully immerse yourself in the music.
These headphones also offer many smart features and beautiful designs. So choosing a noise-canceling headphone for yourself is not a hard decision. But to help you with the choice of model to buy, we have gathered a list of 5 best headphones with active noise cancellation.
You can easily choose one from the list for yourself according to your taste and preference. The 5 best active noise-canceling headphones are-
Sony WH-1000XM4
Specs
| Sony WH-1000XM4 | |
|---|---|
| Acoustic Design | Closed |
| Weight | 8.95 oz |
| Cable Length | 3.94 feet |
| Drivers | 1.57 inch |
| Driver Type | Dome type |
| Frequency Response | 4 Hz to 40 kHz |
| Wireless Range | 30 meters |
| Impedance | 47 ohm |
| Sensitivity | 104.5 dB |
| Battery Life | 30 Hours |
| NFC | Yes |
Pros
- The improved active noise cancellation feature
- Multipoint pairing options
- Has DSEE Extreme audio upscaling system
- Cutting Edge Codec Support
Cons
- No water resistance
The Sony WH-1000XM4 headphone has a comfortable design and great sound quality. But the most important feature of this headphone is active noise cancellation. The headphone is very lightweight, which makes it really convenient to use.
This headphone possesses a number of interesting features, which were absent in its predecessors. The exciting features this headphone has include DSEE Extreme upscaling, auto-pause/ play system that uses a built-in sensor, multipoint pairing, conversational awareness, etc.
All these features have made this headphone a really great one.
The cutting edge codec support and active noise cancellation have given this headphone extra heights. They deliver amazing sound quality and noise cancellation makes it better, which also helps to keep the hearing from getting damaged.
This headphone supports Sony’s 360 reality audio format which makes it enable spatial audio on stereo headphones. So as a whole, this headphone can be a really good choice for an audiophile.
Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700
Specs
| Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 | |
|---|---|
| Acoustic Design | Closed |
| Weight | 25 g |
| Frequency Response | N/ A |
| Sensitivity | N/ A |
| Battery Life | 20 Hours |
| Wireless Range | 33 feet |
| Cable Length | N/ A |
| Impedance | N/ A |
| Drivers | N/ A |
| Driver Type | N/ A |
| NFC | Yes |
Pros
- Has an outstanding noise cancellation
- Provides a lively and fun sound
- Elegant design
- Balanced soundstage
Cons
- Battery life is not much good
- High price
We know that Bose is one of the most esteemed brands regarding audio devices. And Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 is one of the best headphones produced by Bose which is a nice pair of over-ear cans.
And this headphone has an outstanding level of active noise cancellation, which not only blocks the outside sounds while listening to music. It also applies noise cancellation during phone calls for which the outside sounds won’t be heard by the other side anymore.
And this great feature isn’t available in most other noise-canceling headphones. As traditionally noise cancellation doesn’t work during calls, and the caller from the other side could listen to outside sounds.
And the sound quality of this headphone is amazing with a well-balanced soundstage and a lively and vibrant character. So the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 can be a perfect headphone for sensitive ears.
Sony WH-1000XM3
Specs
| Sony WH-1000XM3 | |
|---|---|
| Acoustic Design | Closed |
| Weight | 8.99 oz |
| Frequency Response | 4 Hz to 40 kHz |
| Sensitivity | 104.5 dB |
| Cable Length | 3.94 feet |
| Wireless Range | 30 meters |
| Drivers | 40 mm Dual Layered Diaphragm |
| Driver Type | Dynamic |
| Impedance | 47 ohm |
| Battery Life | 30 hours |
| NFC | Yes |
Pros
- Provides a fantastic sound quality
- Almost 30 hours of battery life
- The active noise cancellation feature is outstanding
- Supports both Google Assistant and Alexa
Cons
- Not much of an upgrade from its predecessors
- Doesn’t support too many smart features
Before this headphone’s successor came into play, this was the best noise-canceling headphones out there for two years straight. So now you know how good the Sony WH-1000XM3 is as a headphone.
These over-ear headphones have outstanding active noise cancellation features, which helps it to block all the outside sounds. As a result, you can listen to music very comfortably with it and you won’t have to dial u the volume to a high level. So it works well for ear sensitivity.
The Sony WH-1000 XM3 also features Sony LDAC and aptX HD, which are two of the best ways of listening to Hi-Res music with your phone, without using a wire.
And being Sony’s flagship headphone, it supports both Alexa and Google Assistant. So, this headphone can be great for you to choose from.
Bose QuietComfort 35 II
Specs
| Bose QuietComfort 35 II | |
|---|---|
| Acoustic Design | Closed |
| Weight | 0.68 pounds |
| Frequency Response | N/ A |
| Sensitivity | N/ A |
| Cable Length | 3.94 feet |
| Wireless Range | N/ A |
| Drivers | N/ A |
| Driver Type | N/ A |
| Impedance | N/ A |
| Battery Life | 20+ hours |
| NFC | Yes |
Pros
- A broad and clear soundstage
- Has an amazing noise cancellation feature
- Supports Google Assistant
- Great for travelers and commuters
Cons
- Active EQ acquired taste
- Looks are not that good
The Bose QuietComfort 35 II comes with a set of well-balanced features with which most of the mainstream users will be really satisfied. Like other Bose headphones, it has a good class-leading noise cancellation system, which provides great comfort while listening to music.
As a result, sensitive ears remain safe from damages. The sound quality is also really good. This headphone is especially great for travelers and commuters, for noise cancellation and other comfortable features.
Moreover, it supports Google Assistant, which works as a convenient tool to answer any inquiries you make while you are traveling. So, overall this headphone can be a good choice for you if you are not willing to go for much higher featured headphones like the above-mentioned ones.
Jabra Elite 85H
Specs
| Jabra Elite 85H | |
|---|---|
| Acoustic Design | Closed |
| Weight | .65 pounds |
| Frequency Response | 10 Hz to 20 kHz |
| Sensitivity | N/ A |
| Cable Length | N/ A |
| Wireless Range | 10 meters |
| Drivers | 40 mm |
| Driver Type | Dynamic |
| Impedance | N/ A |
| Battery Life | 36 hours |
| NFC | N/ A |
Pros
- Has a class-leading battery life
- ANC performance is excellent
- Terrific Design
Cons
- Doesn’t have much support for high-end codecs
- The bass sound could be better
The Jabra Elite 85H headphones are Jabra’s first headphones that are premium wireless headphones with excellent ANC performance. The sound quality is quite good, but the bass sound is not good enough for the price. It doesn’t have high-end codec support either.
But it still offers a terrific style, class-leading battery life, and plenty of opportunities to personalize different things about the headphone. Not to mention the active noise cancellation feature, which provides comfort while listening to music and also good for ears.
So this headphone can be a good option while you are choosing a noise-canceling headphone.
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Parting Words
Ears are one of the most important organs of our whole body. So we need to take good care of them and make sure about their safety. And for that, we need to choose headphones that won’t cause any damage to our ears.
As we know noise-canceling headphones are best for our sensitive ears, you should choose a headphone that features active noise cancellation. And while choosing one, you can take advice from the list mentioned above.
You can easily choose any of the mentioned headphones, as all of those will provide good service without any doubt.
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