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cypressc

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 30, 2014
105
135
Austin, TX
I've never owned AirPods because they still never really fit/stayed in my ears firmly. That said, I'm absolutely in love with my Beats Studio 3s.

I love the ANC on the Beats Studio wireless, but after a couple of hours, I have to take them off because my outer ears get "worn out" and tired of having the Beats on.

Anyone using the AirPods Pro had any similar ear fatigue? Meaning - you just can't wear them too long before you have take them out and give your ears a rest.
 

VSMacOne

macrumors 603
Oct 18, 2008
5,933
2,892
I've never owned AirPods because they still never really fit/stayed in my ears firmly. That said, I'm absolutely in love with my Beats Studio 3s.

I love the ANC on the Beats Studio wireless, but after a couple of hours, I have to take them off because my outer ears get "worn out" and tired of having the Beats on.

Anyone using the AirPods Pro had any similar ear fatigue? Meaning - you just can't wear them too long before you have take them out and give your ears a rest.
None here. Not compared to the regular AirPods or my PowerBeats Pro. I’ve worn my AirPods Pro for hours at a time all throughout the day without any ear pain. It’s remarkable.
 

kofman13

macrumors 6502a
May 6, 2009
547
165
i was about to post my own thread and i am suffering from AWFUL symptoms after using airpods pro noise cancelation
I have only one other pair of ANC headphones I’ve used and those are Beats Studio 3 wireless. When I use the ANC on that I do feel some pressure on my ears but its mild and I forget it pretty fast. But I just got AirPods pro today and have been testing for a few hours. I tried all three tip sizes and within 5-10 seconds of turning on noise cancelling on the AirPods pro I feel a VERY strong pressure on my ears and I even feel short of breath and my chest gets a little tight and I feel like that lump in my throat feeling when you get nervous. and there’s pressure on my sinuses as well, and if I keep wearing them with ANC on for 5-10 minutes it gets really uncomfortable and worrisome and almost painful. The noise cancellation is incredible and Im trying to justify keeping them and not returning. I stopped using the AirPods pro (with ANC on) an hour ago and all those symptoms have NOT GONE AWAY yet (although have faded a little bit) but still so weird that an hour later I still have the chest/ear fatigue and pressure in my head. Ive never felt this way before I cant compare it to anything else.
 

cypressc

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 30, 2014
105
135
Austin, TX
Within 5-10 seconds of turning on noise cancelling on the AirPods pro I feel a VERY strong pressure on my ears and I even feel short of breath and my chest gets a little tight and I feel like that lump in my throat feeling when you get nervous. and there’s pressure on my sinuses as well, and if I keep wearing them with ANC on for 5-10 minutes it gets really uncomfortable and worrisome and almost painful.

This sounds more mental than anything. I can't come up with a single reason these symptoms would happen except that you're having a mild panic-attack./
 
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axantas

macrumors 65816
Jun 29, 2015
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1,407
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I use the original airpods since launch without any problem. Got the pro today ANC on for about 15 minutes. Got some wadding effect in my left ear, which did not occur with the "ordinary" Airpods. I never used InEars with ANC before, but I am used to use the ordinary wired ones with rubber tips. It went away after about one hour.

Quite strange. As there is not "no" environmental noise, but a counter noise is induced directly into the ear, there is some new effect on the ears. I will have a look at it...

Besides that, I must admit, they sound great.
 
Last edited:

zorinlynx

macrumors G3
May 31, 2007
8,351
18,577
Florida, USA
i was about to post my own thread and i am suffering from AWFUL symptoms after using airpods pro noise cancelation
I have only one other pair of ANC headphones I’ve used and those are Beats Studio 3 wireless. When I use the ANC on that I do feel some pressure on my ears but its mild and I forget it pretty fast. But I just got AirPods pro today and have been testing for a few hours. I tried all three tip sizes and within 5-10 seconds of turning on noise cancelling on the AirPods pro I feel a VERY strong pressure on my ears and I even feel short of breath and my chest gets a little tight and I feel like that lump in my throat feeling when you get nervous. and there’s pressure on my sinuses as well, and if I keep wearing them with ANC on for 5-10 minutes it gets really uncomfortable and worrisome and almost painful. The noise cancellation is incredible and Im trying to justify keeping them and not returning. I stopped using the AirPods pro (with ANC on) an hour ago and all those symptoms have NOT GONE AWAY yet (although have faded a little bit) but still so weird that an hour later I still have the chest/ear fatigue and pressure in my head. Ive never felt this way before I cant compare it to anything else.

Some people can't handle ANC. My friend has similar symptoms to yours; anytime I hand him my Bose QC-35 to listen to something he asks me to make sure the ANC is completely off because it's painful for him.

I think the reason is that the perceived silence caused by ANC can be so perfect that it makes your brain think your ears are clogged up. So you start unconsciously doing things to try to unclog them and develop these symptoms. It sucks but some folks just can't handle ANC and you lost that coin flip. :(
 
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