I Didn’t Care About Active Noise Cancellation—Until I Realized I’d Been Using It Wrong

I admit my mistakes when I’m wrong: I’ve been missing the point of active-noise cancellation (ANC). After some trial and error and finally picking up some hardware with ANC worth using, I’m a true believer.

How I’ve Been Using ANC Completely Wrong

What initially gave me a knee-jerk reaction to ANC was this idea of my thoughts being isolated from background noises. My thoughts are always running, so it just didn’t sound pleasant to be in an environment where I had to hear more of my thoughts.

However, I was fortunate enough to get a care package of electronics, and one of the gifts included a pair of Raycon Everyday Pro Earbuds, which have ANC. Being earbuds, that was my first holy moment. I now knew how ANC truly worked.

All I Needed Was a Pair of Earbuds

I don’t like headphones—period. My ears always get hot, despite my headset having breathable earcups. It kept being the length of time because my ears hurt after an hour. Earbuds, on the other hand, feel infinitely better. I can wear earbuds for an hour without getting too hot, although I do make it a point to avoid wearing them when I’m exercising. The debate on headphones vs. earbuds has a clear winner in my book.

Since I could never stand to wear my headset for long, I just never had much of an opportunity to experience the difference between ANC being on and off. The ANC feature is why I picked up the headset in the first place, after being convinced that earbuds don’t have good ANC due to their size. How wrong I was!

It Was Hard to Notice ANC At First

My house is pretty noisy most of the time, but since I regularly enjoy music too, the combination acted like its own filter, preventing me from really hearing the difference. I also wasn’t sure what to expect.

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It took moving to a quieter part of the house and playing music on a separate device while I enabled ANC on my Raycons. Aha! There it was—the noticeable muffling and softening of the surrounding environment.

I Didn’t Appreciate Awareness Mode, Either

On the flip side of ANC is Awareness Mode—at least that’s what my Raycons call it. I’ve also heard it called Hear-Through and Transparency Mode. It amplifies the surrounding noises, though to me, it sounds like someone cranked up the gain in my ears.

Paired with music, Awareness Mode solved two problems: music sounded better with ANC disabled, while allowing me to keep an ear on my surroundings. That’s helpful to me because I can then hear my dog when she whines to go outside, when the doorbell rings for a delivery, or when the kids are about to have a meltdown.

Now that I’ve come around to ANC, its use has become second nature to me. I store my Raycons in their capsule and charge the entire device without thinking. It’s one of my few good habits.

More importantly, I can reap the benefits of this technology and finally understand why people love it so much. Of ANC’s useful benefits, three stood out to me the most.

ANC is Protecting My Ears From Damage

I may not be old, but I’m also keenly aware of my health and wouldn’t want to cause unnecessary strain. One of my bad habits is listening to music at a high volume, and since it’s usually metal, I have no doubt my ears are taking a beating.

Now that I understand how ANC affects my hearing, I can notice it more clearly with music. It sounds louder, but that’s only because I’ve practically muted the outside world. So, I bring the volume down to safer, if not the safest, levels.

Enabling ANC Has Made My Focus Better

As I’ve mentioned, the idea of separating my thoughts from background noise gave me the chills, but it ended up being what I needed to help me focus. Having those background noises was part of the problem.

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What background noise was doing to my ADHD-addled brain was giving it a distraction. Once ANC was on and the background was muted, I was more focused on my thoughts and getting words onto paper.

ANC Has Cut Down on Stimulation When I Travel

I don’t travel often, but when I do, it makes me antsy, especially if I’m sitting for hours on end. All those noises catch my attention, and I’m bouncing between sounds until my brain is exhausted. With ANC, I get to experience a more meditative state because it turns out ANC works without music, too.

ANC lets me relax and enjoy the ride. I don’t wear my earbuds for the entire trip, though. The chance to miss something important is real, so I only use ANC when I’m feeling overstimulated and when I know I can zone out for an hour.