I’m pretty sad. I bought a pair of Bose Q45’s and I love them for their comfort and sound. Unfortunately I’m getting a weird feeling when the ANC is on. Feels like motion sickness. I’m very sensitive to motion sickness, so I’m wondering if this feeling will go away. I never had it before with other ANC headphones, but those weren’t as strong as the Boses.

Anyone else had this and does it go away?

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chanchowancho t1_j24u6lu wrote on December 29, 2022 at 5:51 PM

I think it’s due to the constant sound pressure from the ANC - I used to feel very ill from the original quiet comforts back in the early 2000’s. Maybe my brain had a: “why do I have the sensation of sound on my eardrums but am hearing no sound?”

One long haul flight in 2016 I happened to have a pair of QC25’s available, and despite the sick feeling they always gave me, I decided to wear them - somehow over the duration of that flight I went from not being able to stomach them, to being fine with them!

Ever since then I have worn quiet comforts constantly at work and have had no problems! Currently have the QC45s.

So maybe try wearing the QC45’s in a VERY noisy environment to let your brain acclimatise to the feeling of the ANC while a little bit of outside noise still gets through - that might mitigate some of the weird: “sound but no sound” feeling?

TheReturnOfKoffietas OP t1_j2517i6 wrote on December 29, 2022 at 6:36 PM

I’ll try that! Thanks!

leftlanespawncamper t1_j24oxfd wrote on December 29, 2022 at 5:17 PM

Seems to be akin to having the gene that makes cilantro taste like soap. There's just a subset of people for whom ANC creates a uncomfortable sensation of pressure in their ears.

What I'm curious about, and haven't read anything either way, is if those who experience it do so with all ANC or just specific versions of ANC. Can you use Sony 1000XMx series without this sensation? What about Airpod Pros/Maxes? Sennheiser Momentums?

TheReturnOfKoffietas OP t1_j2512ce wrote on December 29, 2022 at 6:35 PM

I have had budget ANC headphones in the past (Anker Q30 and Edifier), never had problems. The ANC on the Boses is much much heavier.

ricardo9505 t1_j24anyu wrote on December 29, 2022 at 3:44 PM

No but this is a common complaint I've heard over many years.

TheReturnOfKoffietas OP t1_j24btdv wrote on December 29, 2022 at 3:52 PM

I can still return them, but they are sooo comfortable 😔 However using them on the “Aware” mode only seems kinda stupid.

D00M98 t1_j24uag0 wrote on December 29, 2022 at 5:52 PM

I don’t have motion sickness. I do feel the cabin pressure of ANC headphones. I stopped using ANC 20 years ago. I use IEM when I need to block out sound. And I have Apple AirPods Pro and Shure Aonic with ANC, but I don’t use ANC fearure.

Timequake-Droid t1_j26intj wrote on December 30, 2022 at 12:32 AM

You might get used to it..

marsbars2345 t1_j273nf3 wrote on December 30, 2022 at 3:04 AM

I got it bad from my AirPods Pro and my Sony xm3 made me feel like I was back on a plane lol but it eventually went away. You’ll get used to it.. unless you don’t. There’s some people who apparently never get used to it. In that case my condolences