I have now been ANC-free for a month. A long month of hearing traffic noise, of dodging pedestrians with their faces buried in their phones, and being heckled by people with books on the side of the street. But I am resolute, knowing that I am safer without ANC while walking around, so that I can hear cars before they hit me. I am a pinball at train stations no longer.
But the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Gen 2 look at me with a sultry gaze, tempting me back to the noise-canceling fold. But I stand firm, my inhuman will to hear the outside world stronger than the quiet comfort of Bose's headphones. I will resist. I must resist.
