If you listen in noisy environments, I'd bet active-noise cancellation is good for your hearing though

Ooof, I dunno… You can probably get by with cheap headphones, but they’re probably one of the objects you’ll spend the most time with and a good set can really make a difference. Good noise cancelling is essentially a requirement for me to live.

Hard disagree. I mean yeah, if you're only listening to speech, garbage quality headphones are where it's at.

But if you listen to music, a decent pair makes an absolute world of difference. It's like night and day. Like comparing a tin can to a music concert.

You don't have to spend a zillion dollars, though. A good set can absolutely still be had for cheap, but you just have to do your research first.

Personally I had way too many quality issues at that price range. An earbud would be randomly quieter than the other, the battery of an earbud would die, the Bluetooth would suck, or they would be unusable for phone calls. I bought refurbished $100-something headphones for $70 and haven't needed to buy any more since.