Apparently, there is no scientific evidence that ANC is or is not causing tinnitus.

ANC reduces background noise, which typically allows users to listen at lower volumes, thereby reducing total sound exposure to the ear. So if the user adapts their volume, that would lead to less risk of tinnitus. This works for me :)

But there are lots of people on forums suggesting that there is a link between tinnitus and ANC. One reason could be that ANC headphones allow you to listen very accurately to inner auditory signals, and if you already had some tinnitus, you might start to notice it.

I developed tinnitus a year ago (I'm in my early 30s). I was living in an environment where it was noisy in the morning so I took to wearing sound cancelling headphones and earplugs to sleep.

A few weeks into it I noticed a persistent ringing and I thought it was some sort of electrical wine in an old house. A week later I realized it was permanent so I cut out my sound cancelling sleep routine, but the tinnitus has stayed.

I got tinnitus before ANC was a thing, and I've never been able to comfortably use it for more than a short period of time.

Whenever I do, I swear I feel increased pressure on my ears and my tinnitus temporarily gets worse. I've often wondered if I imagine it, but hearing from others here makes me think it isn't so strange.

I personally believe active noise cancelling is a direct cause of tinnitus. This is just a personal belief though and I have no direct evidence. I've heard a lot of anecdotes corroborating this.

Yes it feels like I got it from ANC. Might not "be a thing", just coincided with my ANC use. It is my data point.