Hearing Safety - serious

[The Bakery]

If you play games with headphones, or loud speakers please read
this, I'm keepin git very minimum and it's very important to YOU.

!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE read up on hearing damage/tinnitus !!!

Hearing damage is very serious, and can cause deafness, tinnitus
and other problems. If you think that it's no big deal, read about
the effects of tinnitus.

Some people can not live with the effects.

I post this because there is virtually NO common knowledge about
hearing damage and protection. About 314 in 1000 Americans over
65 have 40-50 percent hearing loss, which is very significant.

More headphones, ipods, gaming computers, concerts, clubs. But no
education about hearing. Do yourself a favor and educate yourself on
hearing damage, tinnitus, earplug usage, decibel ratings.

Even riding long distances with your windows down can hurt you, refer
to a decibel chart. I developed tinnitus while producing music, and I
make sure that I take time to make this announcement at clubs, parties,
and now anandtech.

For your own good, consider earplugs, open ear headphones, low
volumes, etc. If you think it's not serious, go to a tinnitus forum.

Sorry for the drama, please understand. And please take care of your ears.

 

[Ika]

FYI, open ear headphones would make hearing damage worse. You'll play music at a louder volume than you would with close headphones/noise-isolating headphones, therefore you'll hurt your ears faster.

By the way, this is in the wrong forum.

 

[BladeVenom]

By the time I'm 65, I expect everyone will have bionic ears.

 

[andrei3333]

Originally posted by: Aflac
FYI, open ear headphones would make hearing damage worse. You'll play music at a louder volume than you would with close headphones/noise-isolating headphones, therefore you'll hurt your ears faster.

By the way, this is in the wrong forum.

not really

that only applies if you are in a noisy environment and "choose" to drown the noise in your music to create an illusion that there is no noise

Google this subject and you will find many links, there is no better or worse in this case for your ears

 

[Maleficus]

Actually, I am going to be an audiologist so I prefer that you all damage and then come see me

Jokes aside, serious business here, take heed.

 

[Ika]

Originally posted by: andrei3333

Originally posted by: Aflac
FYI, open ear headphones would make hearing damage worse. You'll play music at a louder volume than you would with close headphones/noise-isolating headphones, therefore you'll hurt your ears faster.

By the way, this is in the wrong forum.

not really

that only applies if you are in a noisy environment and "choose" to drown the noise in your music to create an illusion that there is no noise

Google this subject and you will find many links, there is no better or worse in this case for your ears

If you have the same volume output on both headphones, yes, they will be equivalent, but most people will turn up the volume louder on open headphones so they can hear the music better. Trust me, people will do this. I always have to turn the volume down when someone hands me their iPod because they always play it too damn loud.

 

[DefRef]

I deliberately switched from the cruddy iPod earbuds to Ultimate Ears phones that really wedge into the ear canal so that I could get better bass response without needing to blast the volume. People want to FEEL the music and as a result, crank it up much louder than it needs to be. My recording headphones encompass my ears and squeeze in to provide a better seal and more bass at lower volumes.

If you go to loud clubs or see bands, you may want to consider getting fitted audio filters that cut down the db while not muffling the sound. They'll run you between $100-$200, but that's just a few video games or part of a new video card. It may seem like a lot, but considering that you can't get your ears replaced, it's a smaller price to pay than not protecting yourself will cost.

Check out H.E.A.R. - Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers for more info. When you're young you feel invincible and immortal. You're not. Take care of yourself and you'll be able to rock a long, long time. Life isn't over at 25. Trust me.



Edit: Fixed link.

 

[Ika]

Originally posted by: DefRef
If you go to loud clubs or see bands, you may want to consider getting fitted audio filters that cut down the db while not muffling the sound. They'll run you between $100-$200, but that's just a few video games or part of a new video card. It may seem like a lot, but considering that you can't get your ears replaced, it's a smaller price to pay than not protecting yourself will cost.

I have a pair of Etymotic ER20 earplugs that claim to do the same thing. Of course, they're not exactly pro level, but I got them for free when I bought my iM716s, so *shrug*. I think they retail for like $20. They work pretty well last time I tried them. No idea where they are now, though

some more info on the ER20

 

[andrei3333]

true say man

i limited my club going after i had a problem with my left ear, when i was at a club where the music is obviously blasted beyond a needed level my left ear would start sort of crackling and hurting, i am not kididng this is still happening to me if i go to a club... this happens when i walk by a speaker...although i still have not seen a specialist as the problem has not gotten worse (yet)

As far as heaphones, i used to use a pair of Koss TD-65 fully enclosed headphones at home. found the sounds was boomy and the base was less precise and seemed more boomy..switched to this pair of Koss UR-40's which are open air design and the sound is more natual, i feel less pressure on my ears and my ears are not sweaty anymore...check out my phones:
http://i150.photobucket.com/al...ndrei3333/P3200003.jpg

 

[schizoid77]

I'm already deaf from playing in a band for 7 years. I have to turn everything up just to hear it.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Aflac
FYI, open ear headphones would make hearing damage worse. You'll play music at a louder volume than you would with close headphones/noise-isolating headphones, therefore you'll hurt your ears faster.

By the way, this is in the wrong forum.

Well, it is about gaming with headphones .. which i CANNOT stand btw [except for MP, of course]

ANYWAY, ear buds are the worst offenders .. the problem is that you get USED to a certain volume and keep on turning up the volume to get the "same effect" without generally realizing what you are doing.

That said, i was young - once - [still a kid, really and love to max out my music even now and again with only 400w - and 400 w in my car with all Polk audio separates including Sub] and i was a genuine dyed-in-wool "audiophile" - Grado signature Cartridge & cans, Thorens TT, Mark Levinson modified HK Citation-4 Tube pre amp, Bridged GAS AMPs to over 1000w a channel into stacked Dahlquist DQ10s ... and i set up an ICE RINK with my previous home system = stacked Klipsch La Scallas/1000w MacIntosh components. So i always figured if it was too loud, you were too old.
--And way back when, i sat on the Stage in front of Ted Nugent's floor-to-ceiling bank of speakers at SF's old Winterland pretty regularly - whenever he played.

So my hearing loss was beginning early - especially in the upper ranges of my hearing - which used to be *exceptional*. Then i became a DJ in Honolulu the last decade and went to ALL the popular concerts - including being dead center of Green Day's and Beastie Boy's concerts [crushed directly against the stage by 10,000+ fans] to mention a very FEW - every weekend another damn concert i HAD to attend.


Did i also mention i went to [very loud] clubs every weekend also?
:Q

So ... i sold all my audio equipment and resigned myself to saying "huh"
-BUT, traditional Chinese Medicine - acupuncture in particular has actually restored 80% of my hearing .. so that is a good "ending" to a bad story.
--Maybe someone else will benefit by it

 

[DefRef]

Originally posted by: Aflac

Originally posted by: DefRef
If you go to loud clubs or see bands, you may want to consider getting fitted audio filters that cut down the db while not muffling the sound. They'll run you between $100-$200, but that's just a few video games or part of a new video card. It may seem like a lot, but considering that you can't get your ears replaced, it's a smaller price to pay than not protecting yourself will cost.

I have a pair of Etymotic ER20 earplugs that claim to do the same thing. Of course, they're not exactly pro level, but I got them for free when I bought my iM716s, so *shrug*. I think they retail for like $20. They work pretty well last time I tried them. No idea where they are now, though

some more info on the ER20

Those are better than nothing or just plugging your ears. I've got a pair of plugs (don't have 'em handy) that have a special cartridge that fits into a silicone sleeve. They're pretty good, but they get uncomfortable to me fairly quickly. I've found some cheapo foam plugs that are super comfortable and don't totally wreck the music, but they wear out, too. This is why I'm splurging on something like the Musician's Earplugs that Etymotic makes.

Bottom line: Turn it down and plug 'em up!