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Sound Pressure Levels & Ear Damage

post #1 of 12
9/1/07 at 10:07pm
Thread Starter 
Being a bit paranoid I worry about hearing loss. I would normally say that I listen at low volumes, and based on where the volume pot is on my amps versus when a friend uses it there is a wide gap. With my setting significantly lower.

However every so often I get an slight ringing in my ears. In those cases I stop listening for about 5 days and the ringing goes away.

Nonetheless today I decided to find out. An article comparing the standards by EPA/WHO versus ANSI/NIOSH, and OSHA pushed me to buy a Sound Level Meter at Radio Shack.

According to the comparison EPA/WHO has much lower exposure numbers than either ANSI/NIOSH or OSHA. Here is the article: http://www.nonoise.org/hearing/expos...dardschart.htm

I listen to music 4 to 6 hours on a daily basis. Then according to the EPA/WHO I should not be listening to volumes at sound pressure levels higher than 76 dBA. A is a weighting curve where it registers most of the frequencies in the 500 to 10,000 Hz range.

As I said earlier I went to Radio Shack and I purchased their Digital Sound Level Meter for under $50 including taxes. I then proceeded to make a cover using a "paper plate" for the headphones with a hole in the center. The idea is to simulate the headphone being over the ear where sounds are less likely to enter or leave. Yes my method/gear is not the best but at least it provides me with a "ball park figure". Here are a couple of pictures of the gear I used.







I then proceeded to set up my gear to the highest volume that I would normally listen to and proceeded to measure the sound pressure level using the "Slow Response" and the "A Weighted Curve"

The results are very interesting. First I validated I listen to very low levels. The numbers indicate that on average the sound level is in the 62 dBA to 68 dBA with an occasional excursion to 76 dBA or 78 dBA on loud passages. I would think that based on the results I am way below the most restrictive guidelines of the EPA/WHO.

Now, I not always listen at that setting of the amps For example the highest I normally would listen to the X-Can V3 is at -62dB. But most of the times I listen at in between the -62 dB and -70 dB, -66 dB.

Since the meter verifies the low level of the music 62 dBA to 68 dBA on average why do I get the ringing in the ears? It is a rhetorical question but it does make me wonder if even the standards are to high. Some food for thought.

Hope you find the above of interest. If you all can see any fragrant test errors on my part please let me know.
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post #2 of 12
9/1/07 at 10:32pm
I listen just a bit higher than you do at times which I feel is still in the safe range and I too experience ringing in my ears at times. My ringing is slight and never bothersome and seems to come and go no matter how much listening per day I do (which is avg. 10 hours).

I've read somewhere that there are other factors that contribute to a ringing in the ears besides listening too loud. I can't remember any details on that idea but I have allergies and I blame that at times.

I use the analog RS meter.
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post #3 of 12
9/2/07 at 5:08am
This is just a hunch, but I believe that most people in our hobby experience high-frequency tinnitus first (rather than ringing at lower pitches). Most music has the upper frequencies boosted beyond the level of realism, especially commercial music. Thus, when the music stops, you hear the ringing because those high frequencies don't go away. After a few days, you've probably managed to ignore the ringing either consciously or not.

Most people 20 years and older have at least some tinnitus. Whether or not it's noticeable depends on its severity and on the affected person's ability to listen analytically. In other words, people who stick their heads against the P.A. monitors at concerts don't care about their hearing because they don't listen analytically. Otherwise, they'd notice their ears bleeding.
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post #4 of 12
9/8/07 at 9:58pm
Mrarroyo--do you have allergies? My ringing is almost 100% correlated with my sinuses being clogged. I too was ultra-paranoid when I first got headphones because of all the warnings I saw in the fold-outs that come with headphones. I honestly think that I always had the ringing but was now noticing it because someone pointed out that I should be afraid of it. I think it is, to an extent, cover your a** behavior on the part of the headphone manufacturers. I've listened to loud music for YEARS and I never noticed my ringing until I was told to. It's placebo effect.

Now I just relax and listen, sometimes loud, sometimes soft. The ringing has very little to do with listening and a whole lot to do with my allergies.
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post #5 of 12
9/10/07 at 11:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by GreatDane View Post
I use the analog RS meter.
Quality stuff right there.
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post #6 of 12
5/4/08 at 4:20pm
Well, I use the same sound level meter and I measure around 65-75 dba and it never goes over 80 dba. I still get ringing and I only listen 45 mins in a day, sometimes even less.
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post #7 of 12
5/4/08 at 11:16pm
I read somewhere that you need specialized equipment to measure the real dB impact of headphones on the ear. I'll see if I can track down the article. My point being the RS meter while good for speaker setup and use won't show the true loudness of headphones as it is perceived by the ear.

One way you could try this is to turn up external speakers to similar volume (that you perceive) and measure that compare that to your headphones.

The comment on high-frequency loss is accurate. I'm in my mid-30's, have been to numerous concerts (too many to count), used to play in a band, used to have an insanely loud car stereo when i was younger, and, surprisingly I can still hear higher frequencies. If I play test signals, I can easily hear 16khz and can perceive when 20khz is on or off. My wife can't hear 16khz (and women usually have better hearing).

Anyway, my point... protect those ears. Ringing is BAD.
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post #8 of 12
5/26/08 at 3:18am
Well seeing this thread has been a little reassuring. I thought at age 16 listening to my ipod and going to only 5 concerts already caught up and caused a slight tinnitus. Good thing is, it recently started and I have been blowing my nose quite a lot due to allergies. I still think I should sell my ipod considering I have to turn it quite loud in normal school environment and end up not using it often anymore. When my birthday comes around, I hope to see a nice pair of musicians' earplugs. I want my hearing to last well into my age.
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post #9 of 12
5/26/08 at 4:17pm
Allergies and tjm (tight jaw muscles) have actually pushed me away from headphones almost entirely. I do use some jvc iems rarely now. Issue is that my right ear gets very tender to the touch and yes ringing too. The ringing is very slight however and is only elevated when I get serious sneezing fits. However, I am waging a mighty battle against any and all bodily issues. In fact, I am currently doing an ioncleanse (google it, I can't link due to the stupid internet connection here).

Be healthy and you will hear and experience even more of the music. I want to return to Stax someday. For now, it is mostly speakers.
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post #10 of 12
5/26/08 at 5:15pm
Check out naet for allergies:

naet.com

it eliminates them completely.
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post #11 of 12
5/26/08 at 5:28pm
Do you clean your ears with q-tips? If so, you might be pushing wax back and causing the ringing. It happened to me. Once I stopped using q-tips, the ringing went away after several days.

I clean my ears with one of these now: The Ototek Loop - Safe and Simple Earwax Removal and I haven't had problems with ringing.
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post #12 of 12
5/30/08 at 11:44am
There is a lot of mis-understandings and mis-information about hearing damage and safe listening levels, this is for two main reasons:

1. No one knows for sure what constitutes "safe" listening levels, and

2. No two people have identical hearing.

The figures for safe listening levels vary according to the organisation publishing the data and how often they review the latest research. As a general rule, the "safe" SPL levels published by various governments have been reducing over the last few decades as research shows that damage can be caused at lower and lower SPLs. Whether an individual will damage their hearing at a particular SPL is impossible to say with any confidence, unless we are talking about very high SPLs.

Bare in mind also that Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) is a symptom of Temporary Threshold Shift (TTS), Permanent Threshold Shift (PTS) and indeed a number of other conditions. Therefore you should not automatically conclude that if you're suffering from Tinnitus you have hearing damage. Likewise, you can have hearing damage and not suffer from Tinnitus.

The vast majority of human beings suffer from Tinnitus at some point in their lives, even if only for a few minutes. If it's becoming annoying you should visit a doctor, as some of the conditions which cause Tinnitus can be cured.
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