[jsplice]

Has anyone had this before? I've recently been listening to my new Yulong DAH1 Mark dac, and the high pitched frequencies it makes make my head feel like it's about to shatter. I then later noticed that I have a constant high pitched ringing in my ears. Weird thing is, I had the dac for about a week before this happened, and at first I thought that maybe the burn in process made the dac worse. But now I'm beginning to think it's a problem with my ears. I listen to loud music with my iBasso D2 Boa/DT770 Pro 80s all day long at work, then come home and crank up my stereo. Maybe I'm just working my ears too hard?

Has anyone had this problem before? I've been reading about some herbal remedies, but I think good old fassioned rest may be the best thing to resolve this. I guess it's also possible that I have some kind of ear infection.

 

[TopPop]

^You're working your ears too hard, man. It may go away eventually, but if you don't take some precautions now (lower volumes, shorter listening sessions, breaks between sessions) it will come back more and more, and then will simply stop going away.

Trust me... for the past few years, my ears ring 24/7...

 

[moonboy403]

Jsplice, I see that you're using the iBasso Boa, just wondering how load you turn that up to? 12 o'clock? 2 o'clock?

 

[jsplice]

This is bad news. Well since I've started getting into head-fi (I've always listened to a stereo at home), I listen all day long at work. I hardly ever take the cans off, so I'm probably listening about 7-8 hours a day. As far as the volume level on the D2 goes, it varies. It depends on how loud i have the volume set in MediaMonkey too. But on high gain, I'm usually around 12 o clock, maybe a bit higher. Today I've toned it down quite a bit. I switched it down to low gain, and am around 9 o clock. My hearing is something I take very seriously, and right now I dont' know if I have an ear infection, fluid in my ears, ear wax, whatever. But I want to make sure this doesn't get any worse.

TopPop: Your ears ring 24/7? How the heck did you ever get used to this? Do you notice a greater sensitivity to higher frequencies? I can't even listen to my new DAH1 at home right now (I'm used to the "rolled off" sound of vinyl) because the high frequencies are ear piercing. It's that bad.

I'm thinking of getting a tube preamp to use with the DAH1, which will naturally roll off some of the high frequencies. I've never had this problem before when listening to vinyl at home, and my old Shure E2c's here at the office. It's very possible that since I got the D2 and the Beyer DT770s, I'm listening at much louder levels and don't even realize it....

 

[moonboy403]

I don't know how much this helps. But with my iem, the RE1, which is 150 ohms, I only turn up the volume dial to around 10 o'clock. If my understanding is right, your 80 ohms headphone should sound louder at the same level of amping.

 

[Skylab]

It is critical if you listen for that much time to keep the volume to a safe level. Hearing damage is a question of both volume levels and exposure times. You need to be listening well below 80db peak if you listen that long in order to not damage your hearing. If you are using full size headphones, buy a $40 SPL meter and TEST the volumes that you listen at, by coupling the headphone to the meter, as pictured here:

I occasionally teach a class at a local college on the science of sound and hearing, and as a part of that, I ask college students to play headphones at what would be their "normal" listening level. Many of them listen at over 110db, which will damage your hearing in less than 30 minutes of listening.

 

[scompton]

You're probably listening too loud. I also listen all day at work and some at home, and I have for years. I don't have tinnitus. Using Skylab's method of measuring, I know I listen at around 65dB. At first this sounds too quiet, but you get used to it after a while. Now at meets, I'm always turning the volume down because other people listen too loud for me.

 

[XXII]

Quote:

Originally Posted by moonboy403 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't know how much this helps. But with my iem, the RE1, which is 150 ohms, I only turn up the volume dial to around 10 o'clock. If my understanding is right, your 80 ohms headphone should sound louder at the same level of amping.

Loudness doesn't only depend on the impedence but also the sensitivity of the headphones so your argument is not necessarily true...

 

[TopPop]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsplice /img/forum/go_quote.gif TopPop: Your ears ring 24/7? How the heck did you ever get used to this? Do you notice a greater sensitivity to higher frequencies? I can't even listen to my new DAH1 at home right now (I'm used to the "rolled off" sound of vinyl) because the high frequencies are ear piercing. It's that bad.

Yeah, sometimes I just tune it out, I guess. I used to be in a rock band in high school, and we were young and dumb: performance level practices every week in a small area, no ear protection. Never wore any for concerts either. Alas... live and learn, huh?

My ears are very sensitive to high frequencies now, to the point that I physically feel pain on certain notes at certain frequencies. I feel like an old man in my girlfriend's car, constantly having to turn down her music, asking her, "How can you stand listening that loud? Doesn't it hurt your ears?!" I think it might have been one reason why I ended up getting rid of my Beyer DT-880: the treble bugged me.

I listen at very moderate volumes nowadays, and it's still very enjoyable. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised to find that your ears get used to it pretty quickly, and you still end up hearing all of the detail and bass. Go ahead and try it one day at work and see what you think!

 

[tintin47]

Quote:

Originally Posted by moonboy403 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't know how much this helps. But with my iem, the RE1, which is 150 ohms, I only turn up the volume dial to around 10 o'clock. If my understanding is right, your 80 ohms headphone should sound louder at the same level of amping.

not necessarily. There is a lot more to consider than just resistance. Just think about the sheer amount of mass needed to move the 880 driver rather than an iem. Also, the iem is literally 1/4 of an inch from the eardrum, as opposed to ~1 1/2 inches for the 880, and sound scales with the inverse square of the distance.

 

[moonboy403]

Quote:

Originally Posted by XXII /img/forum/go_quote.gif Loudness doesn't only depend on the impedence but also the sensitivity of the headphones so your argument is not necessarily true...

Thanks for correcting me because I wasn't so sure about that.

 

[jsplice]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. It's good to know I can turn to this forum for answers. I have been listening to the DT770 Pros and D2 at a much lower volume today. Thing that sucks is I can still hear things around me (one of the reasons I wear headphones in the first place), but oh well. I think that's another reason I was cranking them up so high--I wanted to drown out all other noises. Obviously that can be bad for the ears.

I too am very sensitive to high frequencies at times. Luckily at home I have tone controls on my NAD T162 preamp, so if need be, I can just crank down the treble at times when my ears are extra sensitive (like right now). I think for the next few days it will be best to ease up on listening, and to listen at lower volumes, with mellower music (jazz, classical) instead of rock and metal.

 

[Punnisher]

The 770s don't isolate as well as cans with leather pads. If you want extreme isolation I would recommend some in-ears with Shure olive tips.

 

[SinnerG]

I have that high-pitched very loud ringing in my ears as well. Basically, I haven't experienced a moment of silence since 1994 when I definitely went and damaged them by standing next to a massive wall of 12" subs for well over an hour. Loud enough to not hear myself shout afterwards. Stupid.

Like the guys said, tone it down. You might want to not hear the things around you by cranking up the volume, but in a short while you might as well not use headphones 'cos you won't hear anything at all.

My ears hurt on some frequencies. Usually I have the car radio going and when my wife gets onto the mobile phone at the same time I have to turn one of them down and she's got no volume control at all. Actually, she's got one of the world's loudest voices.

I still enjoy my music, but I admit I have damage. In fact, if I put my mobile phone against my one ear and they speak loud enough, then my other ear kinda "clicks". Some say that's because I have nothing between my ears.

 

[Skylab]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Punnisher /img/forum/go_quote.gif The 770s don't isolate as well as cans with leather pads. If you want extreme isolation I would recommend some in-ears with Shure olive tips.

Unless of course you get the leather pads for the DT770