[kramer5150]

My MS2 is my primary /fave can. i also have an MDR-CD870, MDR-CD770, DT770, KSC75 and UR40 but the MS2 gets most head-time.

I notice that I have to turn up my other cans and play them MUCH louder than the MS2 to reach the same level of enjoyment. Is my hearing being damaged from the MS2? I really dont see how this is possible since I dont listen to them loud at all. Furthermore I have no troubles hearing things around me, even in noisy environments.
Yet... I catch myself 30 minutes into the session groovin with the volume cranked on my G-moy.

Anyone else notice this too?... possibly with other cans...?

Garrett

 

[iancraig10]

I did this with my Grado 225's ... slowly cranking volume up without realising. Eventually, the inevitable whistling in my ear. I ended up scared to listen higher than a whispering volume and in the end, moving to another headphone. Since then, the whistling has returned occasionally but it is nothing like what it was. I don't like to blame headphones for this though, it was me just playing stuff too loud without realising.

 

[gpalmer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kramer5150 I notice that I have to turn up my other cans and play them MUCH louder than the MS2 to reach the same level of enjoyment. Is my hearing being damaged from the MS2?

No, if anything from all those other cans you need to sell. The presentation of the MS2 is what you're looking for and to get the same effect you have to crank the other cans louder. This may be a bad thing depending on the levels...

 

[halcyon]

Gpalmer is correct.

You should be more afraid of listening to the other cans, because you need to crank them up.

That's your preference working, not an acute hearing loss.

If you had a Grado listening induced hearing loss, you'd need to crank up the Grados too.

 

[l_simon_l]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kramer5150 I notice that I have to turn up my other cans and play them MUCH louder than the MS2 to reach the same level of enjoyment.

I have noticed the same thing with my newly aquired RS-1s. I listen at much lower volumes with this can than I do with my etys or MS-1s. I think this is a good thing!

 

[setmenu]

I have not heard the phones mentioned but do experience the phenomena
at times with others.
Of course sometimes it is just plain enjoyable to blast ones ears with fine tunes.
But the above aside I think one of the reasons that some phones/speakers encourage this is that the may be deficient in some frequencies that provide ones personal sense of correctness, so one unconsciously tries to correct
for this by trying to raise their levels.
Without an EQ this generally means upping the overall volume level.
The ears tendency to have a flatter response at elevated levels does not help
here either.
The opposite can also occur though resulting in less enjoyment but preserved
hearing.

Anyone else think the above could be a possibility with the mentioned phones?


Setmenu

 

[taymat]

The grados have a peak at about 4khz, a common frequency for hearing loss. IMO you have hearing loss in this area, and so you need to turn the other headphones up for this frequency to be filled in better to your ears and get the same impact and detail. However when you do this you are irritating your ears because all the other frequencies are too loud. That's my theory anyway, but I'm not a doctor.

 

[GoRedwings19]

Grado's are more efficient at a set given volume compared to other cans. THe Rs-1's being the most efficient at any given volume I find. There are a few other manufacturers of headphones where they are slightly better. AT being one of them.

Funnily enough though the hp-series are highly inefficient even they are low impedance cans and are difficult to drive.

 

[rstokes]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iancraig10 I did this with my Grado 225's ... slowly cranking volume up without realising. Eventually, the inevitable whistling in my ear.

I did that with my MS-1's, when I'd just finished my PIMETA. It just kept sounding better as I cranked it up, until I got complaints from the next room...

As a safety measure, I rewired the PIMETA for a gain of 2 instead of 10...

 

[rstokes]

Quote:

Originally Posted by taymat The grados have a peak at about 4khz, a common frequency for hearing loss.

Interesting... The biggest Grado user (in terms of hours per day) in our household has "moderate to severe" hearing loss, and uses them to listen to TV. Absolutely loves 'em. I thought it was just because they didn't have the reflections, phase issues, etc. that come with listening to loudspeakers...

 

[iancraig10]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rstokes As a safety measure, I rewired the PIMETA for a gain of 2 instead of 10...

I now use Sennheiser headphones. They sound smoother to my ears. I started to suffer fatigue due to the prominent top end of the 225's. I think that the bass end increased on the Grados as I turned up which may account for why I was doing it.

I permanently keep an eye on the number that I set my source at now because it was a serious warning and I ain't gonna do that again!

 

[Jam_Master_J]

Since Grados have a peak in the upper mid-range(I believe around 4kHz was mentioned above) they may seem louder at a given volume. Your ear is very sensitive to sounds in the upper-mids so the Grados may be providing you with a "false sense of loudness" if that makes sense. I find bumping up the upper mids by only 2-3 dB on my KSC-75s makes them much easier to listen to at low volumes.

 

[12thgear]

Wow it's almost the exact opposite for me, and not just with headphones. Generally I'll set a comfortable listening volume and enjoy my music for a while. Then my ears adjust and things seem a bit loud, so I turn it down. This may happen a couple of times in one session.

 

[chrisfromalbany]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jam_Master_J Since Grados have a peak in the upper mid-range(I believe around 4kHz was mentioned above) they may seem louder at a given volume. Your ear is very sensitive to sounds in the upper-mids so the Grados may be providing you with a "false sense of loudness" if that makes sense. I find bumping up the upper mids by only 2-3 dB on my KSC-75s makes them much easier to listen to at low volumes.

OK question there. Alittle of the topic but I think a good one. What is the best EQ setting to protect your ears. I thought that having the EQ with low-end raised and high-end raised and mid recessed would prevent earing loss.
I always thought the mids were the area that caused earing loss.

I understand that best thing to do is keep the volume low. But are there some areas that you can increase that don't do as much damage.

 

[Kirosia]

Perhaps you're used to the bumped treble (forward presentation) of the grado, therefore have to turn up the volume with other cans to get the same hook?

Anyways, I sold off my rs1 cause the sound hurt my ears and I think the sr-325 was responsible for my tinnitus . ..