Are you scared that your IEM’s might be too loud?
Mar 21, 2006 at 5:48 AM Post #16 of 31
Quote:

Originally Posted by trevor1189
Here this is from the Um1 box paperwork that came with my um1's
Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but from what I understand the iPod can output a total of 115dB (This is very high)

OSHA's Chart for Hearing Safety (notice that every 5 dB time is cut in 1/2 this is because dB level is exponential and few a few decibels can mean serious damage)
dB maximum exposure time
85 dB= 8 hr.
90 dB= 4 hr.
95 dB= 2 hr.
100 dB= 1 hr.
105 dB= 30 mins.
110 dB= 15 mins.
115 dB (maximum iPod output)= 7.5 mins
Ok so from what I understand and I could be completely wrong
confused.gif
, You would have to listen to your iPod at 100% vol. for 7.5 mins to start to do damage.

P.S. I usually only have to listen to the um1's @ 40-50%
(favorite parts of songs sometimes like 75%
rolleyes.gif
)


Is this with the stock earbuds? I saddly don't have them so I don't think that chart would work with my setup.
 
Mar 21, 2006 at 5:50 AM Post #17 of 31
At first I was, simply because it seemed louder. After a while, I discovered that the volumes I had been listening to are very much lower than anything else. In fact, after I take my IEMs out EVERYTHING just seems so damned loud (kind of like when you turn on the TV in the middle of the night, or the phone rings at night). I've done one in, one out comparisons with ambient noises (like a TV) and the IEMS are definitely lower.
 
Mar 21, 2006 at 7:55 AM Post #19 of 31
Quote:

Originally Posted by Burns11
At first I was, simply because it seemed louder. After a while, I discovered that the volumes I had been listening to are very much lower than anything else. In fact, after I take my IEMs out EVERYTHING just seems so damned loud (kind of like when you turn on the TV in the middle of the night, or the phone rings at night). I've done one in, one out comparisons with ambient noises (like a TV) and the IEMS are definitely lower.



I have experienced this to just from wearing my ue10s for a few days. I wear them all the time and then when I take them out it seems that my ears are senstive to many loud sounds like trucks or machinery in our engineering shop
 
Mar 21, 2006 at 1:00 PM Post #21 of 31
Of course I'm not worried about them hurting my ears. I wear them to PROTECT my ears. I use the ER6i's at the gym where the gym music is blaring. They BLOCK out the noise. Then I can listen to music SOFTLY, at low volume. Even when I wear my Ety 4s' at home I listen to them at LOWER volumes than my grado's or senns because they block out noise. So let me ask you...without IEM's aren't you afraid you'll hurt your ears???
 
Mar 21, 2006 at 2:10 PM Post #22 of 31
Quote:

Originally Posted by trevor1189
Ok so from what I understand and I could be completely wrong
confused.gif
, You would have to listen to your iPod at 100% vol. for 7.5 mins to start to do damage.

P.S. I usually only have to listen to the um1's @ 40-50%
(favorite parts of songs sometimes like 75%
rolleyes.gif
)


Unless my Super.fis are MUCH more sensitive than your UM1s I don't know how you could listen at 40% volume. I find 25% to be too loud!
 
Mar 21, 2006 at 3:56 PM Post #25 of 31
Quote:

Originally Posted by Purgatos
Unless my Super.fis are MUCH more sensitive than your UM1s I don't know how you could listen at 40% volume. I find 25% to be too loud!


The super.fi 5pro is 115db/mW (as opposed to 114db/mW for UM1). But he may have his stuff mp3gained down to a constant volume.
 
Mar 21, 2006 at 9:17 PM Post #26 of 31
Quote:

Originally Posted by Norbert
Of course I'm not worried about them hurting my ears. I wear them to PROTECT my ears. I use the ER6i's at the gym where the gym music is blaring. They BLOCK out the noise. Then I can listen to music SOFTLY, at low volume. Even when I wear my Ety 4s' at home I listen to them at LOWER volumes than my grado's or senns because they block out noise. So let me ask you...without IEM's aren't you afraid you'll hurt your ears???


Same here, the construction noise that I am exposed to is much more dangerous than that emmitted by my IEM's. YOU just have to be judicous with the volume control.
 
Mar 21, 2006 at 10:02 PM Post #27 of 31
Quote:

Originally Posted by kwitel
Scared?
Im terrified. Which is why I refuse to buy a "true" IEM. I have some basic partial IEMS by JVC.
Heres my theory: people say they are better for you since they are blocking out any outside noise thus eliminating the need to listen to the music at ridiculously loud levels. Sounds good but I dont buy it. I feel that with a good "seal" youve essentailly created a little sound proof room where the music gets trapped and has nowhere to go but in!
eek.gif
Something about the lowered air pressure in the canal that bugs me out. Sounds a bit dramatic, I know-but I things are not meant be that close to the brain, period.


I think that the perception of "sound" is caused by tiny hairs in your cochlea which are moved by vibrations in the air. Strong vibrations (i.e., loud sounds) cause these hairs to be moved to extreme positions, and if they are exposed to these extremes for too long, they will eventually lose their natural flexibility and will not be as sensitive to subtle movements in the air (i.e., soft sounds). It's much like how if you bend a long, thin piece of metal too far, you will not be able to straighten it back out to its original position.

It's not going to matter whether you leave your ears open or sealed. If you are bending those hairs with soft and slight vibrations, they will be able to hold their natural position and continue to perceive sound normally. If you are bending those hairs with loud and strong vibrations, they will grow increasingly less flexible and will lose their ability to perceive sound normally.

Listening to music in your "sound-proof ear" with an IEM should be no different than listening to music in a sound-proof room with loud speakers as long as the decibels are the same level. But I'm no expert, so...meh.
 
Mar 22, 2006 at 1:18 AM Post #29 of 31
I heard a story on NPR the other day about rampant hearing loss in young people, mostly attributed to iPods, etc and ear buds. Some hearing institute recommended listening at low volume for no longer than one hour per day. I didn't feel like searching for that story or bothering to see if it was already mentioned here, but here is an interesting tidbit: http://www.macnewsworld.com/story/48645.html

I have to believe that an ear bud is much worse than an IEM. Sometimes I drive with the window down a bit for air, and I turn the radio way up and can barely hear it. When I roll the window back up, the volume is suddenly MUCH too loud (yes, rocket science here). Block off outside noise, turn down inside noise. Anyway, I wonder what kind of decibel rating we're looking at just for windows rolled down in a car while doing 80mph. Doing things like sleeping with a fan or air conditioner on and near you for 8 hours at a time isn't good either.
 
Mar 22, 2006 at 2:21 AM Post #30 of 31
I have been wondering about this myself... I own the Etys and the problem I have is that since all external noise is muted, it is difficult for me to actually percieve what is too loud and what isn't. Do you know what I mean? Since the only real noise I hear is the music I am listening to- It is difficult to give an absolute impression of volume. Maybe a good test would be to put on the Etys, listen for a while at a comfortable level, and then remove the headphones and see how loud ambient noise seems.

I have also caught myself turning the volume up and up on occasion. Your ear will "adjust" its sensitivity to sound according to ambient noise levels- i.e. if you hear someone speaking to you (at the same volume) on a subway bus or a dead silent room, your perception of how loud the voice is will be different because your ears will have adjusted to the ambient noise of the environment. Anyways so I find that I am able to gradually increase the volume on my headphones until I realize that it might be too high, at which point I turn it back down. It kind of concerns me, but then I am not totally sure because I don't know if it's just my ears adjusting to the noise levels or what.

Lastly- I find that it requires different volume levels to drive different headphones. Setting a particular source on say 5/25 volume "notches" will produce different actual dB levels if connected to various headphones, correct? Because each is either more efficient or less efficient (or more sensitive or less sensitive?). Therefore if I am say wearing KSC-35's and listen at a volume of 5/25... but then put on my Etys and find that comfortable listening levels are at 10/25- is it actually too loud or is the actual sound decibels I am hearing close to each other (remember... adjusted to comfortable listening levels in both cases) despite the fact that 2 different volume levels were needed to get the same perception of volume?

This is an interesting topic for me as I would like to know if I should be consciously setting particular listening habits. I like to think that I have been careful of my ears fairly well my whole life (never went to concerts, usually am at the bottom end of the volume knobs rather than the top end, etc) but want to keep being careful.

Ruahrc
 
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