[milosz]

SOUND causes hearing loss.  Avoid sound at all costs.

 

[milosz]

Seriously, one of the factors which can lead to hearing loss in headphone users is LACK OF DISTORTION.
 
To wit:
 
People nowadays grow up with a lot of electronic sound devices.  Radios, TV, car radios, cell phones, computers and hi-fi are all commonplace.  Most of these handy gizmos are rather limited in how much sound they can produce before they start to distort.  Most of these things have engineering compromises- to save cost and space, Sony doesn't put a 500 watt amplifier  and 12 inch drivers into their TV sets;portable radios / cell phones are limited by the need to conserve battery power and space, and so on. Because of this, we have all learned  to turn the volume up to the level we want but if we want more volume than the contraption can produce, we turn the volume up until the distortion starts to get bad, then back it down just a tad.  And in some cases - car radios come to mind- we just play it as loud as it will go even though the distortion is pretty bad.
 
Thus, we have all learned to associate distortion with volume.  Most of us actually are far keener at recognizing distortion than we are at judging SPL.  Golden ears will protest, but this is, in fact, true.
 
So when we get our hands on, say, a Sennheiser HD800 with a suitable amplifier, we now have something that can practically produce 110 dB at near 0% distortion.  Even $100,000 2-channel speaker rigs aren't capable of such low levels of distortion at sound levels like this, and for the most part we have never heard anything this clean.  So, we strap the cans on and crank the gain pot till it is "satisfyingly loud."   In many cases this is "too loud" because we are so used to judging loudness by the level of distortion and not by SPL.
 
A way to avoid this is to use an SPL meter ( like the ones Radio Shack used to sell, maybe they still do I dunno) and MEASURE the level of our tunes on our favorite 'phones and then listen to that and get used to recognizing the loudness based on this measurement rather than guesswork.  You can make a simple coupler by punching  hole in a piece of cardboard and then sticking the "snout" of the SPL meter through the hole.  You put the headphone against the cardboard, with the SPL meter's '"snout" in the cavity formed by the earcup pressed against the cardboard.  An aitight seal is not essential.  These cheap meters are not calibrated to NIST standards, but they are usually within a dB or two and can certainly serve to help you educate your ears.  Long periods of listening above 85~87 dB can cause hearing loss. http://www.dangerousdecibels.org/hearingloss.cfm

 

[xnor]

Imo even more important in that aspect: visceral impact. Something you don't really get with headphones, even at life threatening volume levels.

 

[leeperry]

 

one of the factors which can lead to hearing loss in headphone users is LACK OF DISTORTION

Indeed, the higher end your gear the more prone you'll be to listen too loud. But it also works the other way around, as you can listen dimmer and still get a lot of details...it's all about knowning it and not trusting your loudness perception. I know some ppl snap their fingers close to the phone to have a reference, it's good practice.

 

[resonantLux]

Quote:

Car stereos cause hearing loss.  They're even more dangerous than headphones.  The urge to crank the volume to drown out the highway noise can make for some loud listening levels

 
Very true. Cars at typical freeway speeds (75 mph) have background noises on the order of 70dB+, attempting to "drown this out" (eg, crank the music to 20-30dB above the very high noise noise floor) places average SPL at dangerously high levels. While driving -- especially on long trips -- it's also quite possible for loud music to go for a very long time without noticing (eg, will focusing on driving).
 
 
Shortly after I got my drivers' license and my fist car, I recall setting music while driving at freeway speeds. The next day, when I started up the car with the volume left in the same position as before ... "holy @#$Y that's loud" Conversely, I find if I set the car stereo to a volume level that is comfortable when the car is parked/ engine off -- that level is almost buried underneath the road noise later.
 
IMO I'd rather see more cars come with better sound dampening / lower noise levels instead of having car stereos produce literally painful loud SPL's at nominally 1/3rd of full volume...
 
This is why I often prefer to listen to stuff like audio books in the car, at least for long trips. I also force myself to take breaks periodically and shut off the radio completely.
 
 

 

[labrat]

Delete

 

[xnor]

Yes.
Maybe adding 10 dB is more realistic, but yes, my room is pretty quiet.

 

[Omega17TheTrue]

Exactly like portable headphones its very dangerous and anyway the sound is crappy because of the ambient noise.
 
Headphones are very dangerous for hearing especially closed one and should never been used more than 1-2 hour a day at reasonable volume.
 
Headphones should remain a tool not a listening device.
 
Quote:

Car stereos cause hearing loss.  They're even more dangerous than headphones.  The urge to crank the volume to drown out the highway noise can make for some loud listening levels.

 

[leeperry]

 

 
Headphones are very dangerous for hearing especially closed one and should never been used more than 1-2 hour a day at reasonable volume.

 
It's not the headphone's fault if the user can't reason himself to not crank the volume. A good rule of thumb is to slighter lower the volume over what your brain wants.

 

[Chef]

On this forum, with the advice people give, many are doing themselves hearing damage. There is no headphone (CONTROVERSY =P) that requires an amplifier to make it loud enough. The driver is never more than an inch from your ear, it doesn't need that much power even if your headphone says '300 ohms.'

Normal speaking voices are safe for your hearing. If you can take your headphones off and hear them like a normal speaking voice across the room, they're way too loud, because that would actually be like a person talking right into your ear.

 

[aimlink]

Quote:

On this forum, with the advice people give, many are doing themselves hearing damage. There is no headphone (CONTROVERSY =P) that requires an amplifier to make it loud enough. The driver is never more than an inch from your ear, it doesn't need that much power even if your headphone says '300 ohms.'

Normal speaking voices are safe for your hearing. If you can take your headphones off and hear them like a normal speaking voice across the room, they're way too loud, because that would actually be like a person talking right into your ear.

A headphone amp isn't for getting more volume.  This is something we actually try to make clear.  A headphone amp improves dynamics.  It tightens and deepens bass response.  A good amp makes your cans sound great, maintaining full dynamics, at both low and higher volumes.

 

[leeperry]

and the better driven your phone, the better it'll sound at low volume.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

 
Quote:

Exactly like portable headphones its very dangerous and anyway the sound is crappy because of the ambient noise.
 
Headphones are very dangerous for hearing especially closed one and should never been used more than 1-2 hour a day at reasonable volume.
 
Headphones should remain a tool not a listening device.
 

Why does the sound become crappy just because there is ambient noise?  I wear my Grado SR60 outside walking around.  They're open headphones.  I'm not blasting the headphones to compensate for the outside traffic noise.  I can still hear the car traffic.  I can still hear people talking.  The music sounds fine.  I'm enjoying it.  It's not overly loud.  I don't consider it in any way to be a crappy experience just because there is background noise.  In fact I rather like using open headphones outside and still being able to hear my surroundings rather than using IEMs and becoming oblivious to what is around me.  The hyped clarity and sound of the Grado is actually nice in that situation.
 
Headphones aren't inherently dangerous to your hearing.  It's all in how you use them and being aware of the volume.  At a reasonable volume you can listen to headphones all day long, even closed headphones or IEMs.
 
You can use an SPL meter to measure the volume of full size around the ear headphones.  It's simple and a good thing to do so you can get a good reference for what 70 db, 80 dB, 90 dB and even 100 dB sound like on headphones.  It's different than listening to those volumes on speakers.  Speakers let you know when they are playing loud (you can feel the loud music in a way you don't feel with headphones).  So if you are relying on that sort of physical feedback to let you know when the headphones are too loud  you will be playing the headphones way way too loud.  Learn to realize that headphones get loud differently and you can learn to keep the volume reasonable and safe.
 
Listen to big speakers in a room that has lots of sound treatments on the walls, a carpeted floor, a comfy plush chair, and a "dead" sound (sound treatments absorb the reverb and extra bass vibration) and you'll find that you are listening to the speakers louder than you expect.  That doesn't mean that acoustically treated rooms and speakers are bad for your hearing.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

 
Quote:

and the better driven your phone, the better it'll sound at low volume.

And the better it will sound loud as well.  ::evil_smile::

 

[livewire]

Just buy it.
Radio Shack p/n: 33-2055  $49.99
 
link:  http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103667
 
 
I' a n00b to this hobby and this is the first accessory I bought after I bought my phones.
Dont forget to also use the cardboard surround w/cut-out and the dB chart posted previously.
Your ears (hearing) will thank you for it. Nuff said.