Quote:
Originally Posted by microphage /img/forum/go_quote.gif
For me, it was the IEMs that seemed to CAUSE the tinnitus.
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There is nothing magic about IEMs that makes them safer than conventional phones. If you listen at a SPL that is high enough to cause damage, IEMs will damage your hearing just as readily as any other headphone.
I should point out that I am not any sort of medical professional. But I have owned both conventional phones and IEMs, and the reason that IEMs are
potentially safer is simple: better isolation. If you are on the subway, and you need to turn up open phones to insane levels just to hear the music, you are likely to damage your hearing. IEMs, on the other hand, block out much of the outside noise, allowing you an acceptable listening level at potentially lower volume.
That said, you are still free to turn up your IEMs to ear-crushing levels. You are still responsible, in other words, for monitoring and limiting the SPL at which you listen.
When I was becoming concerned about my hearing (the tinnitus was becoming noticeable in more and more situations), my primary phones were SR60s. Because they offer little isolation, I found myself turning them up to very high levels in order to hear the music in noisy environments. So I got a pair of ER6s, and found that I was less tempted to do so when on the subway, in a crowded, noisy bar, etc.
In my opinion, the SR60s sound noticeably better than the ER6s. Better soundstaging, smoother frequency balance, etc, as many have pointed out on Head-Fi many times. But the ER6s are still excellent phones, and they definately have their place because of their small size and, again, that crucial isolation.
Conclusion? Different designs have different uses, depending on the listening environment. But in any case, it is still up to you to control the SPLs to which you expose your ears. If I had come to this conclusion earlier, I might not have to fall asleep every night to the accompaniment of a constant, high-pitched whine.