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Originally Posted by mootookang
Your point about IEMs being the same as car speakers is also rather silly. If that is the case, then there's really no difference between open and closed headphones. Listening to sound to an open environment is not the same as having something directly delivering music to your ears, with the intend to blocking sound out. It is also pretty safe to assume that most people would not turn up their radios to the point where they are distracted to the point of wearing IEMs in their ear, because in order to block out outside noises completely, they would need to drive up the speakers to at least 130 dB, and when they're driving around with that kind of volume up, they would be pulled over by a police within 10 blocks
My point is silly, huh? Thanks for the personal attack. I'll argue against your claims, but I won't tell you that your claims are silly. And there is no difference between open and closed headphones, other than the fact that with open, you would have to turn the music up louder, due to the fact that there is more ambient noise reaching the ear. The music in both cases would be turned up just enough to compete with the ambient noise, and awareness of ambient noise over the music would be the same in both cases.
Listening to headphones vs. speakers is the same. How does the direction in which the music comes from affect the driver's ability to perceive outside noises? The closer the driver (driver, meaning headphone driver or speaker driver) is to your ear, the quieter it is set. The farther away it is to your ear, the louder it is set. The locations of the sources of ambient sound do not change, and so perception remains the same in both cases.
You said: "... with the [intent] to blocking sound out" Sure, the IEMs may offer attenuation. However, 30dB is little, and the music would be turned down. Again, perception of horns/sirens is same with both speakers and IEMs.
Honestly, just how loud do you listen to IEMs? How loud do you assume the volume is that I set when I'm wearing IEMs? I listen to mine at a reasonable level, enough to compete with ambient noise that manages to get through. I accept the fact that 30dB of attenuation will not block out all ambient noise, and I would just have to live with listening to music with some ambient noise mixed in. Same goes with the car speakers. Ambient noise would be mixed in. I don't listen to music at ear-splitting levels.
You said: "... in order to block out outside noises completely..." I have already stated in my previous post that the objective is not to block out outside noises completely. It takes a hell of a lot of dB to drown out another source of noise to the point of essentially muting it. The objective is to have the music compete with the ambient sound, not to drown it out to the point of essentially silencing it. The former would imply more sensible listening levels, and the latter would, as you said, get you pulled over by a police officer.
Also, your 3rd paragraph contradicts your 2nd paragraph. In your 2nd paragraph, you agree with me that even with IEMs on, you can still hear horns/sirens. However, in your 3rd paragraph, you imply that the IEMs would be set at such an ear-splitting volume that the music being listened to would "block out outside noises completely," and if the IEMs were being listened to at a loud enough level to block out outside noises completely, then horns and sirens would also be "blocked out" - that is, drowned out by the loud music. Summary: your 2nd paragraph - IEMs, can hear horns/sirens; your 3rd paragraph - IEMs, cannot hear horns/sirens. Instead of arguing with me, you seem to be arguing with yourself, huh?
If I can't in good conscience listen to music whenever I'm in the car, then I might as well tell whoever rides in my car with me to shut the hell up, because their voices would be a distraction that could put in danger all of the lives around me. Go ahead and tell this to people who drive children in their cars. Tell this to people to drive clients for their job - do you want taxi drivers to get off the road? Tell this to those who sing in their car, whether it be alone, or a road trip song with others. Who knows? Go ahead and shame everyone who does anything that could be potentially distracting.
Please be reasonable. Like one other user has said, there are different degrees to which certain activities are distracting. Talking on a hands-free bluetooth headset is distracting. Talking without the use of a handsfree device is even more distracting. Texting is even more distracting than the two!
Hell, driving in the first place is a hazard itself. However, it is a risk that most of us take, because its benefits far outweigh the chance of horrible death it can bring upon us (the benefits are transportation of self, passengers, and things). And please. Music on the road is not as necessary as the transportation the car provides, but hell, I'm sure that on long trips, music can serve to relieve stress. That could improve a driver's ability to function! Nah, I'm not being serious with the previous sentence. But still, listening to music is not distracting enough to make it
immoral.
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Again, not hearing anything is not the same as hearing music in the background. Not hearing anything at all sharpens the mind, and listening to music will increase distraction and make your mind less decisive.
Yes, wearing headphones would only decrease maybe about 30 dB of your hearing ability, and you can hear emergency sirens just fine even with them on. The point is, since it would take longer for your mind to understand the situation, the difference is life and death. For example, if two car crashed right in front of you, and you are given less than a second to react before collusion, the chances of you hitting the two cars would be higher because your mind is more distracted from listening to music.
Your point about IEMs being the same as car speakers is also rather silly. If that is the case, then there's really no difference between open and closed headphones. Listening to sound to an open environment is not the same as having something directly delivering music to your ears, with the intend to blocking sound out. It is also pretty safe to assume that most people would not turn up their radios to the point where they are distracted to the point of wearing IEMs in their ear, because in order to block out outside noises completely, they would need to drive up the speakers to at least 130 dB, and when they're driving around with that kind of volume up, they would be pulled over by a police within 10 blocks.
And seriously, is not listening to music for a few hours really that painful? I know the million generations basically grew up with their heads plug into their ipods, but is not listening to your music for a while really going to kill you? We're not even asking you to not listen to music at all, listening to music through a car speaker is far more safe than listening through an IEM, since you'll be more aware of more sounds and situations that you should pay attention to when you're driving. Yeah, your music won't sound as good with the other cars zooming by you and the sirens of a fire truck, and if it really bothers you that much, just listen to your music at home, where you can't put other people's lives in danger.