[mirumu]

A while back I thought I could hear a slight and occasional ringing but it turned out it was my DSL modem making the noise. In the past I have liked to have music loud but I think it's mainly because I wanted more sonic impact. As my gear has got better, I've found I needed less and less volume to achieve the same thing. As the volumes have lowered, I think my hearing has been getting more sensitive.

 

[soloz2]

I've never been one for listening to headphones at high volume levels... I'd always get a feeling of too much pressure on my eardrums... I am partially deaf from listening to my car stereo too loud though...

 

[tomjonesrocks]

As a former musician in a punk rock/metal band and former frequent clubgoer, etc., I have had a lot of episodic problems with my hearing. Ringing, fullness, the whole nine yards. So now, even though I very luckily recovered each time from these symptoms (sometimes quite awhile later though) and without more hearing loss (so far), I have learned to be *extremely* careful with my hearing. I have several hundred dollars worth of various custom made earplugs for various environments and are never, ever, no matter where I go--without at least one pair.

We'll see how my hearing is in 30 years if I live to my 60s, but I've had serious life-threatning illness and major surgery and whatnot to deal with already, so I don't think that far ahead anymore. Today's a gift and that's it.

I write all that to say I feel I'm pretty knowledgeable about all this from my experiences and I think this whole hearing damage as a result of headphones is WAY overblown. You have so much more control with headphones than you do going out to a club there's no comparison. Same with any loudspeaker setup, car, home, or otherwise. Which is why I've pretty much gone to headphones exclusively.

Live music will kill your hearing a whole lot faster than headphones ever will--unless you're supremely stupid with your use. Ever go to a club and have the PA or a guitar amp freak out with feedback? Your hearing can be toast just that fast. Standing too close to the stage? Damage city. Have you been in a car crash with an airbag? You know how loud an airbag is? There are some that lost their hearing just like that from those. Ever had a balloon blow up next to your head? How about a gunshot? Ever ridden or been too close to a Harley Davidson? How about the air door release on a subway? What about a nice circular saw? It's ridiculous the rap headphones get while no one mentions any of this other stuff that are a MILLION times worse.

Headphones by comparison are safe and sane. Just give your ears frequent breaks. Taking the headphones off and walking around every 20 minutes is a great idea. Don't crank the music for too long. If you feel too much pressure turn the music down. And if you have to listen in loud environments, subway, etc., buy some IEMs so you're not cranking music up to cover background noise. You do have to fight the temptation I suppose to turn the music up loud (as you do in your car, or your home speaker system, etc.) But it's not really brain surgery.

 

[plainsong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by phergus_25 X2

QFT - but I don't think that my ear drums suddenly said "Ok, I can report things back to you better now" , I think it's a case of just listening better, which my old theory prof would find amusing, considering I squeaked through ear training.

 

[cire]

i have very slight damage, although it isn't hearing. my hearing is as good as ever, but since joining headfi and using headphones a lot, i occasionally get uncomfortable pressure in my right ear which lasts 20-30 seconds and usually happens after i listen to music, be it from speakers or headphones.

 

[dhp]

No.

 

[edstrelow]

I have been using headphones a lot for about 30 years now and don't have anything obviously wrong with my hearing. When I first started, with old Koss electrostatics, I tended to listen very loud and for long periods of time. I did start to get some mild pain in my ears and over time I tried to listen less loudly or less loudly for shorter periods of time and it seems to have paid off.

I think there is some tendency to listen too loud espcially to better phones when you are not used to them. It seemed that without the distortion cues present in poorer sources, some people didn't know how loud the signals really were.

 

[Anarchy965]

I've never even had temporary hearing loss from headphones. I listen at pretty low volumes and they're nothing compared to going to a local concert and sitting next to the speakers anyway. After that I usually havee trouble hearing for 6 hours or so but I don't go to shows often and I still have better hearing than most of my friends anyway so I'm not worried about that either.

 

[Svperstar]

Not so much now but I am convinced that heavy bass in headphones is one of the causes of hearing damage. At even moderate volumes heavy bass hurts my ears pretty bad after only a few seconds, so I EQ down the bass on bass heavy headphones.

 

[creyc]

I would say better!

Through experience with high quality gear you gain an appreciation for sound quality over sheer volume, and with that you learn that the volume knob also goes down, too.

I think if I were to keep track of my listening levels over time they would actually show a downwards trend following the addiction to high-fi gear. Crappy earbuds promote hearing loss, imo.

 

[Romanee]

You definitely need to add the "better" selection to the list.

Am I the fourth "better" poster?

The hearing in my right ear has distinctly improved with frequent headphone (and recently IEM use) over the last 2.5 years. The hearing in my left ear is undiminished, if not improved.

 

[lini]

Prolonged headphone listening (since ~ 1980 in my case) hasn't, but I've noticed that smoking a lot without compensating that by doing sports leads to occasional problems.

Greetings from Hannover!

Manfred / lini

 

[Thai Fighter]

My hearing doesn't seem to be affected. I started using headphones at home a year ago after having bought the HD477s. I was having a hard time dealing with their harsh highs, but it kept me from turning up the volume too loud.
When I had HD212s I had a felt a strong urge to increase it, cause their sound was so pleasant (but a little lacking in the detail department). Now I have HD497s and don't need to listen loudly anymore. A pair of high-quality headphones helps keep your hearing in tact.

 

[JohanK]

Not really, and I strongly suspect that it won't hurt much either as I am really sensitive to loud noises. I can't go to a concert, or some other place where they play loud music, without ear plugs. Heck, I once found myself standing some 15-20 meters away from the speakers and began to feel pain in my ears, how the people next to the speakers survived is mindboggling, as I would definitely go insane if I was exposed to that for longer periods. I never feel like I am being strained when I listen to my headphones, except perhaps when I listen to some lightning fast and very agresive metal on my grados with the volume somewhat cranked.

I do hear some ringing in my ear every now and then, perhaps a few times a month, but I have been that way since my early childhood, and it might have been caused by the ridiculous amount of ear infections I had as a kid. Fortunately it does not seem to have caused any true hearing damage.

 

[setmenu]

Some people say headphone listening has actually made their hearing better.
I would very much doubt that the physical hearing mechanism itself has been
improved more a case of learning to improve ones critical listening skills.


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