[kai_yip]

1.
After 2 years of hearing from headphone with very low volume (sound that I can barely heard. I just wanted to hear some sounds when I do my homework), I found that the TV volume was too loud, with volume unchanged, and I need to lower down the volume to ease pain in my ears. At low TV volume, I can hear sound from my TV clearly(same as years before)

Now, even loud conversation would cause pain in my ears

And I got one question in mind -- Should I increase the volume to normal level so that I can "adapt" to normal life?

2.
Apart from this, I also found that when I do chatting with my friends, I used to hear conversations of others( or background music in shopping store).

Is it the consequence of hearing classical music for years? I now concentrate on the rhythm of sound rather than the meaning of sound.

 

[Nick Dangerous]

Not sure... but I'm positive that the better my headphone system sounds, the WORSE real life sounds!

(FM stereos, PA systems, average stuff like that... pee-yew!)

 

[kelly]

If this isn't obvious let me state it explicitly: Err on the side of keeping the volume too low. Your ears adjust to the volume around you. If you keep the volume low, it's normal for your ears to adjust to that analogous to the way your eyes adapt to being able to see well in the dark. Coming out from the headphones and rejoining the normal world should seem loud and harsh at first. If you're finding that it takes too long for your ears to adjust back to the normal world, a better solution would be taking more breaks from the headphones. Let me be clear: it's NOT a good idea to increase the volume unnecessarily.

As for being able to hear the rythms of sound and tune out the meanings and symbols of the sounds, I would call that a gift. As someone whose made my living as a writer and a programmer, I've had an emphasis on language since my very first memories. (I remember wondering why other kids thought Road Runner was funny since they couldn't read Coyote's signs.) I've often wondered what it might be like to experience the world as an artistic presentation free of the symbols we've attached to things.

If you've found that you've been given this ability with the music of the world, try to appreciate that. By your ability to post, I think it's safe to say that you've not lost your ability to communicate and that you can switch back into language mode when you need to. It's at this point that I can only recommend you consider picking up a musical instrument. You may have more to offer the world.

 

[Audio-Me]

I have the same problem. I'm not a musician, which might explain why I find this sensitivity to sound a nuisance. It's bothersome when loud noises go off, my ears really start to hurt. I hate alarm clocks, I've thrown against the wall god knows how many of those. I might hear the slight details and stuff around me, but it's harsh, and I hate it. I've been trying to listen at normal volume lately, and it's rather quite loud for me when using headphones.

I think you can understand now why I love the Senns so much.

I used to play the trumpet, and thought I was doing pretty well, but my heart wasn't in it, I didn't want to play other peoples songs, and I couldn't write my own material, but the real reason I quit was because of the LOUD environment, practicing with the band was killing me... I also never got along with teachers (the only teachers I've respected were my sophomore-senior year english teachers),

I'm not much into the science of music either. I just take it as an art form, and try to see the feeling/mood of the music that I listen to. When hearing new material, I focus on the goods, not the bads (I don't criticize music by trying to pick out its flaws). Sure I'll notice some flaws, but I won't look for them, I'd honestly rather not know about the flaws. Nothing's perfect. My best artwork has more errors in it (every one of them, literally) than my not so good ones.

 

[kai_yip]

I listen to rhythm rather than meaning of sound probably because of exposure to classical music for 2 years. Before that, I think I emphasize on meaning rather rhythm.

Now, I would just choose music(even pop or rock) that has harmonic/good rhythm(including the voice of the singer)

For the volume matter, I had started to increase volume to normal level. But my ears(both side) start ringing!! Although the volume is low, they just keeps ringing.....

 

[kelly]

"Normal level" is not good. Most people listen too loud. If your ears are ringing you may want to take a break and see an ENT. There are numerous threads about tinnitus on this forum if you want to do a search. Listening to music too loudy and/or for too long can cause permanent tinnitus. You should really learn about this and use caution.