[sephka]

Ok, I’m writing this post offline. My ISP is being its typical, unreliable self. For the majority of the day, the internet has been on and off, mostly off. I can't even get on long enough to write a post, so I’m going to put this up when the internet works for a few minutes again.

Now, the issue at hand... My brother is kind of a typical teenager, as far as it comes to playing music at extremely loud levels. When I say extremely loud...I mean max volume on stock headphones through the soundcard. When I say extremely loud...I mean I thought he was playing music through speakers, not headphones, it was so loud. In other words... definitely hearing loss volume. When I try to explain to him that he's going to damage his ears, he doesn't want to hear any of it, and ignores my advice. Even when I tell him he can have a loud ringing noise in his ear which never goes away, he puts on the blinders and not a word seems to get through. My brother is someone I care for, obviously, and I guess I’m appealing to you guys for advice. Please share any tips or experiences which have assisted you in keeping your loved one's hearing safe. Thanks.

 

[usc goose]

all i can say is good luck. in my experience it is really hard to change people. that and i suck at trying to do it.

 

[eric343]

a) GET HIM ETYS!!!

They sound louder for a given dB level, so what sounds loud is less damaging than on other headphones.

b) Ask him WHY he likes it so loud! It might be that he loves the bass, or the headphones suck so badly he has to drive them so loudly...

c) Get him to buy a bass shaker!

 

[Jonny Quest]

I'd take him to a retirement home and show him the old people that can't hear anymore. Anyway, at least stick him in some decent headphones

Good luck

 

[gpalmer]

I doubt if you can change it, I have a son that's in his early twenties and already has damaged his hearing from pretty much the same thing. I would try to get him into a good set of headphones though, maybe it will help keep his volume down if he can hear it more clearly...

 

[chadbang]

Yeah, it's tough to warn someone. I was a headbanger until....

 

[miroslav]

Use force, if you`re considerably bigger than him. Try it even if you`re not. He`ll be thankfull one day.

 

[gbeard]

As a dad (with some ear trouble) of a 20 year old daughter and 16 year old son, I feel your pain. But I have found that even though they act like they could care less what I say, if it makes sense, and it is presented in the correct fashion, they will listen. That doesn't mean you can change it, but don't be afraid to try, you're doing a good thing...

Have him check out all the threads on this site, especially the ones from the younger folks who've already had troubles. Maybe that will give him some perspective on the dangers.


I guess I should add this: Hey young music lover, I am an old man of 47 years. I have gone to more rock concerts than any human has a right to attend. I've come out of shows with my ears ringing and stuffed up so bad that they didn't clear until the next afternoon. I worked on construction sites without hearing protection. I've listened to headphones, stereos, and car stereos until my ears bled. I thought I was invincible. Now I have tinintis and ocassional ear pain. Now I know I could have avoided the problem with common sense. Get some Etymotic musicians ear protection for concerts, and turn down the volume in the car, and headphones. Otherwise, some night after you go to bed, you'll be swatting bugs buzzing in your ears, only you can't kill them and they never go away. No kidding! Be good to your ears my young audiophile apprentice...

 

[MikeM]

Quote:

Originally posted by miroslav Use force, if you`re considerably bigger than him. Try it even if you`re not. He`ll be thankfull one day.

Yeah, smack him good across one ear so it rings for a while. Tell this could be permanent if he keeps the volume up.

Or at least start talking a little quieter to him so he thinks he's losing his hearing already.

Seriously though, keep trying to talk to him. Sometimes people will only learn the hard way. As long as you don't give up, you're doing what you can.

 

[aeberbach]

Take a signal generator and connect it through an amp to a speaker. Play a 2khz tone just loud enough to be annoying. Tell him he can turn it off now, but if tinnitus sets in he'll hear it for the rest of his life.

 

[MD1032]

Quote:

Originally posted by aeberbach Take a signal generator and connect it through an amp to a speaker. Play a 2khz tone just loud enough to be annoying. Tell him he can turn it off now, but if tinnitus sets in he'll hear it for the rest of his life.

Good one. That'll get him to stop. Seriously, why do some people do that? I think it has to do with the fact that they can't hear what they want to hear, so they turn it up louder. For example, I had the urge to turn my KSC-50's slightly higher than normal until I took the pads off because I wasn't hearing the detail I wanted to hear. Now I'm quite happy listening at low volumes and my ears are much happier too!! You know what? Maybe that's the trick. I bet some cheap 30 buck KSC-35's would cure him! Literally, they're pretty good sounding for the price. Tell him to get those.

 

[wallijonn]

have his hearing checked each year. hearing aids are expensive. he may listen to a docror.

my father lost much of his hearing in the Korean War. He always went around shouting.

you may want to connect the sound card to an amp. at least a lot of the distortion will be mitigated, the bass will go up, so he will probably not turn it up as loud, and a lot of the high frequency hiss will go away, which should help to retain his hearing.

 

[tortie]

Quote:

Originally posted by sephka When I try to explain to him that he's going to damage his ears, he doesn't want to hear any of it...

Maybe his hearing is damaged already

 

[Sovkiller]

I was reading, and a question crossed my mind, that seems to be silly, but IMO it is not, how do you know when you are hearing the music too loud? If I ask that is because I tend to hear it loud, but sometimes I don't even notice and I was hearing it extremelly loud, of course no pain, or ringing associated, but maybe in the future it will damage your ear, which is considered a normal listening level in db terms, how could you measure it....In some concerts that I have attended, for example, when we finished, I have a ringing in my ear, that keeps on with me until the next day, why those guys generally have to play that loud, it doesn't make sense to me, sometimes is really annoying, or dangerous, why they insist in doing this that way???

 

[aeberbach]

Generally things sound better when they are louder, up to the point where you can feel tickling or even pain. At Best Buy they will turn up the system they want you to buy (the one that nets more commission or other rewards) just a bit louder than the others. Popular music today has a much lower dynamic range than it used to because it sounds better on radio that way - the "wall of sound" approach of Phil Spector sounded good because there was just more sound there to hear. So bands like loud concerts because they know that to the audience they sound better that way. Of course they know its dangerous - when you're watching a band come back on stage for an encore, look for the earplug roadies. At the very least the drummer will be using earplugs (unless he's a complete idiot).
I like concerts but I hate the ringing in my ears the day after.