[sTaTIx]

I thought some of you might like this info. I emailed this one guy a couple of weeks ago, Michael Santucci, who's a sound professional at Sensaphonics, about the effects of high and low frequencies on one's ears and hearing damage associated with them. I stumbled onto a website on healthy hearing (http://www.sensaphonics.com/contact.html) which lead me to his email. I was looking for an answer to the question of whether it's the highs or lows that do most damage to the ears when heard at loud levels. Here's the response he gave me:

Quote:

"That's a controversial question. It's true that the ear hears frequencies 3000Hz and 4000Hz (mid-highs) better than 125-250Hz (bass). In other words, it takes more actual sound pressure level (SPL) to hear bass at it's softest level than it does to hear mid-high frequencies at their softest level. When sound levels are measured through a sound level meter, theer are at least 2 scales to choose from -- A or C-weighted. The A-weighted scale reflects the way the ear hears at softest levels ( highs better than lows). Does that mean that at their loudest level, highs are more dangerous than lows? The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) uses an A-weighted scale for measuring loudness levels in dB's (dB-A) to recommend safe doses of sound. Newer research suggests that at loud levels, the difference between the dB SPL for highs and lows are much closer than at the softest listening levels. This psycho-acoustic phenomena, called equal loudness contours, suggests that low frequencies should have more weight than the A-scale provides when listening at loud levels. "You should also take into consideration that most, if not all of the research is on military or industrial noise exposure, not musical, tonal exposure. In my audiology practice with musicians, I have used the A-weighted scale for in-ear monitor safety guidelines as well as for ER earplugs, because it is the legal criteria. My clients that follow the OSHA guidelines ( A-weighted) religiously don't show changes in their hearing."

I was cleaning up my mailbox and found this, so I thought I'd mind as well post this here before I deleted it.

 

[TaffyGuy]

as far as music is concerned it seems really really obviously the highs, right?

i mean, its so much easier to comfortable listen to.. say.. a tribe called quest than led zeppelin at high levels.

gotta love 'ol jimmy and robert, but they sure do know how to pierce.

 

[Pepsione1]

You know what, I am really worry about hanging out at clubs 5 nights a week for 5 hours or more each time. Although I think my hearing is still a lot better among my friends.

This can do some serious damage to hearing right? Maybe I should let my ears rest more?

 

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

I try to avoid going to clubs on successive nights to let my ears recover. Sometimes its hard though, gotta use the old "lots of homework" line.

I really wish concerts and clubs would not play music so loud. I mean you can't even carry on conversations at those places.

Biggie.

 

[myself, aka me]

I thought the idea was to listen to music, not talk, at a concert... Unless I'm misunderstanding you, do you mean PA music?

 

[Goober]

I wonder if there are any differences in damage caused listening to low frequencies through headphones compared to other sources. I think its already been proven that high frequencies through headphones are more damaging than through speakers or other sources.

 

[setmenu]

I would recomend the use of ear plugs at loud concerts.
Plugs such as plugs ETY ER20 plugs I have recently purchased are designed for musicians and keep the sound quality as high as possible.I would sugest keeping a pair handy just in case those levels get uncomfortably high.
In the UK they cost £12 a pair.
A very reasonable price for protecting ireplaceble ears.

Setmenu

 

[Nick Dangerous]

Excellent advice. Frequent loud concerts/club hopping will permanently damage your hearing. Even movie theaters these days are usually waaaay too loud. Yes, they will damage your hearing too.

Invest in quality earplugs. It's very much worth it. 1000's with tinnitus agree.

 

[TaffyGuy]

yeah actually the world sounds fairly natural through er20's. I god some to try them out, and you can still hear highs and lows, just everything quieter. your own voice is what sounds really wacky.

and they don't even stick out of your ear that much, headroom sells the flesh colored one, and they're barely noticable. seems unlikely that anyone would wear them to a club though. worth a try since they're not even more expensive than any 'ol earplugs, and its only 12 dB attenuation, so you can still hear pretty well, just everything is just below dangerous instead of just above.

 

[Raymond Kim]

From my experience it would seem that high-frequenices at high volume levels do in fact do more damage than low-frequencies at the same volume levels. When I saw Sasha and Digweed perform at New Orleans they played for 5 hours straight (plus 2 hours from the opening DJ), and the soundsystem emphasized much more on bass than it did on the treble. The bass was incredibly clean, very very smooth, very nice (look up Phazon), but amazingly loud as well. The whole venue was shaking, not vibrating, but shaking; my entire body was trembling, too. After that performance my ears were ringing, but there was no pain; the ringing disappeared the morning after. I might even say that my ears felt BETTER than they did on the day before the performance.

Fast forward a couple of months, and I saw Doves perform in the Mayan Theatre at Los Angeles. The sound system was ok; the bass was nothing compared to the bass on the Phazon system. The treble was, of course, dominant, and after the 3 hours of listing to Elbow (the opening guests) and Doves, my ears were ringing and very fatigued. The ringing along with the discomfort persisted for a couple of days.

 

[penvzila]

Speaking of hearing damage, i was wondering something about tinnitus. Every once in a while (like once a week), i'll get this ringing for about ten seconds. I do NOT listen to music very loud at all. Could this just be caused by too much earwax? It is a fairly regular, if not often, occurence.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

All I can say is that I'm pretty sure it's not tinnitus. I have that sometimes too. I also have tinnitus, and it's nothing like that (I'm not overly concerned because I would believe tinnitus is mandatory in a noisy city like Hong Kong and the environment rarely gets quiet enough for you to realize you have tinnitus.

)

 

[sTaTIx]

Quote:

Originally posted by penvzila Speaking of hearing damage, i was wondering something about tinnitus. Every once in a while (like once a week), i'll get this ringing for about ten seconds. I do NOT listen to music very loud at all. Could this just be caused by too much earwax? It is a fairly regular, if not often, occurence.

I'll sometimes get this ringing, too. It happens once a week or two, much like you said. It happens in one ear at a time and slight hearing loss accompanies the ringing. I, too, do not listen to music at loud levels, because I'm very self-conscious when it comes to listening at safe levels. I used to think that this may be caused by too much earwax, but I've since then cleared my ears twice using an ear cleaning solution and squeegee, but to no avail. I heard some rather disconcerting news (on the Howard Stern Show, no less) that wearing headphones increases bacteria levels in your ear canals by some alarmingly ridiculous number (like 400%). Now, I don't wear my Grados all that often, but I DO wear my Sony MDR-E848 earbuds almost all of the times on weekdays, listening to the radio. Maybe it's some sorta ear infection that's causing this intermitten ringing?