[WhiteShadow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skylab This is true. I measure to make sure I listen below 80db, and there re times I wish I could turn it up. And I have been tested, and I know I have excellent hearing. I measured my vaccum just now-- 92db at 1 meter. Brand new hoover.

Then I am afraid my vacum cleaner exceeds 100db!! Since I can hear it 4 - 5rooms away in my dorm. It also hurst my ears when I vacum my room

I don't want to loose my hearing when I am 50. I have exprienced ringing twice from accidently pluging my IEM into my pc without checking the volume

(it takes forever to take the IEM out of my ears).



*Ear plugs suddenly look appealing*

 

[stefancolson]

Listening at 80-85db isn't going to cause significant hearing loss over the course of your lifetime. I'm a recording engineer, so I'm listening to speakers almost all day, every day. I know quite a few engineers that have been at it for 20-30 years, and pretty much all of them who listen in that range (again, all day almost every day) have great hearing. The guys I know who listen between 90-100 all the time have damaged hearing (almost without exception). Basically you just need to trust the way you feel. If you feel fatigued or it feels like your ears are stuffed up after listening, then you've been listening too loud. If you feel fine after taking the headphones off / turning off the stereo, then you're probably fine. You need to be careful, but never getting above 80db must suck. Most gear doesn't even open up until you're well into the 80's. If I only listened at 70db I sure wouldn't have as high-end of gear...

 

[stefancolson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by c0mfortably_numb Hrmm I wonder what 80 or so MPH and an Alpine head unit set at 23 to compansate for the road noise of a POS civic would equate to

Earplugs are a must if you're spending alot of time in the car listening to music. A blasting stereo in the car can easily top 100-105db, and that's an easy way to damage your hearing in a hurry (you tend not to notice how loud the car stereo gets because we usually gradually turn up the volume. Have you ever gotten in the car the next day and been shocked at how loud you had the stereo the day before?). Driving with your windows down is also a great way to damage your hearing quickly (not just the volume, but this also creates standing waves at extremely low frequencies that wreck havoc on your ears). Just driving for long periods of time (even without the stereo) warrants ear-plug use.

The best money I ever spent was on a pair of custom molded musicians ear plugs. For $150 you can get custom molded inserts and filters custom tailored to your frequency sensitivity. When you put them in everything sounds the same, only quieter, and you can actually forget that you're wearing them pretty easily. You can also get different interchangable filters with different levels of attenuation. I have -15db filters for everyday use and performing (I'm a trumpet player), and -25s for concerts and other loud situations.

If you really want to protect your hearing, worry more about getting some quality plugs, and go ahead and listen to music at a healthy volume. If you constantly feel like it's too soft, then turn it up, as long as it's comfortable.

 

[Luco]

I'm starting to get paranoid about losing my hearing before my budget stretches out to get some really good gear. Can you imagine having the resources but not having the hearing anymore? So I've learnt to turn the volume down a notch, not up.

 

[AdamCalifornia]

I voted 70 dB (vacuum cleaner).
There's something interesting about this data.
But we need more votes to see the pattern better!

See you at the polling booth,

Adam

 

[K2Grey]

I listen to music with UM1 (114db/mW) with 5G iPod.

Now, I have heard that 85db average with UM2 (119db/mW) and files mp3gained to 89db, is approximately 50% of the volume bar on 5G iPod.

I use 5G iPod and with Rockbox I can see that 50% is at -26 dB attenuation. I usually listen at about -40 dB attenuation with files mp3gained to 89db. So I believe I am listening at around 70db.

Edit: If you're listening with IEMs and the volume is REALLY loud or there's some other severe problem, don't try and take the IEMs out. Unplug them instead. It's faster.

 

[AdamCalifornia]

The pattern of this data is getting clearer to me.

See you,

Adam

 

[tattoou2]

Whatcha say?

 

[ILuvSony]

I like my music loud, and I mean REALLY loud...

But, I have to admit, depending on the type of music (house, dance, techno, classical, new age, jazz...), the mood I am in, the player and head phones, the volume varies.

But be forewarned, from my experience, you develop "i-am-listing-to-loud-music-and-i-am-oblivious-to-the-world-phobia."

In other words, in the midst of listening to music I start panicing that a phone is ringing, a bomb is exploding, the world is ending, and that I will be in some MAJOR catastrophe and be clueless.

Hey, but isn't that the whole purpose of putting on headphones? Blocking out the rest of the world and pretty much saying "f" to everything? (at least for that moment?)

Pump up the volume!

 

[Gaughtfried]

When I'm surfing the net, or doing more than one thing in general, I find that I keep my headphones at a whisper quiet 50 decibals. Anything above that gets distracting.

When I'm gaming or just listening to music on my bed, I find that I crank up the volume. I guess anywhere from 70-90sounds about right.

 

[CLum]

Why not set up a poll with a popular can, source, and cd as a reference? For example we can poll people using px100s out of an ipod and see how high their volume is set to. It would probably be a better method of quantifying loudness since it gives us a visual read of how loud the music is.

 

[Head Creep]

It all depends on the song. If I'm listening to, say, Ministry's "Just One Fix" or Metallica's "Damage Inc.", I'm going deaf in 10 minutes. But if I have something else playing, then the volume's about as low as it can be while still sounding "whole".

 

[AdamCalifornia]

Let's see how loud you rock on your headphones.
You haven't voted yet? Why? It's free and confidential.
Do you see the pattern of this Poll?

See you at the Poll,

Adam

 

[slwiser]

Who listens to headphones as headphones. Use them as speakers and you will not have any hearing problems.

 

[AdamCalifornia]

Someone said on my other Poll here:
"Has Prolonged Headphone Use Negatively Affected Your Hearing?"
that he had listened to the music at 140+ db. It's impossible!
It's the jet engine noise! It would have ruptured his ear drums!

On the other hand, this Poll is also a complementary Poll to the one mentioned above.

Adam