105dB safe listening volume? LMAO. With Skrillex at 105dB you're getting tinnitus in a jiffy.
I already have tinnitus--lots of it. I'm one of the lucky ones whose tinnitus is white noise-like rather than note-based. Still, it's a big factor in my headphone listening, which I've learned I can't do as often or at as high a volume as I'd prefer (if I push it, tinnitus flares, headaches come, and it becomes very clear "it's time to stop").
So consider my biases when I say some on head-fi seem to listen at levels that (to me, at least) are shockingly high. I've seen threads elsewhere on Head-Fi when people who own the same amps & headphones talk about what gain settings they use--usually in light of the output voltage of their source DACs. Sometimes when posters compare notes in this way, they discover that they listen the headphones for extended periods are volumes far higher than others are doing. Those threads are interesting and a little horrifying to me...
This is not a "moral" issue. There's no right or wrong--just a continuum stretching from moderate volume music enjoyment all the way to headbanging volume & destruction of hearing. What's surprising to me is that people actively enjoy headphone listening at volumes that will pretty almost certainly cause hearing loss, now or later.
It makes me recall a number of very loud music concerts in my youth. In those days I actively enjoyed volumes that today would cause instant migraine. I didn't wake up to the danger of loudness until I hit my 40's. Oddly enough, it wasn't music that made me realize this--it was power equipment. I began routinely cutting the grass w/lawn tractors that made high decibel noise; also started using loud snowblowers; and doing frequent woodworking w/table saws, routers, planar, etc (planar & router in particular are extremely loud up close). Everyone recommended ear protection for these activities, so I dutifully began using sturdy/effective ear protection & have ever since.
Only later, when tinnitus showed up, did I realize the damage had already been years before. I now use ear plugs to listen to loud live music, have for ~10 yrs.
But here's a key difference between my volume issues & what I read about on Head-Fi: I never heard a pair of headphones in any serious way until ~2 yrs ago. My exposure to high volumes was almost entirely related to live music. But with headphones, one can easily dial it up to maximum volume, as often and for as long as desired. That's really playing russian roulette w/one's hearing.
