[eruditass]

So I kinda confirmed my suspicions as to why I can't hear way up there anymore (I can still hear around 18Khz) and why I have a bit of tinnitus.

Years ago before I got into this hobby, I would drive several hours to go to european band concerts. I had just gotten my new toy, a little turbo'd flyin miata, and would cruise hours with the top and windows down and play some music.

I didn't really know about SPL's and all that, but I didn't blast music just to blast it - I just wanted to hear it. However, at those speeds with everything down the background noise was pretty loud. So I would drive 2+ hours with lots of noise then go to a concert without hearing protection for a couple hours then drive back for 2+ hours again with lots of noise. I did think that these metal concerts were too loud so I used to stick foam eartips partially in as to not muddy up everything and just hear bass. However, I did not think of this until after a lot of concerts.

Today I turned on the SPL meter in the lil guy on the highway with everything down - 95+ dB! Now most of that is LF sounds and from what I understand our ears are less sensitive to that and it isn't as harmful. But that much can't be good anyway. Turned it to a weighted curve for our hearing and it was 85~90 on a busy highway.

That for 4 hours and then a concert that I'm sure broke 100 dB in the weighted curve I think did it, especially that one week I went to several in a row.

Now I never go anywhere without my ER20's - and well if I forgot it I just plug in FX33's and they do an -ok- job, still allowing me to hear talking.

 

[XxATOLxX]

As you age the you will lose the ability to hear really high frequencies. Don't worry too much about it.

I doubt that a few concerts will noticeably impair your hearing. Take it easy on your ears for a couple weeks and see if that helps.

 

[ericj]

ok but what's the resonant frequency of your turbo?

 

[analogbox]

Also, if you went to a lot of live concerts, and came back with a ringing noise in your head, that's the frequency level that you'll never recover or be able to hear.

 

[archosman]

Occupational noise exposure. - 1910.95

 

[Nocturnal310]

I went to this Linkin park concert & i could feel the guitar strums pierce my ear...it was that loud

 

[flashnolan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoomzDayz /img/forum/go_quote.gif So I kinda confirmed my suspicions as to why I can't hear way up there anymore (I can still hear around 18Khz) and why I have a bit of tinnitus.

Be thankful that it is still that high. There are a lot of adults who can only hear up to 13k. 18k is still really high.

 

[krmathis]

Its the reality of life.
Our ability to hear high frequencies degrade as the years go on...

 

[philodox]

How did you measure the frequency that you can hear up to?

 

[dvessel]

There are frequency sweeps, test tones. I checked with a tone generator myself and I'm limited to 18khz also. Loud shows in the past has taken their toll. I also have very mild tinnitus.

I don't regret it though. Being older, I try to minimize loud noises.

 

[Zanth]

I turned 32 yesterday...I can still hear past 20khz! Thank goodness, not that there is much up there though. I took a test last week and was surprised my ears were in such good shape. I try to listen to music at lower volumes to preserve my hearing, particularly since I listen to music upwards of 16 hours a day. About half of that time is active listening with headphones.

A good way to protect your hearing is to listen to music at some loud volume and then lower it to a point where you are comfortable and can still pick out the details. I find that I will often start at some higher volume on the HT if/when kids or my wife was listening but I can manage to be about 10db lower without missing a beat.

 

[philodox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dvessel /img/forum/go_quote.gif There are frequency sweeps, test tones. I checked with a tone generator myself and I'm limited to 18khz also.

Yes, but there are also limits to what many sound cards and/or speakers can actually output.

Edit: Zanth - Where were you tested?

 

[Barry]

I don't want to sound preachy, but I would not take the issue lightly. While there is some high freqency hearing loss that is age related, it can get (much) worse with exposure to loud noise over time. Seriously, there is a whole new breed of hearing aids that are aimed solely at baby boomers with more sever high frequency loss.

By the way, the tinnitus is one symptom of high frequency loss. May be worth testing by an audiologist. I am not sure that homegrown ear tests are accurate.

 

[kendal3334]

Quote:

Originally Posted by XxATOLxX /img/forum/go_quote.gif As you age the you will lose the ability to hear really high frequencies. Don't worry too much about it. I doubt that a few concerts will noticeably impair your hearing. Take it easy on your ears for a couple weeks and see if that helps.

that's the point

i also got this problem, doctor tells me that's what would happen, but just a bit earlier to me.......

 

[LFF]

I'm only 26 and I can only hear up to about 18.5kHz.

That's my own test.

Last time I went to the doctor, I checked out with perfect hearing (1 year ago). I'm tempted to go and see the doc again to see how good my ears are doing.