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Is the iPod Generation Going Deaf?
prozac79 writes "Ars Technica and Wired News are both running interesting articles on how personal music players are a major contributor [ArsTechnica] to early hearing loss [Wired]. According the ArsTechnica article, an increasing number of people are now living in "noisy" environments that is only made worse by blocking it out with even louder music. The article also suggests that listening to music for one hour a day is considered safe. So now you have a choice... go deaf early or go insane listening to your coworkers chatter."
Didn't I read this same story about Walkman's 20 years ago? And didn't they decide the effects were negligable? Oh yeah I did. Abstract from a study in 1987: Krahenbuhl D, Arnold W, Fried R, Chuden H. Investigations on 50 high school students showed that this group had been using the "Walkman" only 1.5 h. per day during the last 14 months. A comparison of the audiometric results obtained with these 50 "Walkman" users, with those of 20 age-related non-"Walkman" users, showed no statistically significant differences. The investigation further revealed that to avoid hearing loss, an upper threshold level of 93 dB (A) should not be exceeded for a daily "Walkman" user time of two hours. PMID: 3613781 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
I was going to suggest exactly the same thing. My er6is are a godsend in noisy environments. When I stick them in my ears, I can't even hear a person talking beside me. An added bonus is that because there's no background noise, you don't need to turn up the volume as much. Of course, there are cons, like the inability to hear warnings, phones, and such, but you have to take that into account when you decide to use them. I keep the phone where I can see it ringing, keep an eye on the receptionist when I'm waiting for an appointment, etc. They're basically like earplugs that can play music.
Etymotic also makes sound attenuators for use when you actually want to be able to hear what's going on. They reduce sound by approximately 20dB in a fairly linear way, which is great for obnoxiously loud concerts, clubs, etc. They're pretty cheap, too.
"My fellow Americans, these are not the droids the nation is looking for."
You do not want to exceed 95 dB, ever: EVER!
Take it from a deaf person whose hearing loss is averaged as 64 dB at 20Hz down to 95 @ 8 KHz. That is the surveyed threshold for a lifelong usage of a hearing aid without losing ones remaining hearing (thus rendering such hearing useless).
Hearings is not recoverable as the many tiny cilia hair nerves gets shortened at greater than 95 dB due to excessive POUNDING of the noise whipping these reed-like cilia back and forth (tearing or cutting off blood flows) as amplified by your middle ear bones and outer ear's ear drum.
Protect your ears, take it from a deaf person. It is career threatening in your mid-life. No need to get another cow during your mid-life crisis.
Cholear implant (CI) is a proven technology, but a bothersome hinderance to those late-deafened teens and adult as they did not grow up accustomed to these CI outfits. (Doable, but takes longer to get accustomed to these CI). CI is not a perfect replacement as you would get 32 channels (more later) spread across the sound spectrum but with GAPS in between. Computer/signal processors back-fills in these inter-channel gaps (not pleasant to a true classic music afficiandos).
Keep it down... It might save your life.
Don't get hit by a bus because you're IPODing. (interesting tidbits: 422 deaf people were killed by bus.)
The turning point for me was seeing At the Gates and a couple of other bands at a small pub in 1997 (and, I admit it, seeing a photo of Alx Hellid of Entombed wearing plugs on-stage). Before then, the longest periods of tinnitus I'd experienced were 2.5 days after seeing bands (e.g. Anthrax) in larger venues in the late 80s. After this gig, though, I experienced tinnitus for 4 days. By the end, I was promising myself that if it went, I'd wear plugs at gigs in future. The tinnitus did pass, and I've kept that promise (with the exception of "treating myself" for favourite songs or short sets!)
Similarly, once I started jamming in a band earlier this year, I got fed up with the tinnitus and general fatigue induced by the drummer's brass, and quickly picked up a pair of Elacin ER-20 plugs. I can thoroughly recommend these for use by musicians and concert-goers as the attenuation (-20dB, or 75% of the energy) is fairly flat across the audio spectrum. If you've previously tried foam plugs, or cotton wool, and didn't get on with either, try these and a reckon you'll be pleasantly surprised.
One note though; I saw Cradle of Filth and Mendeed recently, and despite wearing my ER-20s throughout both sets, I still had some minor post-gig tinnitus afterwards that was gone by morning!
Both of these responses are exactly the things that XYZ-philes always say.
That doesn't make them untrue. This isn't painting-the-edges-of-a-CD audiophile nonsense, it's verifiable through simple means.
That 'niche at the upper end of the mainstream' is occupied by companies like Denon, Onkyo and Marantz, not Bose.
Have you ever tried comparing a Bose system with anything else? You know, actually do listening tests?
They may look lame or uncool, but the alternative to wearing earplugs is much much worse.
"Similarly, once I started jamming in a band earlier this year, I got fed up with the tinnitus and general fatigue induced by the drummer's brass, and quickly picked up a pair of Elacin ER-20 plugs"
:-) If you have any questions about these, ask and I'll try to respond back though.
Beyond just passive plugs, have you thought about picking up honest to god in ear monitors?
They take a little getting use to, but they work pretty well. The last band I was working with was a grammy nominated r&b group and with a dozen people on stage with brass and other instrumentation, it was as loud as any death metal band I'd ever worked with. Anywho, I started taking a pair of Shure in-ears with me and having the monitor guy give me a nice custom mix to my remote and this meant not only did I have near isolation, but I only needed to hear enough to keep my parts in line.
A good pair of in-ears will isolate everything enough that you can listen at a much lower volume than you would have normally (this is especially true if you get the earpieces custom molded to further isolate). I prefer the Shure's, but there are a few others that are professional range and work for these applications.
Anywho, posting this anonymously because slashdot don't like anyone that has made money through RIAA means and it would taint my future posts as a geek
I do sound engineering, and you need to be 6-12dB above ambient noise to hear something clearly. Thus if you are in traffic of 95dB and you headphones cut out say 5dB, you will still need around 100dB. This could be damaging. See the tables below.
.5h 110dB .25h 115dB
Environmental Noise
Weakest sound heard 0dB
Normal conversation (3-5') 60-70dB
City Traffic (inside car) 85dB
Train whistle at 500' 90dB
Subway train at 200' 95dB
Level at which sustained exposure may result in hearing loss 90 - 95dB
Power mower 107dB
Power saw 110dB
Pain begins 125dB
Pneumatic riveter at 4' 125dB
Jet engine at 100' 140dB
Death of hearing tissue 180dB
Loudest sound possible 194dB
OSHA Daily Permissible Noise Level Exposure
Hours per day Sound level
8h 90dB
6h 92dB
4h 95dB
3h 97dB
2h 100dB
1.5h 102dB
1h 105dB
Perceptions of Increases in Decibel Level
Imperceptible Change 1dB
Barely Perceptible Change 3dB
Clearly Noticeable Change 5dB
About Twice as Loud 10dB
About Four Times as Loud 20dB
Sound Levels of Music
Normal piano practice 60 -70dB
Fortissimo Singer, 3' 70dB
Chamber music, small auditorium 75 - 85dB
Piano Fortissimo 84 - 103dB
Violin 82 - 92dB
Cello 85 -111dB
Oboe 95-112dB
Flute 92 -103dB
Piccolo 90 -106dB
Clarinet 85 - 114dB
French horn 90 - 106dB
Trombone 85 - 114dB
Tympani & bass drum 106dB
Walkman on 5/10 94dB
Symphonic music peak 120 - 137dB
Amplifier rock, 4-6' 120dB
Rock music peak 150dB
46137
First of all, I'd like to say IANAA, IAAST (I am not an audiophile, I am a sound technician).
No. They fail to isolate the low frequencies.
Those go straight through something like a pair of earphones.
However, active noise cancelling headphones (which in-ear 'phones are not ever, despite the GP's claim) can help out in cancelling the lows.
Ear covering headphones (cans) have another problem in that the speakers themselves are not suspended, which causes problems with the high end getting absorbed by things that aren't your ears (causing strange nonlinearies).
The big problem that in-ear headphones solve is in sound reproduction. Within the human range of hearing, most in-ear headphones claim to be able to reproduce any frequency without any nonlinearies (I haven't actually tried it myself, however I can point you to studies that test frequency response that confirm that they're much better than anything else). This is possible simply because the tiny, tiny elements don't have to produce much vibration to do their job, so the inertia of the speaker element becomes negligible, and because there's nothing else to get in the way of absorbing the sound besides your ear.
Mod me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!
The wattage doesn't matter. It's the decibels and proximity to the ear. Those iPod earbuds aren't anywhere near 6 watts, let alone 60 watts, yet they'll do plenty of damage.
The safety concerns are real. I probably wouldn't use them biking or around outside in a city, because you really can't hear what's going on around you. But on commercial airline flights, they are amazing. It can actually be startling to remove the earphones mid-flight and hear how loud the engines are. What's really weird is that you can indeed listen to your music at a volume that would be completely drowned out by the ambient noise without the isolating earphones.
As mentioned in the parent and grandparent posts, Because of the noise isolation, you don't have to turn up the volume a lot. I've heard a few people complaining about the bass response, but I attribute this to two effects. First, many people are used to listening to music in a way that would be appropriate for those ridiculous cars with the monster sound systems whose bass you can hear from a distance of several km. But even more important, I think the people who complain about the ER6i bass haven't properly inserted the 'phones into their ears. I believe this is a common problem. I've seen it mentioned in a few reviews of the ER6is, and Etymotic Research is even including a slip of yellow paper in the ER6i packaging now with the following message: So if you're researching ER6i earphones (and possibly other noise isolating earphones) online, and you read reviews saying they have "no bass" or something similar, keep this in mind.
Etymotic even makes optional smaller and larger eartips to allow for the correct placement and seal in ears that the standard eartips don't fit just right.
I do recognize that bass may be in the ear of the beholder, so YMMV. It's best if you can find somebody you trust and ask that person's opinion. I was fortunate to have the ER6i earphones recommended to me by somebody whose opinion I've come to trust, and I've been more than satisfied with them.
"It is nice to know that the computer understands the problem. But I would like to understand it too." --Eugene Wigner
I'm a DJ and in addition to my shows, I frequently go out to clubs to hear other DJs. I had similar experiences with ringing ears for days after a loud show. I tried foam earplugs, but they made everything sound terrible. I finally broke down and got custom "musician's" earplugs. Mine are Westone ES49. I've never been happier! These things keep the sound quality almost the same, just reduce the volume (mine have 15db filters in them).
You're absolutely right that noise-reducing headphones most likely help rather than hurt. However, your statement about hearing loss being caused by high-frequency sound is incorrect. Loud low-frequency sound is much worse than loud high-frequency sound, because the loud sound has to travel along the entire length of the cochlea to reach its intended destination, and it causes damage along the way. The reason you lose high-frequency hearing first is that the high-frequency region of the cochlea is closest to where the sound comes in, so that every loud sound that hits your ears passes by that region and causes damage.
Preventing significant hearing loss is easy - don't blast music, and give your ears a rest once in a while. It's kind of like not staring into the sun all day, but for your ears.
On stereophonic equipment, the monaural sound obtained through multiple channels will enhance your listening pleasure.