I've never gotten an ear infection from this, but your mileage may vary... I also use custom-molded plugs (~$120 in 1996) that require less handling and are easily cleaned with soap and warm water. If you're gonna wear earplugs regularly, it's well worth the investment to get custom plugs.
The problem with headphones, ear-buds and In-Ear Monitors is exactly that we've blocked out the world around us. Our brains use environmental queues to help warn us when something we hear is too loud - before the onset of physical pain. The brain can determine how loud somthing is based on how the sound interacts with the space we're in. The brain uses similar methods to determine which direction a sound is coming from. Our insticts kick in when it gets too loud and we want to stick our fingers in our ears, even though we don't because we'll look "too old."
Another issue (which doesn't seem to have been brought up yet) is duration of exposure. I don't recall the exact figures (ask OSHA), but the idea is this: your ears can only do so much work in a given period of time. Loud noises work your ears more than soft ones, but sustained moderate-volume noises can work your ears as much if not more than loud noises. Once your ears pass their "working" threshold, you will start to damage them. Every time you leave a loud environment (like when the Who is in town) and you notice your ears ringing, you're noticing new permanent hearing damage.
As we age, our ears gradually sustain more permanent damage. Contrary to what many believe, there is currently no way to repair or reverse hearing damage, only ways to work with it. Hearing aids simply amplify noises we can no longer detect (thereby hastening further damage) and cochlear implants effectively replace the natural inner ear mechanism with an artificial one which while allowing the person to hear again probably doesn't sound as "right" as the original did.
In addition to loudness, other factors can contribute to hearing loss. Cigarrette smoke, alcohol, poor diet, poor sleeping habits, and CAFFEINE all increase a person's risk for hearing loss.
I started playing the drums when I was 10 years old, and I didn't wear earplugs regularly until my early twenties when I was studying audio engineering at Berklee College of Music. I suffer from tinitus (cronic ringing of the ears) and I've found that in addition to a good diet and plenty of water, the best way to reduce the ringing is to avoid caffeine, consume alcohol only moderately, and avoid smoky environments. I've also found that if I know I'm going to be in a loud environment (like a concert, seminar, party, etc), I can protect my ears by maintaining a softer environment for the rest of the day - ie, not listening to loud music, wearing earplugs when I'm walking down a city street or on the subway or in the car, etc.
I think everyone who has concerns about their hearing could benifit from this.
First off, the method being referred to of increasing loudness is called ultra-maximizing.
"UltraMaximizer" is a product name, and the Waves UltraMaximizer software plugin is nothing more than a very nice peak limiter algorithm with gain compensation.
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I've never gotten an ear infection from this, but your mileage may vary... I also use custom-molded plugs (~$120 in 1996) that require less handling and are easily cleaned with soap and warm water. If you're gonna wear earplugs regularly, it's well worth the investment to get custom plugs.
The problem with headphones, ear-buds and In-Ear Monitors is exactly that we've blocked out the world around us. Our brains use environmental queues to help warn us when something we hear is too loud - before the onset of physical pain. The brain can determine how loud somthing is based on how the sound interacts with the space we're in. The brain uses similar methods to determine which direction a sound is coming from. Our insticts kick in when it gets too loud and we want to stick our fingers in our ears, even though we don't because we'll look "too old."
Another issue (which doesn't seem to have been brought up yet) is duration of exposure. I don't recall the exact figures (ask OSHA), but the idea is this: your ears can only do so much work in a given period of time. Loud noises work your ears more than soft ones, but sustained moderate-volume noises can work your ears as much if not more than loud noises. Once your ears pass their "working" threshold, you will start to damage them. Every time you leave a loud environment (like when the Who is in town) and you notice your ears ringing, you're noticing new permanent hearing damage.
As we age, our ears gradually sustain more permanent damage. Contrary to what many believe, there is currently no way to repair or reverse hearing damage, only ways to work with it. Hearing aids simply amplify noises we can no longer detect (thereby hastening further damage) and cochlear implants effectively replace the natural inner ear mechanism with an artificial one which while allowing the person to hear again probably doesn't sound as "right" as the original did.
In addition to loudness, other factors can contribute to hearing loss. Cigarrette smoke, alcohol, poor diet, poor sleeping habits, and CAFFEINE all increase a person's risk for hearing loss.
I started playing the drums when I was 10 years old, and I didn't wear earplugs regularly until my early twenties when I was studying audio engineering at Berklee College of Music. I suffer from tinitus (cronic ringing of the ears) and I've found that in addition to a good diet and plenty of water, the best way to reduce the ringing is to avoid caffeine, consume alcohol only moderately, and avoid smoky environments. I've also found that if I know I'm going to be in a loud environment (like a concert, seminar, party, etc), I can protect my ears by maintaining a softer environment for the rest of the day - ie, not listening to loud music, wearing earplugs when I'm walking down a city street or on the subway or in the car, etc.
I think everyone who has concerns about their hearing could benifit from this.
First off, the method being referred to of increasing loudness is called ultra-maximizing.
"UltraMaximizer" is a product name, and the Waves UltraMaximizer software plugin is nothing more than a very nice peak limiter algorithm with gain compensation.