quote: Listeners should set their iPods and other MP3 players to sound levels that are no more than 60 percent of the maximum volume -- i.e. just over halfway between "off" and "maximum" volume -- and use their earbuds for no more than 30 minutes a day.
So I guess since I mostly only listen to my mp3 player on the bus to and from school, I'm listening too much. It doesn't seem like portable music players have much value if you'd also need to carry around large, earmuff style headphones.
I'm not saying this research isn't true, or that I don't care about my hearing, it's just that this article seems a little futile. There is little people can do if they want to hear their music in loud places and carry around something that's easily portable.
Posts: 879 | Registered: Apr 2005
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Same stuff came out when walkmans first hit the market. It is true prolonged loud noise will damage your ears. What prolonged loud noise is considered I think is open for debate, and different for everyone.
Posts: 3134 | Registered: Mar 2005
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I'm much more deaf in one ear than the other. Had to have an MRI to find out why, since it's unusual to lose that much more hearing in one ear than the other.
I'm of the firm belief that it is from ear phones and music. (Both listening to music in general and from having only one it for singing.)
Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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This is kind of tangential, but it seems relevant (at least to me).
I used to do experimental work with a supersonic hot oxygen jet (to atomize non-standard fuels for combustion). The noise level frequently approached 130 decibels, so we spent a lot of effort to protect our hearing, including taking db readings of various laboratory and environmental conditions. Also noise dosimeter readings on ourselved to find how much noise we were exposed to over an 8 hour work period.
I wound up wearing moldable earplugs under active noise cancelling headphones. With that amount of protection I started to be aware that noise enters the body through other channels rather than just the ears. It was deafening to open my mouth, for example. I considered wearing a motorcycle helmet, but I would have lost the active noise suppression.
The other thing that became evident was how much damage noise does to your body, never mind your hearing. After working with the burner for an hour or so, it felt like my body had been beat up.
Other examples of how much energy sound carries includes the ultrasonic tools dentists use to drill teeth, etc.
Suffice it to say that I have much greater respect for the amount of damage sound can do, and how insidious background noise levels can be.
Posts: 3735 | Registered: Mar 2002
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