Can headphones damage your hearing?

Last edited by Timothy on Aug-30-2004 at 10:54

Why wouldn't they?

headphones dont damage your ears. super high frequencies at high volume damage your ear. as long as you listen to music at moderate volume on headphones you wont get any permanent ear damage. usually its treble frequencies above 18,000 hz which do the most damage.

also, prolonged exposure to sub bass frequencies at massive volumes can damage some of your organs. interesting that isnt it? but to get any internal damage you need to spend hours hugging a PA. so thats not really likely to happen.

they can definitely damage your hearing..u can end up getting a Tinnitus..

I myself has been listening too headphones.. for nearly a decade.. my hearing hasnt been very damaged by it.. the sound does more damage when it comes suddenly than over a longer period..

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http://soundcloud.com/subtara

I installed new audio drivers the other day and went to take a listen on my headphones, not realizing that the new drivers pushed the volume to the absolute max (when normal listening level requires the fader be a few ticks above the minimum); talk about painful. Luckily I ripped the headphones off reflexively in less than a second, or I don't know what kind of damage that could have done. Surprisingly, my ears weren't even ringing after that. Maybe I should count myself lucky...

But if I keep the volume down on my headphones, I won't risk any hearing damage? ( like Tinnitus what Subtle said )

quote:

Originally posted by Timothy But if I keep the volume down on my headphones, I won't risk any hearing damage? ( like Tinnitus what Subtle said )

try putting the "ear volume protection" on.. on a Discman or something.. the volume should not be alot higher than that... besides.. whenever u are at a concert and u can hear ringing in your ears.. that means it HAS been damaged..!

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http://soundcloud.com/subtara

'But if I keep the volume down on my headphones, I won't risk any hearing damage? ( like Tinnitus what Subtle said )'

if you keep the volume down there wont be a problem. like i said, high frequencies at high volumes over long periods of time cause damage your ears. this goes for PA speakers, home stereos, headphones whatever. if your ears are really hurting afterwards you might want to give it a break for a while. that'll be your body telling you 'c'mon man - lay off the volume for a bit'. that said ive stumbled out of clubs regularly, barely able to hear anything from the huuuuuge bass and treble and my hearing isnt permanently messed up (YET). also subtle is right. your ears are really quite resilient although this does not mean you should abuse them - plenty of people batter their ears with massive volumes at clubs, concerts etc. most people are fine and the ringing passes. if you were to do that a couple of times a week every week for a few years you would probably develop tinitus or some kind of chronic hearing problem. headphones are very close to the ear or in the ear but the signal doesnt need to be boosted very much for you to hear it due to proximity with the ear. + its easy to accidently send the volume wheel on your discman to 10 while its shuffling around in your backpack. dunno about your discman but on mine 10 on the volume wheel is painfully loud on headphones. normally you'll just rip the headphones off your head instinctively if its loud enough to hurt. ive gotten really good at doing this. if you listen at volumes which make other people's ears split though you might wanna consider turning it down just a bit for the sake of your own hearing.

Damage your ears boy? How silly a suggestion! My prescription to you; turn your cans up at full volume for one hour then get back to me with the results, otherwise read this:

http://www.headwize.com/articles/hearing_art.htm

Dr. retiro M.D G.P

Last edited by retiro on Aug-31-2004 at 20:19

quote:

Originally posted by Subtle they can definitely damage your hearing..u can end up getting a Tinnitus.. I myself has been listening too headphones.. for nearly a decade.. my hearing hasnt been very damaged by it.. the sound does more damage when it comes suddenly than over a longer period..

I though it was t'other way round – ears can cope with very loud sudden bursts, but prolonged exposure does the damage.

Sometimes after mixing for a few hours I get ear and headaches....The highs and mids are the killer sounds.....fock u up a little

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