Beware: Mp3 Players At High Volumes = Hearing Impairment they can turn you deaf

[shiv 0]

hai i just came across this article and i was literally shocked deaf....because i am one of those mp3 player buffs with that lil thing always hanging around my neck, ear phones plugged and ALWAYS listening to music - loudly.

 

its true what they article says...unlike the earlier walkmans or cdmans we had, which gave unhearable bad music sound at higher volumes..mp3 players always sound nice..even at the maximum volume. so as a result, we end up listening to music as loud as we desire into our soundbox , always.

 

whats scary is that they say we wont know our hearing is being impaired by this habit...untill it is permanantly damaged...omg!

 

they have given a few preventive steps we can - we should follow...pls check it out and play music safe

 

 

also pass around the word...save your friends' hearing.

 

 

 

cheerz!

 

shiv

Edited March 24, 2006 by miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG (see edit history)

[iGuest 3]

OMG. I live with my mp3 and I always listen to music on a very high volume. And I can't listen to it when the volume is "normal". When I listen to music I shouldn't hear other people's conversations and I don't talk at all. That obviously means that I will die deaf and blind, lol.Maybe I should start using my old and forgotten walkman again...

[pyost 0]

Ouch..

* Your MP3 player volume is set higher than 60 percent of the maximum * You can't hear conversations going on around you
* People near you can hear your music
* You find yourself shouting instead of talking when you respond to people nearby

My MP3 player's volume is always maximum
No way of hearing any conversations
Yes, people near me can hear the music (which usually makes the suffer )
Well, I don't shout. I know why people usually do, so when I'm listening to something I try to speak quiter than usual. And it helps!

I really don't think those things can make you deaf easily, because if they could, we would all be deaf! The noise from the streets and other sources shouldn't be forgotten. I suppose nobody listens to music 24/7. I listen to it maybe 1 hour per day at high volume - when I'm going to school. I doubt that can hurt you a lot.

[Quatrux 4]

Well. I also like to listen to music at high volume, but not 24/7 so I don't think I can become deaf too.. Anyway, I know that listening to music a lot can make you stupider, but it is a matter of the music you're listening in my opinion. I used to do my homework with my music on and TV on, I usually did some stupid mistakes, but now I try to do it at silence, because I feel I can do better and understand better.For example, when reading some kind of a book, I noticed that in silence I can imagine all the actions and moves, but when I read a book and my brother in the other room is listening to music, it is not so easy to consternate.. but some people are used to sounds around them and when they are doing something, they can concentrate and do the job - not me, I usually hear sounds around me rather than the teacher or etc.

[Saint_Michael 3]

for those of the older crowd who had tape decks back in the day said the same thing about hearing loss as well, I think it was true but, since the technology has improved greatly I would take that to warning greatly the human hearing is set at a spefic decible level and going beyond that level will impair your hearing after doing it for a long period of time. I think the decible level is 120 or something like that, so going beyond that range for a very long time could do some irreversable damage to you you may not feel it happening but it does in a slow process. That's why peeople who work in factories with loud machinery use hearing protection so they don't lose their hearing over time after working 40 years at 8 hours a day at the same level of noise.

[evion 0]

There are some situations where you just can't help but boom that mp3. Say, when you're at home on your bed, you probably only need to turn on the volume up to a soft, desirable sound. If you're in a bus though, or any other public transportation, sometimes i cannot even hear the music past all that racket. So does this mean if i turn the volume all the way up i will get ear damage even though i can't hear it?

[organicbmx 0]

my fairly old mp3 play has a special setting the locks the sound to one that will not damage your hearing. [amusingly using the symbol of a smiley face] the problem was that is was too quiet and relly spoiled the enjoyment of the music. also live gig events that leave you with rigging ears are seriously damaging. but worsened hearing is something i am fully prepared to accept in return for the happiness that music provides.

[lonebyrd 0]

When I was a teenager I had a portable tape deck that I used to listen to at full volume. People around me could hear it very well. I didn't listen to it all the time but I listened to it often enough for it to damage my hearing. Today I'm 31, but it was back in my mid 20's when I started to get a ringing in my ears, rather loudly. Dr.'s called it Tinitus. Its a condition that cannot be fixed that they say was caused from listening to music to loudly. So I would say yes to MP3 playes causing a form of deafness if listened to too loudly.

[ruben1405241511 0]

Hrmcht.. what are you saying young men? you have to speak a bit louder, my old ears aren't what they used to be, heheeee.

 

Good Link to read - Wikipedia

I think everybody must have noticed sometimes, that it hurts if you take out your earphones/-buds after having been in a loud environment and adjusting them and then put them in again. The reason is, as the Wikipedia says, that you don't feel the usual pain because of all the noise.

Solutions to that problem are:

not listening to music in noisy places (hell no)

using closed headphones (worse sound quality, but less disturbance by and for others)

using canalphones (damn expensive, if you want them right, but keep noise out)

using Noise Cancelling Headphones (good for steady noise, but not for speech etc. Cancel noise out with noise...)

Using earphones/-buds is a bad solution, because they don't isolate at all and you normally make it really loud.

 

I've got these iPod headphones which different-size rubber cushions, they are supposedly canalphones, but they don't work that great of course. When biking, they work like a funnel for the wind, so that I get some ear tornado and don't hear the music. Plus I notice that I hear my in-mouth sounds much louder, like chewing, speaking, teeth-brushing or even breathing. Additionally I really dislike the feeling of having something shoved up my brain

But I do listen to music on a lower level this way. By the way, wearing bonnets while biking helps a bit against the in-ear-tornados.

 

I used to have these old DJ headphones from my father, they were really big over-ear headphones and really kept others out of my ears (DJs need that), but one contact broke, so I couldn't use them anymore. Weren't made for the street. Additionally you need some attitude to wear this kind of headphones, earphones are for the normal people, everything bigger needs some aplomb to back it up =) If you got that: great!

 

Hear ya not,

Ruben

[Sarah81 0]

I don't mind loud noises in the background. I grew up with four younger siblings, so even just a normal dinner-table conversation could get pretty loud. (We're polite - we don't often all decide to talk at once and then shout over each other to be heard - but the sheer number of people talking and doing things to make *everybody* at the table laugh just makes for loudness.)From that I developed an ability to basically tune out distracting noises. Unless it's a sound that I don't hear often - maybe a maintenance employee banging on something just outside my apartment - I honestly don't hear it or even register the noise.Even with that nifty ability, I still listen to my MP3 player on the way to and from classes. (I love music - right now I don't have anything playing, but that's actually an odd thing because some CD or iTunes or something is usually on.)So, my music doesn't have to be very loud for me to enjoy it. I can see why some of you prefer not being able to hear what's going on around you - conversations, normal street noise, the crazy guy on the street corner screaming about aliens in his head or whatever - though.

[abhiram 0]

I remember my parents warning me about setting the volume too high on my Sony Walkman (anybody remember those things? They played tapes ) when I was a young kid. It's no surprise. Loud music never is good for your ears. Trying to overcome outside noise by increasing the volume in your IPod isn't a solution at all. Of course, one way would be to get those noise reducing earphones which I've actually tried on in a store (Bose Headphones), but they are huge and cost an arm and a leg. I guess the best thing would be to listen to music when it's quite and you can really enjoy it. That's what I do now.

[illini319 0]

I'm just glad that most of you here recognize that any personal player has the ability to make you deaf; and that it is your personal responsibility to make sure that this doesn't happen (or at least acknowledge that it is your actions that will ultimately cause you harm). As I'm sure you know, there is a lawsuit going around alledging (deliberate) negligence by the Apple company for making a product that can and will cause deafness. I own an iPOD. I'm not particularly fond of large corporations... but surely we cannot blame a company for our own personal recklesness. Kudos to you all.

[minnieadkins 0]

Well obviously if you blash music into your ear it's going to do some damage. I find it hard to listen to music below, what was it 80% of the max volume. The mp3 player I had (not an ipod) was always maxxed. But my songs bitrate was rather low. It was hard to hear the music, but I do use headphones that sort of filter out other noises. It helps for listening to music while on the computer or gaming.

[xip 0]

In Europe, all portable audio players are volume limited. I think there is a law about this.Personally, when I buyed my walkman, the first thing I done was search over internet the way to take out the limitation. Now it sounds LOUDER !

[WEEE!! 0]

Hmm.. even though I listen to heavy metal music and rock, I'm pretty sure its not too loud.. well, not all the way up to 100 percent though. I'm pretty sure I agree with not setting the music all the way up, and I'm happy I wear headphones because they don't cover my ears. Atleast with my Windows Media Player, I set the volume to 30. I'm pretty sure thats soft enough. I have a walkman, not an Ipod, but I'm pretty sure the sound quality is just as good