― L(E^24) (Leee), Saturday, 8 November 2003 00:54 (twenty years ago) link
I think the needle thing would be more dangerous.
― Øystein H-O (Øystein H-O), Saturday, 8 November 2003 01:06 (twenty years ago) link
Haha! oops=
http://www.posternow.com/imagem/l/l2156.jpg
― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Saturday, 8 November 2003 01:09 (twenty years ago) link
― oops (Oops), Saturday, 8 November 2003 01:14 (twenty years ago) link
― dlp9001, Saturday, 8 November 2003 18:01 (twenty years ago) link
I reckon mowing the lawn while listening to a walkman is probably certain damage every time. Still do it though.
― Ronan (Ronan), Saturday, 8 November 2003 18:04 (twenty years ago) link
You're otm about loudness/dance music though. If it's too quiet it doesn't have any punch and just sounds kind of annoying. Plus you miss out on all the details in the production.
― Elliot (Elliot), Saturday, 8 November 2003 20:12 (twenty years ago) link
My ears hurt for several days afterwards.
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 9 November 2003 04:02 (twenty years ago) link
― DarrensCoq, Sunday, 9 November 2003 04:17 (twenty years ago) link
1. The inconsistency in the design of the human body which leads to our damageable eyes having flaps to screen them when light gets too bright but our ears having no 'lids' to protect them from too much sound.
2. The way excess volumes are considered normal in our society and my profession, and how these volumes are usually just an expression of insensitivity or egotism on the part of musicians, or the direct result of people's failure to pay sufficient attention to small things.
I've started going to live music in the post-noise improv style. The last two shows I saw here in Berlin were extremely quiet and demanded pindrop silence from the audience -- you really could hear everybody's stomach rumbling as the musicians blew air through (but did not play) trumpets and tubas while laptops clicked microscopically. Even at these types of shows, though, there's always a moment when a 100 dB ultra-high pitch sine wave suddenly bursts out before you can reach your earplugs. Fuckers!
― Momus (Momus), Sunday, 9 November 2003 11:16 (twenty years ago) link
― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Sunday, 9 November 2003 12:31 (twenty years ago) link
― tod (tod), Sunday, 9 November 2003 12:55 (twenty years ago) link
― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Sunday, 9 November 2003 12:56 (twenty years ago) link
― tod (tod), Sunday, 9 November 2003 12:57 (twenty years ago) link
― N. (nickdastoor), Sunday, 9 November 2003 13:03 (twenty years ago) link
― Jason J, Sunday, 9 November 2003 13:04 (twenty years ago) link
― tod (tod), Sunday, 9 November 2003 13:07 (twenty years ago) link
yeah that's me. that's not good for you, you say?
― tod (tod), Sunday, 9 November 2003 13:09 (twenty years ago) link
― Momus (Momus), Sunday, 9 November 2003 15:39 (twenty years ago) link
― N. (nickdastoor), Sunday, 9 November 2003 15:43 (twenty years ago) link
A couple of weeks ago i heard Francisco Lopez perform. It was very quiet for the first 10 minutes or so, and everyone was wearing blindfolds so our ears were probably more sensitive than usual. He then slowly started introducing louder and louder bits and I started hoping he wasn't going to be an asshole and blast some really abrasive noise. It did eventually get louder, but it built up slow enough to not be painful. I haven't been to many noise shows since I assumed a large part of them were based on aural assault (which I imagine some are) but this was sort of a pleasant surprise.
― Elliot (Elliot), Sunday, 9 November 2003 18:51 (twenty years ago) link
― N. (nickdastoor), Sunday, 9 November 2003 19:47 (twenty years ago) link
― Elliot (Elliot), Sunday, 9 November 2003 21:29 (twenty years ago) link
― N. (nickdastoor), Sunday, 9 November 2003 22:36 (twenty years ago) link
― Elliot (Elliot), Monday, 10 November 2003 01:46 (twenty years ago) link
Noise-induced hearing loss and portable radios with headphones.
Catalano PJ, Levin SM.
Portable radio/cassette players with headphones have gained increasingpopularity in recent years. Volume settings are often increased to override environmental noise, perhaps placing the listener at risk for noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). A total of 190 public college students in NYC were studied via a self-administered questionnaire regarding the volume setting used and weekly exposure in hours to these units. Three popular models were tested usinga Bruel and Kjaer sound level meter, octave band filter and artificial ear. Sound levels were measured at various frequencies (250-8000 Hz) and an overall measurement obtained using the "A"-weighted scale. Based on OSHA criteria for permissible noise dose (i.e. intensity X duration) in the work place, auditory risk criteria were developed. Of all students who used such radios 31.4% equalled or exceeded the maximum allowable dose permitted by these criteria (41.2% of the males and 29.2% of females). This sex-related difference in risk, while not statistically significant, warrants further investigation. Of thetotal 'at risk' group 50% exceeded the risk criteria by more than 100%. These results suggest that portable radios with headphones may be capable of causing permanent hearing loss in a large proportion of radio users.
Sorry I don't have the full article, so I can't determine what the "maximum allowable dose" or what their criteria was specifically; however I'm guessing New Yorkers blast their headphones more than Berliners based on the outcome of this study:
HNO. 1994 Dec;42(12):764-8.
[Risk of hearing loss caused by listening to music with head phones]
[Article in German]
Ising H, Hanel J, Pilgramm M, Babisch W, Lindthammer A.
Umweltbundesamt, Institut fur Wasser-, Boden- und Lufthygiene, Berlin.
Sound levels of music played from mini-cassette players via headphones were measured in a nonrepresentative group of 681 pupils whose ages were between 10 to 19 years. Each pupil completed a questionnaire giving the total time spent listening to music each day. The pupils set the music levels (free field corrected short time Leq) between 60 dB(A) and 110 dB(A). In the age group from 12-16 years, 10% chose 110 dB(A). Nearly 50% of the total group usually listened to music less than one hour per day, and just less than 10% listened for four ormore hours. The energy equivalent of continuous sound pressure level for an exposure time of 8 h per day was for 55% Leq 8 h < 66 dB(A) and for 7% Leq 8 h > 95 dB(A) while 4% had an Leq 8 h > 105 dB(A). Estimation of the expected hearing losses (HL) were based on ISO 1999: about 10% of the total group were predicted to have a HL > 10 dB at 4 kHz after 5 years. After listening to sound in this manner 0.3% were expected to develop hearing losses at age 25 years that would be severe enough to substantially impair speech intelligibility.
There are a bunch of these types of journals which study the impact of working in certain professions on hearing (e.g. radio personalities, dance club workers, etc), or stranger things such as what determines the intelligibility of communication among air line pilots. If you are interested one of them (Noise and Health) has back issues online at http://juno.ingentaselect.com/vl=1258365/cl=25/nw=1/rpsv/cw/nrn/14631741/contp1.htm
― Ryan McKay (Ryan McKay), Monday, 10 November 2003 06:47 (twenty years ago) link
Aparrently amongst Eskimos the men tend to go deaf really young, in their 30s or so. This puzzled anthropologists for a while until one day some of them accompanied a hunter on a fishing expedition. They went out trekking for a couple of hours, and then carved a hole in the ground, and caught a fish (using a rod, line, and hook). After pulling the fish out of the hole, the hunter took out his rifle and shot it in the head (a big fish). This was extremely painful for the anthropologists because their ears had adjusted to the near silence they'd been in for hours, only to have them blasted by the huge noise of the gun.
― Andrew (enneff), Monday, 10 November 2003 07:01 (twenty years ago) link
― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Monday, 10 November 2003 12:43 (twenty years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 16 January 2004 21:29 (twenty years ago) link
The E2s were kind of expensive (although still cheaper than mid-range Sennheisers or low-end Grados), but they give great sound and have a two year warranty. You should be able to pick up a pair for under $80 if you look online.
I'm still pissed at my younger self for not wearing earplugs more though.
― That's a goddamn lie (Liar), Friday, 16 January 2004 22:02 (twenty years ago) link
― That's a goddamn lie (Liar), Friday, 16 January 2004 22:04 (twenty years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 16 January 2004 22:10 (twenty years ago) link
― Cunga (Cunga), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 03:36 (eighteen years ago) link
― Chunga's Revenge, Tuesday, 13 September 2005 03:43 (eighteen years ago) link
― richard wood johnson, Tuesday, 13 September 2005 03:43 (eighteen years ago) link
― Eddie Mummy, Tuesday, 13 September 2005 04:00 (eighteen years ago) link
― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 05:05 (eighteen years ago) link
I got some Shure E2s for Christmas. Initially, I was apprehensive about pushing them so deep into the canal, but I've gotten used to it. Only thing that bugs me now - and I guess this varies according to which caps you find most comfortable (I think this might only apply to the black rubber caps - - but is it healthy when they a create sort of vacuum inside? I don't necessarily have to push them any deeper, but they kind of suck themselves in at some points. I find the sound quality and volume are slightly diminished when this happens, and it just feels wrong, like every time I take them out it's tugging on my ear drum.
― gnarly sceptre, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 11:55 (sixteen years ago) link
Get good quality headphones, so you don't have to crank the volume to hear the details of the music, and keep your volume a bit low. Right now I love Koss Portasounds (which look like shit, but have great sound imo), after years of slugging it out with various Sony MDR's. Can't stand those in-ear phones, they just wear out my ears, sound awful after an hour or so.
― U-Haul, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 14:26 (sixteen years ago) link
what about sound canelling headphones? do they help much? are they always battery powered?
― mizzell, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 14:40 (sixteen years ago) link
I actually like the in-ear type precisely because they block out external noise and let me listen at reassonable volumes. Esp. on airplanes, where with normal earbuds or headphones you always have to turn up to 10 to hear over the engine noise.
In-ears turn out to be much less fatiguing, and much less of a PITA than active noice-cancelers.
― rogermexico., Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:31 (sixteen years ago) link