Write a commentHow much are your ears worth? All ears are equal, and even if some are more equal than others, it’s all infinite, right? Invaluable, or at the very least, irreplaceable? Our headphone hobby requires at least some hearing acuity, and yet I see very little discourse about the potential damage loud sounds can do to your hearing, permanently.
You’ve unquestionably done something to damage your hearing in your life. For many of us, being music fans, we’ve probably done a lot. Concerts and clubs are the obvious culprits, but if you’ve done a lot of yard work with leaf blowers and lawn mowers, that’s another one. Any time you finish an activity and your ears are ringing, you’ve done permanent damage to your hearing. Generally, this is just a small amount, but it’s cumulative and doesn’t get better.
Even our beloved headphones can be a cause. Long and loud listening sessions could be impacting your hearing. Limiting how long you listen at high volumes is, of course, easier said than done, but it’s worth keeping in mind. Out in the real world, the only option is some kind of hearing protection. Well, other than avoiding loud events altogether, but that hardly seems like a way to live.
Wearing hearing protection is certainly not seen as “cool” or “masculine.” It might even be seen by some as “weird.” I know this after countless interactions, with men and women, at any loud event or location I’ve ever been to. I’ve worn custom ear protection in every loud place where I’ve spent any time for my entire adult life. Often, I’m the only one. If you don’t have as high a tolerance for “looking like a dork” as I do, I can see how this might be a challenge.
Some products, like my Sony NW-A306 media player, have built-in, optional volume limiters. I’m not sure this is the right solution, not least because it doesn’t take the environment into account. If you’re on the subway, you’ll need more volume than if you’re in your living room, sometimes even with noise-canceling headphones. It’s worth noting that this situation is extremely bad, since you’ve got the loud ambient sound and you’re adding to it with your earbuds. Yeah, drowning out ambient noise with music just means a cumulative deluge of acoustic power bombarding your eardrums. Hopefully, it’s for a short period of time.
I could quote the specific OSHA and EU recommendations for how long you should be exposed to sounds of a certain number of decibels, but I don’t think those are helpful for most people. Do you think the average person can explain how loud 90dB is? The simplest rule of thumb is if your ears are ringing, you’ve already done damage to your hearing. Certainly not helpful in the moment, but if you’re heading to an event that has left your ears ringing in the past, bringing earplugs just in case is ideal.
I highly recommend an SPL app. OSHA has its own app on iOS, and you can see some screenshots in this article. Because Apple has such a closed ecosystem, this app is likely quite accurate. Android, on the other hand, is a bit of a mess. There are too many manufacturers, and infinite variations on hardware, for SPL apps to be particularly accurate. However, they’ll give you a rough idea of what’s going on. I’ve used the AudioTool app, which also has an RTA, for years.
Protection options
Earplugs are cheap. I have a big box of ones I reviewed at Wirecutter ages ago that contains hundreds, and I think it cost $25. It’s best to get a small amount of a few varieties to see what fits you best. If you can’t get a good seal, they’re useless. If you want to go really hardcore, there are industrial-strength earmuffs. These are an option for some situations, but even I wouldn’t wear those while mingling with the un-earplugged.
Even better, get some custom earplugs. The pair I’ve had for years didn’t cost a lot, and have worked wonderfully. I’m not going to give the company a mention because of a staggeringly rude interaction with an employee. (I called them literally from a hospital bed, having nearly died, and they said I was inconsiderate for not calling earlier to cancel a meeting, despite being in emergency surgery before that. Cool cool cool.) The process for customs generally involves getting molds of your ears made, so it’s not a one-click process, but it’s definitely worth doing. There are some companies that sell mold-at-home options, though I haven’t had much luck with them. That’s likely due to my small ear canals, but regardless, your mileage may vary.
Somewhere in the mix are ’phones that seal well enough to reduce noise. The Westone earphones I reviewed this month claim 25dB of passive noise reduction. As with any manufacturer’s claim, I wouldn’t take that as exact, but if you get a good seal, they definitely block a lot of sound. I’m not sure I’d trust them to save my ears at a concert. They might be OK if you’re on stage, which is one of their recommended uses, since it’s often not as loud on stage as it is in front of the stage.
Lastly, this is all especially vital for kids. They likely have no idea what harm they’re potentially doing to their hearing. I was A/V editor at Wirecutter when we did the world’s first in-depth test of kids’ headphones—and it was eye-opening, to say the least. The vast majority of “kids’” models offered no volume limiting, and many more claimed to but didn’t, as our testing proved. It’s worth researching headphones for the younglings extensively.
. . . Geoffrey Morrison
Off topic: Hey, I wrote a book! It’s called Budget Travel for Dummies, and it’s not at all headphone-related, but if it sounds like something you’d be into, please check it out! It’s available on Amazon, B&N, and anywhere books are sold.
