4 ms·

Simplifying: anything which ends up with long-term exposure to high decibel levels is bad for your ears. You can mitigate this by reducing the decibel level. O

by dsr_ 7y ago

Simplifying: anything which ends up with long-term exposure to high decibel levels is bad for your ears. You can mitigate this by reducing the decibel level. One excellent way of doing this is by blocking out the external sound, so you can listen to the sound you want at a lower level. The easiest way to do that is to use in-ear monitors, IEMs, headphones that go quite deeply into your ears. Using Comply foam tips or silicone triple-flange tips can reduce the outside noise 25-35dB. Alternatively, you can use ear defenders on top of nearly any earphone in existence.

whymsicalburito 7y ago
I got custom molded IEMs specifically for this reason when I started working in an open office. They are amazing and are totally comfortable being worn for 8+ hours per day. I highly recommend them!
- jacobmassey 7y ago
  just curious, which product?
  - cf498 7y ago
    He answered to another post > I went with https://pro.ultimateears.com/home https://pro.ultimateears.com/home and have been really happy with them.
- ohm 7y ago
  Where did you end up getting them from? I’ve seen a flyer from etymotic a while back https://www.etymotic.com/consumer/custom-fit/ https://www.etymotic.com/consumer/custom-fit/
  - whymsicalburito 7y ago
    I went with https://pro.ultimateears.com/home https://pro.ultimateears.com/home and have been really happy with them. I have a buddy that got some Etymotics and he's really happy with them. Make sure you get a good carrying case for them. I dropped mine when I first got them and had to send them in for repairs. Now I keep them in a pelican case and haven't had any problems. Oh and DO NOT buy the DIY ear mold kits - go to an audiologist and have them do it. It's not worth messing up your ears.
ddingus 7y ago
>70db = cumulative harm Earbuds and a noisy car window down can do that, just for a point of easy comparison. You should take a look at your EQ profile too. If you've got the lows and highs boosted up, that decimal number actually goes down, because you are driving those pretty hard, relative to the otherwise closer to flat sound. Finally, you cannot always trust the warning on say a Samsung phone. It all depends on the encode, and its relative volume When that all reaches your ears. It is better than nothing though. I have a little minor league loss on my drivers ear side. Many years driving with the window down. It all adds up. Finally, I think there's a lot of damage being done by cheap earbuds. An awful lot of the cheap ones have really bad notches and peaks. People will turn them up to get all of the sound, and those sharp peaks can be 10DB or greater above the norm. It's just carving a hole in your ears. Get good earbuds. You can run them at a lower volume, and they sound better.
- graeme 7y ago
  ">70db = cumulative harm" Wow, had no idea. Just looked it up and it's indeed correct. I had been going off the 85 db standard, which: 1. Is only for work exposure, assuming quiet elsewhere 2. Will nonetheless cause hearing loss in 8% of people when at workplace levels over a lifetime of work. https://www.quietcommunities.org/noise-level-hearing-loss-prevention/ https://www.quietcommunities.org/noise-level-hearing-loss-pr...
  - ddingus 7y ago
    My minor league loss is just from window down. I rarely combined it with earbuds. Glad you looked it up. IMHO, people should be better informed on this. A walk around with a sound meter app is very enlightening.
    - graeme 7y ago
      Yeah I’ve been using the decibel X app on my phone to measure environments. Started wearing earplugs on some flights as a result, and bought some reuseable ones for my keychain in case of a sudden loud environment. (Eg being pulled into a club by friends) Am excited for ios 13, as it will bring noise detection to all apple watch and headphones. I think this will lead to more noise complaints in chronically loud environments, esp by workers. For headphones, a decent test is seeing whether you can still hear yourself talk.
kazinator 7y ago
Cutting noise 25-35 db while listening to music at a reasonable level could in fact be better for your hearing than doing nothing.

by dsr_ 7y ago

whymsicalburito 7y ago

I got custom molded IEMs specifically for this reason when I started working in an open office. They are amazing and are totally comfortable being worn for 8+ hours per day. I highly recommend them!

jacobmassey 7y ago
just curious, which product?
- cf498 7y ago
  He answered to another post > I went with https://pro.ultimateears.com/home https://pro.ultimateears.com/home and have been really happy with them.
ohm 7y ago
Where did you end up getting them from? I’ve seen a flyer from etymotic a while back https://www.etymotic.com/consumer/custom-fit/ https://www.etymotic.com/consumer/custom-fit/
- whymsicalburito 7y ago
  I went with https://pro.ultimateears.com/home https://pro.ultimateears.com/home and have been really happy with them. I have a buddy that got some Etymotics and he's really happy with them. Make sure you get a good carrying case for them. I dropped mine when I first got them and had to send them in for repairs. Now I keep them in a pelican case and haven't had any problems. Oh and DO NOT buy the DIY ear mold kits - go to an audiologist and have them do it. It's not worth messing up your ears.

ddingus 7y ago

>70db = cumulative harm Earbuds and a noisy car window down can do that, just for a point of easy comparison. You should take a look at your EQ profile too. If you've got the lows and highs boosted up, that decimal number actually goes down, because you are driving those pretty hard, relative to the otherwise closer to flat sound. Finally, you cannot always trust the warning on say a Samsung phone. It all depends on the encode, and its relative volume When that all reaches your ears. It is better than nothing though. I have a little minor league loss on my drivers ear side. Many years driving with the window down. It all adds up. Finally, I think there's a lot of damage being done by cheap earbuds. An awful lot of the cheap ones have really bad notches and peaks. People will turn them up to get all of the sound, and those sharp peaks can be 10DB or greater above the norm. It's just carving a hole in your ears. Get good earbuds. You can run them at a lower volume, and they sound better.

graeme 7y ago
">70db = cumulative harm" Wow, had no idea. Just looked it up and it's indeed correct. I had been going off the 85 db standard, which: 1. Is only for work exposure, assuming quiet elsewhere 2. Will nonetheless cause hearing loss in 8% of people when at workplace levels over a lifetime of work. https://www.quietcommunities.org/noise-level-hearing-loss-prevention/ https://www.quietcommunities.org/noise-level-hearing-loss-pr...
- ddingus 7y ago
  My minor league loss is just from window down. I rarely combined it with earbuds. Glad you looked it up. IMHO, people should be better informed on this. A walk around with a sound meter app is very enlightening.
  - graeme 7y ago
    Yeah I’ve been using the decibel X app on my phone to measure environments. Started wearing earplugs on some flights as a result, and bought some reuseable ones for my keychain in case of a sudden loud environment. (Eg being pulled into a club by friends) Am excited for ios 13, as it will bring noise detection to all apple watch and headphones. I think this will lead to more noise complaints in chronically loud environments, esp by workers. For headphones, a decent test is seeing whether you can still hear yourself talk.

kazinator 7y ago

Cutting noise 25-35 db while listening to music at a reasonable level could in fact be better for your hearing than doing nothing.