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Headphones and smartphones have brought good sound to more people than high-end audio could ever reach. (Also, depending on the headphones, bad sound to more people than high-end audio could ever reach.) But headphones are also exposing billions of ears to sound—often very loud sound—for many hours a day. “Average people are now exposed to as much loud sound in the course of a day as audio engineers have been,” Jodi Sasaki-Miraglia, doctor of audiology and director of education and training for hearing-aid company Widex USA, told me.

Jodi Sasaki-Miraglia

I’d asked to talk with her because of my recent interest in hearing loss, inspired by work I’ve done measuring and evaluating hearing aids, personal sound amplification products (PSAPs), earplugs, and volume-limiting headphones—and also because my side gig playing jazz bass occasionally exposes me to potentially dangerous sound levels. Of course, most jazz gigs aren’t that loud, but sometimes in small venues I get stuck having to stand right in front of a P.A. speaker, and I occasionally play with octets and big bands that feature extremely loud massed horn sections—not such a problem if I’m at the back of the band, but if we’re all facing each other during rehearsal, it can be painful.

Although most people are probably aware that headphones can cause hearing loss, it’s not a topic I’ve heard headphone enthusiasts discuss much. But it’s an important issue. The World Health Organization estimates that by 2050, one in ten people will have disabling hearing loss, and nearly 50% of people between the ages of 12 and 35 are at risk of serious hearing loss due to excessive exposure to loud sounds.

All of the effort to prevent or moderate loud headphone listening has come through the mass market, with volume-limited headphones (mostly intended for kids), smartphone apps that track noise exposure, and true wireless earphones with hearing tests built into their accompanying apps. So audiophiles—who presumably spend a lot more time listening to music than most people do, and who probably listen at louder volumes because they’re typically more focused on the music—are on their own.

When I asked Sasaki-Miraglia what a safe level of listening for audiophiles might be, she replied, “It’s not so much about a ‘safe’ listening level; it’s more about healthy listening habits. Instead of thinking just about levels, it’s better to think about a dose—or how long you’re exposed to sound at a certain level.

“People talk about 85dB as a safe level, but that’s over an eight-hour day,” she continued. “When you go up to 90dB—just a little louder—you’re down to four hours a week. To really get to the point where you don’t have to worry much about hearing damage with long-term listening, you should really be at 75 or even 70dB.

“If you damage your hearing, you’re damaging the hair cells inside your ears that detect high frequencies, and they won’t grow back,” she cautioned.

Puro

There are some active (i.e., powered) headphones that limit maximum volume to 85dB, and some, such as the ISOtunes Free earphones and Puro Sound BT2200 headphones, even sound good—in fact, the BT2200s were among the first headphones with tuning based on the Harman curve, even before Harman actually started using the Harman curve. But audiophiles, by definition, are going to demand something better, so how can they assure their listening levels aren’t dangerously loud?

Apple

Sasaki-Miraglia is enthusiastic about Apple’s app used with earphones such as the AirPods Pro, which can set volume limits and tell you your dosage of loud sound over time. However, Apple can do this only because their apps “know” the characteristics of Apple headphones and earphones, and can thus accurately gauge the volume that’s reaching your eardrums. If you connect a different set of headphones—and especially if you use passive headphones plugged straight into an amp or mobile device—the app has no way to know what your listening level is. A specific voltage output may deliver a barely useable volume through, say, the HiFiMan Susvara headphones, but a dangerously loud level (36dB higher!) when connected to the Shure Aonic 5 earphones.

Apple

“It’s almost too bad that people’s ears don’t bleed when the sound’s too loud. Then they’d know when to back off the volume,” Sasaki-Miraglia said. “But if you’re listening loud enough to make your ears ring, it’s too loud. And if other people can hear your headphones [assuming they’re a closed-back design], it’s too loud.”

Another method I’d suggest—crude as it may be—would be to take a cheap sound-pressure level meter, set it for A-weighting and slow response, press it up against the baffle of your headphones, and play some fairly loud music that you like while watching the SPL meter. It won’t reflect the actual level of sound that reaches your eardrums, but it’ll give you a rough idea of the punishment you’re inflicting on your ears. If it’s around the mid-80s dB-wise, you should be reasonably safe for listening to a couple of albums every evening. If it’s below 80dB on average, then good on you. But if it’s in the 90-plus dB range, you’d be well-advised to back the level down. Otherwise, you could get to the point where you have a hard time telling high-resolution audio files from AM radio broadcasts.

Apple

“Hearing connects you with other people,” Sasaki-Miraglia said. “Nobody likes to be told what to do, but nobody likes to be embarrassed by constantly having to ask people to repeat themselves because you can’t hear what they’re saying.”

. . . Brent Butterworth
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  • This commment is unpublished.
    Al Tarheeli · 3 years ago
    Sitting in an orchestra level seat one evening at the SF Symphony when the musicians were playing a loud climax, I realized that if I snapped my fingers, or made any high frequency noise, everyone around me could hear it easily despite the roar of the orchestra. 120 db for the conductor was nothing like that for the audience.

    I've worked in audio stores where the sound levels of classical music were deafening, completely unlike sitting up front in a concert hall. Some of the "Golden Ears" who traditionally review equipment are men in their 40's to 70's many of whom have age-related hearing loss worsened by playing recordings way too loud over many years. I suspect these are the folks who claim to hear subtle "improvements" when they change power cords or speaker wires.

    Feel what your ears are telling you. If the sound level begins to become challenging, pick a level just below that point. I've always had to stuff my ears with tissues in many venues because my ears were telling me they were hurting. If the music is deafening, you're going to go deaf from listening to it.
  • This commment is unpublished.
    Ragav · 3 years ago
    Hi Brent! Hope you’re doing well in these desperate times. I have a doubt regarding musical hearing. Music conductors are often exposed to loudness levels well over 100db in the conductors stand. How is then that conductors like Herbert Von Karajan, Leonard Bernstein in the recent past and present day conductors like Simon Rattle, Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta were and are able to hear so well even in their advanced years? Most of them could and can hear an off-key note and stop rehearsals so as to correct them. 
    • This commment is unpublished.
      Brent Butterworth · 3 years ago
      Thanks! Still making a living, so I can't complain. I hope you're well, too.

      I don't have any data on hearing loss with classical musicians (other than piccolo players sometimes suffering hearing impairment in their right ear). But we don't really seem to hear about that, whereas most older rock musicians report some level of hearing loss. (That will be less of a problem going forward as it seems most touring acts have switched to in-ear monitoring.)

      I have two guesses on that. First, I am no classical music expert, but I suspect the dose the conductor gets of >90 dB sound is small -- maybe 2 or 3 minutes out of 40 in a symphony? Certainly not the constant exposure people get in rock bands. Second, I think the high SPLs in orchestras are generated mostly by lower-frequency instruments such as timpani, and loud bass does not seem to cause hearing loss.
  • This commment is unpublished.
    Jeanette L. DePatie · 3 years ago
    Thank you!  This is so important.  Losing hearing as we age affects every aspect of our lives from social connections to cognitive abilities.  We need to protect our ears!

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