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Earbud Headphones May Cause Hearing Loss 507

Posted by samzenpus from the could-you-speak-up dept.
benr writes "According to an AP report, the earbud headphones that are so popular for ipods and other portable devices may lead to hearing loss. From the article: "The big culprits aren't the devices themselves, but the tiny 'ear bud' style headphones that the music players use. 'Unfortunately, the earbuds are even more likely to cause hearing loss than the muff-type earphones that were used on Walkman and portable CD players'""
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Earbud Headphones May Cause Hearing Loss More

Earbud Headphones May Cause Hearing Loss

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  • I've proven this... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Kickboy12 ( 913888 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @01:45AM (#14356482) Homepage
    I had some old earbud headphones in which the left earbud was dead, and didn't have the time/money to buy new ones. I used them for months with my CD Player, and when I finally did get new headphones, I found my right-ear isn't as good as it use to be. I got new ones about 2 months ago, but my ear still isn't at "peak efficiency". Won't make that mistake twice.
    • I also had a similar experience, though it was with normal headphones. Ever since that I don't use any headphones or earbuds. Though a lot depends on the kind of music one is hearing. But if you play it for more than an hour everyday some kind of damage is bound to happen even if you play the lightest kind of music.

      • Re:I've proven this... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by GMC-jimmy ( 243376 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @03:56AM (#14356947) Homepage
        I think the real culprit here is improper Volume (loudness) settings and not headphones/earbuds.

        I have some real nice Princess Leia [koss.com] style headphones, and even though they totally surround the ear, I never set the volume so high that I can't hear someone speak to me with a normal tone of voice. Hearing loss runs in my family, so keeping a reasonable Volume setting is very important to me.

        • Re:I've proven this... (Score:5, Funny)

          by TallMatthew ( 919136 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @08:02AM (#14357439)
          I never set the volume so high that I can't hear someone speak to me with a normal tone of voice

          Are you the guy that hums along to elevator music?

        • A good volume (Score:5, Insightful)

          by Merkuri22 ( 708225 ) <merkuri@gmail.cUUUom minus threevowels> on Thursday December 29, 2005 @08:38AM (#14357539)
          My rule for volume was that if somebody standing near me can hear it, even if it's just a quiet hum or just the beat, it's too loud. Every once and a while my boyfriend tells me he hears voices, which is his way of telling me to turn down my audiobook's volume.
          • No no, it's a subtle way to tell you he's a psycho.

            trust me. the voices told me it was so.

            ihm.. besides... isnt it difficult judging volume on what other people hear? when he's not around, do you constantly go around asking people "can you hear this?"

            uhm.. and what if you ask a deaf guy? crank it up, eh?

          • Re:A good volume (Score:3, Insightful)

            by Thangodin ( 177516 )
            This works with standard earbuds (I can never hear anything coming out of mine when I take them out.) A few years ago, though, Sony came out with some over-the-head style earbuds that bled the treble out the sides to produce a heavier bass response. These things could be heard from quite a distance away, but when I wore them in traffic, all I could hear was the traffic, so they were no louder on my end than ambient traffic sounds. The people in my office kept telling me I was destroying my hearing, but in f

        • Re:I've proven this... (Score:5, Interesting)

          by JazzCrazed ( 862074 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @09:12AM (#14357627) Homepage

          I sort of go along that vein, using a distant cousin of the ear bud: in-ear monitors [etymotic.com]. These actually seal up the ear canal relatively completely, isolating the music from outside noise far better than ear buds (think ear plugs and headphones combined). And I never feel the need to turn my music's volume further than halfway.

          So I don't suffer from over-loudness, but of course one consequence of this is that I am pretty much deaf to anything outside the headphones, so I can't hear people talking to me like you can. But IEMs or other similar noise-isolating/cancelling headphones are nigh necessity on the NYC subway, as far as I'm concerned. There's probably far more people suffering hearing loss on the subway here than anywhere else, as they crank to 11 to kill off the scream of the trains.

          • Common sense hearing protection (Score:4, Insightful)

            by shagmasterflex22 ( 942067 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @01:46PM (#14359164)
            The problem with headphones, ear-buds and In-Ear Monitors is exactly that we've blocked out the world around us. Our brains use environmental queues to help warn us when something we hear is too loud - before the onset of physical pain. The brain can determine how loud somthing is based on how the sound interacts with the space we're in. The brain uses similar methods to determine which direction a sound is coming from. Our insticts kick in when it gets too loud and we want to stick our fingers in our ears, even though we don't because we'll look "too old."

            Another issue (which doesn't seem to have been brought up yet) is duration of exposure. I don't recall the exact figures (ask OSHA), but the idea is this: your ears can only do so much work in a given period of time. Loud noises work your ears more than soft ones, but sustained moderate-volume noises can work your ears as much if not more than loud noises. Once your ears pass their "working" threshold, you will start to damage them. Every time you leave a loud environment (like when the Who is in town) and you notice your ears ringing, you're noticing new permanent hearing damage.

            As we age, our ears gradually sustain more permanent damage. Contrary to what many believe, there is currently no way to repair or reverse hearing damage, only ways to work with it. Hearing aids simply amplify noises we can no longer detect (thereby hastening further damage) and cochlear implants effectively replace the natural inner ear mechanism with an artificial one which while allowing the person to hear again probably doesn't sound as "right" as the original did.

            In addition to loudness, other factors can contribute to hearing loss. Cigarrette smoke, alcohol, poor diet, poor sleeping habits, and CAFFEINE all increase a person's risk for hearing loss.

            I started playing the drums when I was 10 years old, and I didn't wear earplugs regularly until my early twenties when I was studying audio engineering at Berklee College of Music. I suffer from tinitus (cronic ringing of the ears) and I've found that in addition to a good diet and plenty of water, the best way to reduce the ringing is to avoid caffeine, consume alcohol only moderately, and avoid smoky environments. I've also found that if I know I'm going to be in a loud environment (like a concert, seminar, party, etc), I can protect my ears by maintaining a softer environment for the rest of the day - ie, not listening to loud music, wearing earplugs when I'm walking down a city street or on the subway or in the car, etc.

            I think everyone who has concerns about their hearing could benifit from this.

        • Grab a pair of "nosebuds." ;-) (Score:5, Funny)

          by Vorondil28 ( 864578 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @09:52AM (#14357736) Journal
          Sweet, I have a pair of those too! You don't need to turn them up nearly as much as a pair of earbuds to get the same quality of sound, but yeah, I agree that turning it up just to block out background noise isn't just anti-social, it's unhealthy.

          Those that say it's necessary in some situations (on a bus/train/etc) should really reconsider where and how they listen to music. Truly, the most enjoyable and healthy way to listen to music is with a quality stereo system in your living room, but if you must take your tunes to go, may I suggest this: use a pair of earbuds in your nose.

          No, seriously. Place each earbud in your nostrils, close your lips but leave your jaw open. Then plug your ears and enjoy -- just remember to breathe every once in a while. Not only does this produce a really cool voice-in-your-head effect, you can crank your player to the max, and cut out the background noise without fear of hearing loss because it's resonating in your sinuses and mouth instead of your ear canals.

          The downside: it diminishes the stereo effect some and people tend to look at you funny -- a small price to pay.
          ;-)

          • Re:Grab a pair of "nosebuds." ;-) (Score:4, Funny)

            by dubious9 ( 580994 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @02:25PM (#14359509) Journal
            I can't believe you made me put ear buds in my nose.

            I just crossed from office-geek into "don't stare and walk away slowly" dude.

            Ah hell, maybe I'll get me some crazy eyes and complete the package.

            Thanks!
            • I just crossed from office-geek into "don't stare and walk away slowly" dude.

              I don't think that it's really that weird, unless you think of "anyone trying something new" as weird. Automobiles and electric lighting were all new at one point...

              I suspect that the enjoyment of a media is greater when you have more related stimuli firing that your brain can tie together.

              People like bass. I doubt that this is because low notes are just really neat, but because they can *feel* the bass -- vibration and air press

        • Re:I've proven this... (Score:3, Informative)

          by sribe ( 304414 )
          I think the real culprit here is improper Volume (loudness) settings

          No kidding! I was just on a 3-hour plane flight where the entire time I could actually hear and understand the words to the music playing on the iPod of the dumbass in the row behind me!!!

    • WHAT? (Score:3, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      What was that?

    • Re:I've proven this... (Score:5, Informative)

      by Morlark ( 814687 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @01:57AM (#14356552) Homepage
      Personally I can't stand earbuds. They always irritated my ears, and I couldn't stand the way they feel, so I've just completely stopped using them now. Ah, it's wonderful the way a set of real headphones fit right over the ears. Nicely blocks out all the background noise as well. I certainly don't intend to go back to using any nasty earbuds again.

      Story also on Yahoo news [yahoo.com], and the Register [theregister.co.uk].

      • shit, during the last few hours sittin here surfin, i've been listening to a few dozen Skinny Puppy songs, over a nice set of Cambridge Soundworks speakers. i keep finding myself turning up the volume every few minutes, until someone IMs me and the damn .wav blows my eardrums out. someone dumped a few albums of slayer and sepultura onto my flash drive the other day, and by the time i finished that off, my ears felt like i had just left a freakin concert. i almost wish i had a shitty sound system so that

      • Re:I've proven this... (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Hatta ( 162192 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @01:08PM (#14358862) Journal
        All headphones suck. Do you really need preprogrammed entertainment piped into your sensory organs 24 hours a day? Listen to the music you find around you, don't cut yourself off from the world.

    • Re:I've proven this... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by SeaFox ( 739806 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @02:11AM (#14356612)
      I don't think that's really your ears. Every set of headphones seems to be a little bit louder on the left side I notice. When I switch them around and wear them backwards the right sounds louder then.
    • What?

      (Ok, not quite as funny as doing it in person, but I've not left my parent's basement for months now.)

    • Found this in the 1940s and it's TODAYS news? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 29, 2005 @02:23AM (#14356657)
      How can the Associated Press and its editors find a new news story out of something that has been publicized since the 1940s?

      To what extent and in what form should the news media re-teach readers basic life lessons (eat a balanced diet, exercise, drink in moderation, don't listen to loud music, etc.)?

      How should the press segregate news so that the average reader does not get lowest common denomiator news (e.g., things aimed at those that don't know better or are 5 years old or younger)?

      Begin Quote from: "The History of Audiology" http://www.asha.org/public/hearing/aud_history.htm [asha.org]

      The History of Audiology

      The profession of audiology had its origins in the 1920s when audiometers were first designed for measuring hearing. Interest in this profession surged in the 1940s when soldiers returned from World War II with noise induced hearing loss due to near-by gunfire or to prolonged and unprotected exposure to machinery noise. Others had psychogenic (non-organic) hearing loss as a result of severe emotional and mental stress. The Veterans Administration took a lead role in providing hearing testing and rehabilitation through hearing aids, auditory training, and speechreading (lipreading) programs.

      Since the 1940s and 1950s, the study of hearing, hearing loss, and audiologic rehabilitation has escalated and expanded. New tests of hearing have been developed including evaluations of functions of the outer ear, middle ear, cochlea, acoustic nerve, and related brain areas. Techniques using physiologic measurements that were in the research stages 20-30 years ago are now routine.

      Modern technology and computerization have dramatically influenced hearing aids. Hearing aids have changed from "boxes" in shirt pockets and "cords" to the ear to highly sophisticated "completely-in-the-ear canal" aids. Virtually any kind of hearing loss can be improved by a hearing aid. Cochlear implants are increasingly common and successful. Through cochlear implantation, a destroyed or damaged cochlea can be by-passed and the acoustic nerve can be stimulated directly.

      Today, audiologists and the practice of audiology have widespread visibility. Audiology has a presence in public schools, health care centers, private practices, nursing homes, community agencies, the military, hospitals. colleges and universities, hearing aid dispensing centers, hearing and speech centers. They test hearing and listening ability; they fit hearing aids and assistive listening devices; they provide training and rehabilitation programs for individuals with hearing and listening disorders; they participate on health care and educational teams tp plan and provide the most appropriate services.

      • Re:Found this in the 1940s and it's TODAYS news? (Score:5, Informative)

        by magefile ( 776388 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @02:58AM (#14356772)
        Hearing aids have changed from "boxes" in shirt pockets and "cords" to the ear to highly sophisticated "completely-in-the-ear canal" aids.

        This is a common misconception. "In the canal" (CIC) and "in the ear" (ITE) are generally used to compensate for the kind of hearing loss that wasn't bad enough to be worth correcting in the past. Behind the ear (BTE) aids are used to compensate the kind of loss that used to be corrected by body-worn aids. Those of us with BTEs are usually severely to profoundly deaf.

    • Re:I've proven this... (Score:5, Funny)

      by DavidV ( 167283 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @02:32AM (#14356694)
      'my ear still isn't at "peak efficiency". Won't make that mistake twice.'

      It could be beneficial to make the mistake twice... at least your hearing would be balanced.

    • Re:I've proven this... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by alset_tech ( 683716 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @03:00AM (#14356778) Homepage
      I had some old earbud headphones in which the left earbud was dead, and didn't have the time/money to buy new ones. I used them for months with my CD Player, and when I finally did get new headphones, I found my right-ear isn't as good as it use to be. I got new ones about 2 months ago, but my ear still isn't at "peak efficiency

      I always hold my phone to my right ear. My sense of hearing is noticeably desensitized in this ear. This has been obvious to me for a few years. I think any device that sends a signal to one ear more than another will create similar results. I don't consider in-earbuds any more damaging than any other speaker.

    • You proved nothing. Perhaps if you cloned yourself and wore regular headphones with a dead left muff during the same time period you would have something (though it would still be anecdotal). At best you just gave a bit of evidence that headphones hurt hearing.

  • We're turning into a nation of deaf people (Score:5, Insightful)

    by yog ( 19073 ) * on Thursday December 29, 2005 @01:45AM (#14356483) Homepage Journal
    This is hardly news; for years, headphones have been known to cause hearing loss, and ear buds are merely the extreme expression of this kind of problem. Recently in September 2005 there was a flurry of articles about this issue, according to a quick google search.

    There's evidence of a general decline in hearing sensitivity in movie theatres and airplanes. The intensity of airplane overhead speaker volume has recently become almost painful to my ears, and it seems to be consistent across different airlines. Movie theatres as well have cranked up the volume. I find myself covering my ears during the previews, which tend to have intense, compressed action with a lot of music and narrative to pump up the adrenaline. Generally when the main feature begins the sound volume settles down a bit but it can still be worrisomely loud.

    I am worried that we in the U.S. are becoming a nation of half-deaf electronic addicts, cranking our headsets and PA systems ever louder to compensate, perhaps unknowingly, for our diminishing sensitivity to sound.

    I only hope that ENT doctors and researchers continue to find ways to repair the ear's mechanisms and perhaps develop nerve repair techniques or we're gonna have a huge population of elderly deaf people 50 years from now (with commensurate increase in volume of PA systems etc.).

    • Re:when it's too loud you are too old (Score:5, Insightful)

      by skeptictank ( 841287 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @01:54AM (#14356538)
      No matter how loud you can crank your stereo, several months of a crying baby in your house will make you appreciate the little bit of the quiet time you get.
    • I'm fairly sure the loudness in movie previews is caused by a tendency in recent years for audio producers to make a sound "louder" by amplifying the audio signal.

      Don't really remember what the procedure is called, but they basically crank up the amplitude of the wave. This results in the sound being percieved as much louder. Of course the downside is that this clips the peaks out of the signal but since they've all decided that louder gets noticed better, it hasn't tempered their antics by much. Several al

      • Re:We're turning into a nation of deaf people (Score:5, Funny)

        by Overly Critical Guy ( 663429 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @02:36AM (#14356709)
        I'm fairly sure the loudness in movie previews is caused by a tendency in recent years for audio producers to make a sound "louder" by amplifying the audio signal.

        You're fairly sure it's louder because they're making it louder?

      • Re:We're turning into a nation of deaf people (Score:5, Informative)

        by Kiryat Malachi ( 177258 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @02:58AM (#14356771) Journal
        a) It's called compression. It doesn't clip peaks in the signal; it reduces dynamic range.

        b) It's used in radio, highly produced music (like most pop music), and anything even remotely related to advertising, to allow a sound to carry more energy within a constrained peak amplitude range.

        c) It's used in mass market movies, especially action movies, to provide more impact. Dramatic movies, serious movies, and indie stuff tend not to use it since it doesn't suit their needs - just like music, where classical, jazz, and most independent artists use compression as a tool for good, not evil (compression isn't inherently bad... if the producer knows how to use it.)

        • Re:We're turning into a nation of deaf people (Score:4, Insightful)

          by advocate_one ( 662832 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @05:28AM (#14357123)
          back in my old tape deck days, pre-CD... I used a Compander in conjunction with my tape deck... I compressed when recording, and decompressed on playback... this was a means to get around the dynamic range limitations of tape.

          What hacks me off these days, is the sudden increase in perceived volume when an advert or similar break occurs during a television show... it's so blatant, yet they keep denying there's anything happening. I have to turn the volume down quite some way, and then remember to turn it back up when the program continues...

          in fact, lately, I've started using the Mute during the breaks... which means those advertisers have shot themselves in the foot as I'm not hearing the message.

          yes, I know, I could get a "tivo" type machine or even build my own, but I watch telly so infrequently these days it's not worth the bother. I get any shows I'm really interested in off the intarweb... and if I'm really impressed, I go and buy the DVDs

          But what really really gets my Goat is those bl00dy anti-priracy messages on the DVDs I can't get round... I'm not the one whose pirating the bloody thing, I've actually gone out and bought it, so why the heck am I being forced to watch an anti-piracy message???

      • I'm always dissapointed when someone comes up with a great answer and then they're scoffed at for not using all the catch words. With a preamp mechanism (or compression), so simple now, advertisers can make things extra loud. In the past big content producers weren't so close to electronics manufacturers, but now the only new formats are being controlled by content producers. Both Toshiba and (especially) Sony are big in the electronics business and with Sony pushing DRM content, and Toshiba caving to th
    • Yeah, I understand what you mean by loud theaters, concerts, churches (geez loud), etc. Since I was born partially deaf and have to wear a bone conduction hearing aid, I have an advantage in these loud situations. I will just turn off or down my hearing aid. Funny, how even that is sometimes still loud. The problem with my hearing is when people talk even on microphone. That is never loud enough. :(

  • ummm (Score:3, Funny)

    by jest3r ( 458429 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @01:45AM (#14356484)
    say what?!

  • In short, (Score:5, Funny)

    by dtfinch ( 661405 ) * on Thursday December 29, 2005 @01:46AM (#14356492) Journal
    Loud stuff hurts ears.

  • well... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by jolande ( 852630 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @01:46AM (#14356493)
    ... and they are also very uncomfortable.

  • Common sense (Score:5, Insightful)

    by brain defrag ( 940949 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @01:47AM (#14356498)
    This issue basically boils down to common sense. If you listen to your music at excessively high volume, you will eventually suffer hearing loss. People also need to realize that their hearing adapts to different sound levels. European iPods ship with a volume limiter for this reason.

    • Re:Common sense (Score:3, Insightful)

      by argStyopa ( 232550 )
      European iPods ship with a volume limiter for this reason.

      Seriously?

      If true, this is a nearly perfect analogy between the US and Europe then.

      1) European (government/corporations) do something that is sensible given the risk, and shows a level of concern for it's citizens/customers. There may be a commercial motive (can they charge more for it? Probably...) but it's not a clear one.
      2) On the other hand, I, as an American, in my gut find this a ridiculous limitation of what is actually a rather trivial free

  • Pseudo-dupe (Score:2, Insightful)

    by NexFlamma ( 919608 )
    Familiar? [slashdot.org]

  • The new in-ear ones or the old? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by PCM2 ( 4486 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @01:49AM (#14356506) Homepage
    TFA describes the in-ear headphones as being less capable at blocking ambient noise than the "earmuff" style phones. That leads me to believe they're actually talking about the old school in-ear phones, the kind that just sort of hang in your ears. Newer ones, like the Sony Fontopia [sonystyle.com] in-ear designs, actually fit all the way into your ear canal. These actually are pretty good at blocking out exterior noises -- in fact, they take some getting used to. If they're going to lead to hearing loss, it's probably because of the amazing bass response for such small phones. I don't work for Sony -- there are other, similar brands on the market, but the Sonys are the only ones I've used.

    • Re:The new in-ear ones or the old? (Score:5, Informative)

      by squidinkcalligraphy ( 558677 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @02:06AM (#14356597)
      I've got a pair of Shure e2c in-ear-canal phones and they are wonderful at blocking out external noise. Subsequently, I rarely go above 25% on my jukebox now, compared to an average 75% with the crappy bud-style phones. I'm sure the more efficient drivers have something to do with that as well, though.
    • I have a pair of those exact earphones (MDR-51 in white) and I recently switched to a pair of $10 phones because I hate them. I had to stick them WAY into my ear to get decent sound, which caused them to itch so much I couldn't wear them for more than 30 minutes at at time. And though I cleaned the phones and my ears regularly, the left phone eventually got so gummed up with wax it stopped working.

      So I woundn't recommend them to anyone unless you're willing to eat your money if you hate them, since they're
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • the phones? (Score:5, Informative)

    by User 956 ( 568564 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @01:50AM (#14356508) Homepage
    The big culprits aren't the devices themselves, but the tiny 'ear bud' style headphones that the music players use.

    Is it the design of the headphones, or the design of the headphones combined with people listening to their music at higher levels than usual?

    " In a study published last year in the journal Ear and Hearing, researchers at Harvard Medical School looked at a variety of headphones and found that, on average, the smaller they were, the higher their output levels at any given volume-control setting. And other studies have shown that because the tiny phones inserted into the ears are not as efficient at blocking outside sounds as the cushioned headsets, users tend to crank up the volume to compensate."

    So the problem isn't a technological one, but a psychological one. I'm guessing the in-ear phones like the ones made by Etymotic [etymotic.com] wouldn't be subject to this phenomenon.

    • Re:the phones? (Score:3, Interesting)

      by MtViewGuy ( 197597 )
      I think the big problem is that you have to crank up the volume quite a bit with those bud-style earphones to get something approaching decent sound quality. Small wonder why hearing loss problems are increasing.

      The new in-ear portable headphones don't need to crank the volume so high for decent sound quality, hence these actually may not contribute so much so hearing loss.

  • Yeesh. (Score:2)

    by g0at ( 135364 )
    Oh, gee. Guns may kill people, too. It is not something inherent in the earbuds, but the fact that people drive them louder.

    The rule of thumb suggested by researchers at Boston Children's Hospital is to hold the volume of a music player no higher than 60 percent of the maximum, and use it for only about an hour a day.

    What a load. Obviously this is a worthless piece of advice, since "the maximum" is not a constant across all sound-producing devices.

    There is no news here. Slashdot: shit for idiots like g0
  • "Unfortunately, the earbuds are even more likely to cause hearing loss than the muff-type earphones"

    Your head is nothing without a good pair of muffs on it. (In my opinion...)

  • muff-type (Score:2, Funny)

    by MasamuneXGP ( 824006 )
    *snicker*
    • What bothers me here:
      It would be pretty simple to ship the ipod with a feature that would allow a parent to set the device so it _couldn't_ be played loudly. It is one thing to say that competent adults are making bad decisions here-but there are a lot of children or disabled folks that use these devices. It just wouldn't take much to give greater parental control here.

  • So then the question is: are there headphones that a) don't look ridiculous (like the cushioned ones), b) are comfortable, c) block out noise, and d) sound good?

    What have /.ers found that fit these criteria? I'm currently using the in-ear buds that came with my Rio Karma. They sound pretty good, and they're comfortable (even though I lost the foam covers), but I do have to turn them up quite loud to hear the music well.
    • not cheap [etymotic.com]
    • Etymotics in-ear headphones are great at blocking outside noise. Their earplugs are also good, too; they have a relatively flat attenuation-vs-frequency curve.

      I got my pair several years back; I think other companies have jumped on the in-ear bandwagon since then.

    • Re:Substitutes? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by CharlieG ( 34950 )
      your 2 main choices are etymotic or shure. I did a stack of research about a year ago, and in some ways it came down to what you like in your sound - each had certain advantages. With the Shures - don't go with models below the e3 however

      • Re:Substitutes? (Score:3, Interesting)

        by shut_up_man ( 450725 )
        I totally agree - I've been looking at the Shure range recently and the E2Cs have a different design - check out the picture of them: http://www.shurecanada.com/images/e2c_large.jpg [shurecanada.com]

        There's this weird bulb thing where the cable connects, and then a stalk that turns sideways and then the actual main bulb thing that goes inside your ear. I tried to get them to sit properly and the back bulbs got in the way. I tried twisting them around and just messing back and forth with them, and never really getting them to
    • The best substitute I've found so far is the Radio Shack Pro 35A. They are 1) Light, 2) Sound OK, 3) Inexpensive ($20). For air travel, the Maxell noise-cancelling headphones available at Walmart for $35 are a good bargain, but don't sound as good as the cheaper Radio Shack headphones. Just say no to earbuds.

  • IF YOU KEEP TURNING IT UP...IT WILL BE LOUD! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by holden caufield ( 111364 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @01:52AM (#14356522)
    I'll admit it - I didn't rtfa, but here's my thoughts on all of these "X will make you go deaf" stories:

    Yes, if you keep making things louder and louder, eventually you're going to experience hearing loss. Additionally, in my personal experience, listening to something in only one ear (like a cell phone, or a single-side headset) it will be much louder if the other ear isn't blocked (y'know, by sticking a finger in it), or listening to the same stuff.

    I disagree with the blanket statements like "earbud heaphones cause hearing loss", though. I've been using a pair of Etymotic ER6i headphones (yes, they're earbuds), but the work on the concept of isolation from other outside noises. Think of a foam earplug with a decent heaphone in the center. Using those, I find I'm actually enjoying the quiet, and tend to play my music at a much *lower* volume than I would with more open headphones.
    • Hear, hear to the etymotics! I've used a pair of ER6's and now ER6i's--I love them. Thanks to the sound isolation I listen at a much lower volume, and can actually here more details thanks to the higher quality. They're expensive but worth it. FWIW, other similiar "canalphones" inclue the "Shure" line, that I've seen sold at Apple stores.
  • ...is to turn down the volume.

    The rule of thumb I've been using at college: if the bus/heater/conversation/etc. is so loud that I can't hear my music over it, the iPod goes off.

    Unfortunately, no one seems to pay attention to articles like these. I've heard plenty of music that's being played much too loud; the best example so far was hearing music from the study cubicle next door with both doors closed and my iPod on. To be fair, the tops are open, but that's not much of a comfort.

    I worry sometimes,

  • What? (Score:2, Redundant)

    by tonsofpcs ( 687961 )
    I couldn't hear the article, could you please repost it?
  • A lot of people listen to earbuds (or muffin headphones) the same way they listen to the car radio: volume crank sky high so everyone in the neighborhood can hear them go by. So if I can hear your earbuds across the room, your personal volume is TOO DAMN LOUD. Go figure.
  • This is hardly new, and I'm not just talking about the fact that loud stuff hurts your ears. I'm talking earbuds - they are far from new. Everyone remember the amazing earbuds that shipped with the original Game Boy (for those younger than like 16, the really old gray one that was, like, thick as four iPods and as long as two side by side or more)? I just love how we (meaning society) like to blame things like this on whatever is new, when the same thing was plenty available in the past. And, no, the iP

  • News at 11 (Score:3, Interesting)

    by raider_red ( 156642 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @02:02AM (#14356574) Journal
    Researchers also reported that eating too much sugar makes you fat, smoking can make you cough, and using Microsoft products can lead to security concerns.

    Seriously, do we need to be told that loud noise can lead to hearing loss? Are we so dumb that they need to dredge up a story that first ran with the invention of the Walkman?
  • What!? Yes, yes! I had one of those long ago, but the front wheel fell off! Yes! Say again!? Yes, yes! ...
  • If you had good earbuds, and there wasn't anything to drown out, the music would sound better at lower volumes. The answer is to drown out the external noise with passive dampening.

    Put shooters hearing protection on over your earbuds. All earmuff style headphones should be built with ~25dB+ sound dampening gel inserts. I always judge headphones by how quiet they are when unplugged compared to the ambient noise level of the room. The better the headphones, the more noise they tolerate at ZERO power. Then the
  • new slogan:

    "Play it not so loud, 90 decibels or less is preferred."
  • 'Unfortunately, the earbuds are even more likely to cause hearing loss than the muff-type earphones that were used on Walkman and portable CD players' This is bullshit. The size of earphones don't mean anything but the type. If the huge muff-type earphones are sound isolating, then I'd say they are safer because you can listen to your music at a much lower volume. Same goes for the earbuds that are in-ear design like etymotics and shure's. Since it isolates outside sound, you don't need to crank the volum

  • For those with Tinnitus (Score:5, Interesting)

    by zap_branigan ( 691916 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @02:09AM (#14356605)
    I am only 38 and have a bad case of Tinnitus. For those lucky bastards who don't---look it up and take very seriously the amount of noise you get. I work downtown in a LARGE city and I always put in earplugs when I am walking to lunch for an hour or so. I started doing that after taking a decibel meter outside with me one day. Amazing how loud life is now.

  • Quality Check? (Score:2, Informative)

    by Arainach ( 906420 )
    The report's claims must be using incredibly cheap phones. Any decent pair of canalphones (see: Shure, Etymotic, Ultimate Ears) will isolate much better than any other pair of headphones out there, allowing the use of lower volumes and an overall reduction of hearing damage/loss. Even the lousy iPod headphones provide better isolation than most cheap headphones in their pricerange nowadays. Will they isolate as well as a Sennheiser HD-280 or a pair of canalphones? No. But they hardly isolate "much wors

  • My ENT loves earbuds (Score:3, Interesting)

    by CharlieG ( 34950 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @02:15AM (#14356629) Homepage
    My ENT says (jokingly) "earbuds are great - they are going to pay for me to retire". This, just before I was tested (left ear normal, right ear SLIGHT rolloff, but normal for my age- yeah, I'm in my mid 40s) - there was a young kid in front of me - he had just gotten the bad news - he was going to need hearing aids - in his late teens - attributed to way too much LOUD noise.

    The ENT was saying - if someone standing next to you in a quiet room can hear the music - it TOO loud

    I have good in ear phones - and wear phones because of some other hobbies - but at reasonible volumes - I know the exact day I got that roll of in the right ear - I was dumb - Now, I always have a pair of foam earplugs with me - always - and I'm NOT afraid to put them in (carry an old altoids tin with "handy stuff" in it - bandaides, some meds, a spare $20, some coins, the earplugs, a lighter, etc)
  • People would rather listen to crap quality music with small, shitty, trendy "earphones" than carry around a proper pair of headphones because they're "too big" or "geeky" or some other such crap.

  • I hate ignorance like this... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by dstone ( 191334 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @02:29AM (#14356685) Homepage
    From the article: "The rule of thumb suggested by researchers at Boston Children's Hospital is to hold the volume of a music player no higher than 60 percent of the maximum"

    So these "researchers" think that the following aspects of consumer electronics are all standardized or constant enough to stake children's hearing on some magical "60 percent" setting?
      * power and efficiency of each device's headphone amplifier
      * gain of each model's volume control
      * efficiency of each model of headphone/earbud

    Spreading advice like that is reckless and potentially false security.

  • As a note, hearing damage is [generally] permanent (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jschottm ( 317343 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @02:56AM (#14356766)
    As someone who works in the live audio industry, it pains me to see the people who stand directly in front of the speakers with no protection. Hearing loss is permanent and unpleasant. It's not something that just comes back.

    Flying the other day, the guy sitting two seats across from me had his iPod turned up so loud that I could hear the drum rolls clearly, despite having 27dB drop earplugs in. For comparison's sake, when I listened (without the earplugs) to music for a little while when I worked on some code, I used a pair of Sony cheapie headphones. Held six inches from me, I couldn't hear the music above the noise of the airplane (again, without the earplugs).

    The use of loud audio sources, both with portable audio devices and cell phones (I can often hear the sending side of a cell phone conversation from 15 feet away) is going to cause significant damage to the hearing of the "with it" generation.

    For those curious why people are so intent on damaging their hearing, I'll give two facts:

    1. People associate louder sound as being more impressive.

    2. (partially related to 1) People perceive louder sound differently than softer sound. Our hearing system changes its frequency response based on how loud the source is, refered to as the Fletcher-Munson Curve(s) [webervst.com].

    The bottom line? Be aware of how loud you're listening to audio sources and protect yourself. Tinnitus is horrible (ringing in the ears), but it's also common to suffer damage in the 3-6 KHz range, where much of the understandability of speech is, leading to the situation of being able to hear but not make out what someone is saying. Turn down your cell phone and personal audio device, as well as your car stereo. If you're curious just how loud the audio in you life is, an SPL meter can easily be aquired at your local Rat Shack or online source. You might be surprised.

    • "Tinnitus is horrible..." (Score:5, Informative)

      by doggo ( 34827 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @04:12AM (#14356984) Homepage
      Amen to that. I'm from the Ted Nugent [wikipedia.org] generation, and after many LOUD rock concerts (Thanks Hawkwind [wikipedia.org], for that Sonic Attack that really was), and two solid years of Joy Division [wikipedia.org] and Big Black [wikipedia.org] and other punk and new wave cranked in a factory environment during the infancy of the Walkman era, my ears ring constantly, and I DO have permanent hearing loss.

      The ringing is so loud that I can't hear quiet sounds and certain frequencies. It can be extremely annoying [anarchive.org] too, just ask William Shatner.

      Some of the jokes about this are pretty funny, but take a moment and take this stuff seriously, there is no cure for permanent hearing loss or tinnitus, and there may not be in your lifetime. Use high volume in moderation, wear ear plugs to concerts, and always use hearing protection around potentially damaging high volume noises in industry and sport.
    • "Tinnitus is horrible (ringing in the ears), but it's also common to suffer damage in the 3-6 KHz range, where much of the understandability of speech is"

      I have just that problem. After too many years of listening to loud rock music in my youth I have the strange situation of still being able to hear very high frequency sounds well for my age (late 30s, could still hear
      17khz at company medical a few years ago) but I can have trouble understanding what someone is saying if the enviroment is noisy, whereas o

  • The solution to this problem is clear! (Score:5, Funny)

    by JoshWurzel ( 320371 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @03:01AM (#14356782) Homepage
    the earbuds are even more likely to cause hearing loss than the muff-type earphones

    Obviously, we need more muff-type devices! I mean really, what problem couldn't be solved by making things more muff-like?

  • A quick check for excessive volume (Score:3, Interesting)

    by ballpoint ( 192660 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @05:43AM (#14357151)
    Put in/on your earware with the music turned off. Make a quiet sound that you can hear, e.g. by running a fingertop over some cloth (if you use open earbuds) or tapping something solid (in case of canalphones or closed headphones).

    Now turn the music on, and make that same sound again. If you're not able to hear it because it's masked by the music, the music is too loud. Turn it down.

    Please use good isolating canalphones (Etymotic, Shure, Sony) or, if you cannot get used to them for whatever reason, closed over-the-ear headphones. Both types reduce the outside noise, so you'll be able to (and you should) listen at a much lower volume and still get all the details. Open earbuds are evil.

  • A whole other way to lose hearing with earbuds (Score:3, Informative)

    by scottme ( 584888 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @07:00AM (#14357298)
    If you are squeamish you may not want to read this. I am now substantially deaf in my left ear (20% hearing over a much-reduced frequency range), owing to a perforated eardrum, which occurred in the course of an agressive fungal infection in the outer ear canal. I suspect that infection was brought on or at least encouraged by the habit of wearing foam-covered earbuds for extended periods, including at night when asleep in bed. All of which was surely foolish, but who would have thought it could result in deafness?

  • Bacteria heaven (Score:3, Informative)

    by fluor2 ( 242824 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @07:06AM (#14357311)
    When using earphones, the bacteria population in your ears increases about a thousand times, so better not use them all the time!

  • Interesting programs about noise on BBC World. (Score:3, Informative)

    by chris_sawtell ( 10326 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @07:38AM (#14357384) Journal
    The BBC is running a series about hearing and noise.
    The Noisy Ape. [bbc.co.uk]

    Interesting stuff!

    I used an ASR-33 teletype terminal [comm.sfu.ca] for 5+ years. Doing that has stuffed my hearing. Now, 30+ years later, I have horrible squealing tinnitus. Please youngsters, take care of your hearing. Once you damage the micro-hairs in your cochlea you have damaged them and your hearing for ever. End of sentence. Period. They will not heal. Listen to the programs while you still can.

  • The 80s called (Score:3, Funny)

    by ilikejam ( 762039 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @08:54AM (#14357572) Homepage
    they want their health scare back.

  • Recommendation (Score:5, Funny)

    by Attila ( 23211 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @09:19AM (#14357644)
    The rule of thumb suggested by researchers at Boston Children's Hospital is to hold the volume of a music player no higher than 60 percent of the maximum, and use it for only about an hour a day.

    Unfortunately, this recommendation is likely to fall on deaf ears.

  • Sony Walkman is teh devil! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by theolein ( 316044 ) on Thursday December 29, 2005 @01:09PM (#14358869) Journal
    I remember reports on how listening to music through earphones/headphones/1000watt stereo etc could damage your hearing back in the days of the Sony walkman, i.e. 1978 or so. It's a slow new years eve week when they drag that one out of the closet, dust it off and send it around the block to shock gullible mommies and poppies before putting it back into cold storage for the next dull tech news week.

    NEWSFLASH!!!!!! (OMG!) Extremely loud sound can damage your hearing.

    Weep.

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