Headphones and hearing damage

January 5, 2006

The normal recommendation when using earphones is that you should be

able to hear normal levels of conversation i.e. not to have your

volume very high.

Jo

The Who guitarist Pete Townshend has warned music fans against

potential hearing damage caused by headphones as portable players

become more popular.

The 60-year-old said studio headphones caused his hearing problems,

rather than playing loudly on stage.

" I have unwittingly helped to invent and refine a type of music that

makes its principal proponents deaf, " Townshend wrote on his website.

" My intuition tells me there is terrible trouble ahead. "

Townshend, who is preparing to tour with the Who this year, said he

discovered he had " badly damaged " his hearing in the 1970s.

" My ears are ringing, loudly, " he wrote. " My own particular kind of

damage was caused by using earphones in the recording studio, not

playing loud on stage. "

He said he must take 36-hour hearing rests while recording a new

album with fellow Who member Roger Daltrey, breaks he describes

as " frustrating and agonising, but compulsory " .

Hearing loss is a terrible thing because it cannot be repaired

Townshend said late bandmate John Entwistle also suffered hearing

problems, causing him to play out of time at a Who concert in 2000.

" Hearing loss is a terrible thing because it cannot be repaired, " he

wrote.

" If you use an iPod or anything like it, or your child uses one, you

may be OK. It may only be studio earphones that cause bad damage. "

But he added that headphone use will increase because " the computer

is now central to our world " .

" The downside may be that on our computers - for privacy, for respect

to family and co-workers, and for convenience - we use earphones at

almost every stage of interaction with sound. "

January 5, 2006

The problem with that is that you dont want to hear anything else e.g. other peoples conversation, noisy public transport, traffic etc, thats why we tend to turn up the volume. I myself have tinnitus, and have reduced hearing in my one ear ( I believe from my band playing days). I would recommend ear candles as this has provided me with some relief with stubborn wax, and improved my hearing, and marginally with the tinnitus. I myself am guilty of cranking up the volume in my headphones when on the train, and would recommend not using the open type as you loose some sound and end up turning them louder as you can hear a lot of ambient sound. I am not a big fan of the in ear type either for much the same reason. If you use a closed design you wont hear so much of your surroundings and need to turn them up. The Valley Vegan................heartwerk <jo.heartwork wrote: The normal recommendation when using earphones is that you should be able to hear normal levels of conversation i.e. not to have your volume very high.JoThe Who guitarist Pete Townshend has warned music fans against potential hearing damage caused by headphones as portable players become more popular. The 60-year-old said studio headphones caused his hearing problems, rather than playing loudly on stage. "I have unwittingly helped to invent and refine a type of music that makes its principal proponents deaf," Townshend wrote on his website. "My intuition tells me there is terrible trouble ahead." Townshend, who is preparing to tour with the Who this year, said he discovered he had "badly damaged" his hearing in the 1970s. "My ears are ringing, loudly," he wrote. "My own particular kind of damage was

caused by using earphones in the recording studio, not playing loud on stage." He said he must take 36-hour hearing rests while recording a new album with fellow Who member Roger Daltrey, breaks he describes as "frustrating and agonising, but compulsory". Hearing loss is a terrible thing because it cannot be repaired Townshend said late bandmate John Entwistle also suffered hearing problems, causing him to play out of time at a Who concert in 2000. "Hearing loss is a terrible thing because it cannot be repaired," he wrote. "If you use an iPod or anything like it, or your child uses one, you may be OK. It may only be studio earphones that cause bad damage." But he added that headphone use will increase because "the computer is now central to our world". "The downside may be that on our computers - for privacy, for respect to family and co-workers, and for convenience - we use earphones at

almost every stage of interaction with sound."

January 5, 2006

I use the in the ear type but only ever have them on low volume. I have tinnitus in one ear, but that was caused by a really bad ear infection many years ago. It might be annoying to hear other noise as well as your music, but I don't reckon it's worth taking a chance.

Jo

-

peter hurd

Thursday, January 05, 2006 8:01 PM

Re: Headphones and hearing damage

The problem with that is that you dont want to hear anything else e.g. other peoples conversation, noisy public transport, traffic etc, thats why we tend to turn up the volume.

I myself have tinnitus, and have reduced hearing in my one ear ( I believe from my band playing days).

I would recommend ear candles as this has provided me with some relief with stubborn wax, and improved my hearing, and marginally with the tinnitus.

I myself am guilty of cranking up the volume in my headphones when on the train, and would recommend not using the open type as you loose some sound and end up turning them louder as you can hear a lot of ambient sound. I am not a big fan of the in ear type either for much the same reason. If you use a closed design you wont hear so much of your surroundings and need to turn them up.

The Valley Vegan................heartwerk <jo.heartwork wrote:

The normal recommendation when using earphones is that you should be able to hear normal levels of conversation i.e. not to have your volume very high.JoThe Who guitarist Pete Townshend has warned music fans against potential hearing damage caused by headphones as portable players become more popular. The 60-year-old said studio headphones caused his hearing problems, rather than playing loudly on stage. "I have unwittingly helped to invent and refine a type of music that makes its principal proponents deaf," Townshend wrote on his website. "My intuition tells me there is terrible trouble ahead." Townshend, who is preparing to tour with the Who this year, said he discovered he had "badly damaged" his hearing in the 1970s. "My ears are ringing, loudly," he wrote. "My own particular kind of damage was caused by using earphones in the recording studio, not playing loud on stage." He said he must take 36-hour hearing rests while recording a new album with fellow Who member Roger Daltrey, breaks he describes as "frustrating and agonising, but compulsory". Hearing loss is a terrible thing because it cannot be repaired Townshend said late bandmate John Entwistle also suffered hearing problems, causing him to play out of time at a Who concert in 2000. "Hearing loss is a terrible thing because it cannot be repaired," he wrote. "If you use an iPod or anything like it, or your child uses one, you may be OK. It may only be studio earphones that cause bad damage." But he added that headphone use will increase because "the computer is now central to our world". "The downside may be that on our computers - for privacy, for respect to family and co-workers, and for convenience - we use earphones at almost every stage of interaction with sound."

January 5, 2006

I agree, but you can minimise the ambient noise as I said by using on ear closed type head/neckphones, which are usually a better sound quality anyway and you will not need to turn the volume up as loud. The Valley Vegan..............jo <jo.heartwork wrote: I use the in the ear type but only ever have them on low volume. I have tinnitus in one ear, but that was caused by a really bad ear infection many years ago. It might be annoying to hear other noise as well as your music, but I don't reckon it's worth taking a chance. Jo - peter hurd Thursday, January 05, 2006 8:01 PM Re: Headphones and hearing damage The problem with that is that you dont want to hear anything else e.g. other peoples conversation, noisy public transport, traffic etc, thats why we tend to turn up the volume. I myself have tinnitus, and have reduced hearing in my one ear ( I believe from my band playing days). I would recommend ear

candles as this has provided me with some relief with stubborn wax, and improved my hearing, and marginally with the tinnitus. I myself am guilty of cranking up the volume in my headphones when on the train, and would recommend not using the open type as you loose some sound and end up turning them louder as you can hear a lot of ambient sound. I am not a big fan of the in ear type either for much the same reason. If you use a closed design you wont hear so much of your surroundings and need to turn them up. The Valley Vegan................heartwerk <jo.heartwork wrote: The normal recommendation when using earphones is that you should be able to hear normal levels of conversation i.e. not to have your volume very high.JoThe Who guitarist Pete Townshend has warned music

fans against potential hearing damage caused by headphones as portable players become more popular. The 60-year-old said studio headphones caused his hearing problems, rather than playing loudly on stage. "I have unwittingly helped to invent and refine a type of music that makes its principal proponents deaf," Townshend wrote on his website. "My intuition tells me there is terrible trouble ahead." Townshend, who is preparing to tour with the Who this year, said he discovered he had "badly damaged" his hearing in the 1970s. "My ears are ringing, loudly," he wrote. "My own particular kind of damage was caused by using earphones in the recording studio, not playing loud on stage." He said he must take 36-hour hearing rests while recording a new album with fellow Who member Roger Daltrey, breaks he describes as "frustrating and agonising, but compulsory". Hearing loss is a terrible thing because it

cannot be repaired Townshend said late bandmate John Entwistle also suffered hearing problems, causing him to play out of time at a Who concert in 2000. "Hearing loss is a terrible thing because it cannot be repaired," he wrote. "If you use an iPod or anything like it, or your child uses one, you may be OK. It may only be studio earphones that cause bad damage." But he added that headphone use will increase because "the computer is now central to our world". "The downside may be that on our computers - for privacy, for respect to family and co-workers, and for convenience - we use earphones at almost every stage of interaction with sound."