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Do you protect your hearing?

My Dad's hearing has been bad for a while and he recently had to get hearing aids. I'm a relatively young man and I know I have not used proper hearing protection throughout my life. This audio stuff is a wonderful thing and something I'd like to enjoy my entire life, so I have been more aware of noise in my everyday life. My job requires me to work in a sometimes loud environment and my other hobby is woodworking. For about the last 5 years or so, I have made a conscious effort to wear hearing protection when I'm in such an environments. Just recently I started to use hearing protection while cutting the grass, something I wouldn't have considered in the past. Has your interest in audio caused you to be more aware of hearing protection or am I the only anal one here?
mijknarf

Showing 3 responses by donbellphd

donbellphd
205 posts
 
Fishboat,

There is some argument about whether hearing changes with age absent exposure to noise, but if it does the loss is nearly always at higher frequencies. I suspect what you're experiencing is a change in taste. I find that I now tend to prefer music of small groups, e.g. quartets, to large orchestrations. My favorites now are Bach, Corelli, and some jazz, whereas the bombast of Pictures or the 1812 might have been more to my liking as a teenager -- still enjoy Let It Bleed, though. I'm 69, 14 years after FIRE.

db
donbellphd
205 posts
 
It's not the ear plugs that harm your hearing, it's the high levels that can be achieved. Keep the level down down and your hearing should not be harmed. If it sounds loud, it probably is too high.

db
donbellphd
205 posts
 
As a graduate student I worked in a psychoacoustic lab with the charter of research related to noise induced hearing loss, so I became aware of the problem in my early 20s. My masters and doctoral research dealt with auditory processing.

Long-term hearing loss occurs mostly from repeated exposure to high level of sound, but even single gun shots can be damaging. It has been reported that sound levels in rock concerts can cause damage. Avoid unprotected esposure to noise that is loud enough that communication is difficult. Provided a Walkman is not blasting, it probably will not harm your hearing. I find classical guitar music soothing when I undergo dental procedures.

db
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