People have a natural tendency to listen to music at much louder levels with headphones than
they would with speakers. To avoid permanent hearing damage, it’s important to be careful not
to listen at extremely loud levels (or to listen for too long at moderately loud levels). Because
HeadRoom amps need to be able to drive even the most inefficient dynamic headphones to
satisfactory listening levels, they are also able to drive headphones of average or higher ef
-
ficiencies to extremely high levels. As a result, even though the volume control on your HeadRoom
amp may appear to be set to a low level, you may not be listening at a safe level. Generally
speaking, when listening to headphones you should only turn up the volume to the point at
which the sound isn’t too quiet.
As a general rule, sound pressure levels under 80 decibels will not damage hearing, even if
experienced continually. On the other hand, anything over 100 decibels may cause permanent
damage very quickly. Sustained exposure to sound pressure levels anywhere in between can
also be damaging —the louder the sound, the shorter the time required to cause permanent
damage.
Just to drive this message home, here’s a bit of information about hearing damage. The most
common type of damage caused by prolonged or excessively loud sound is called tinnitus. It
manifests itself as a sustained buzzing and/or ringing in the ears, and can become a
permanent
condition.
If you find that your ears are ringing or that there is a sensation of pressure or fatigue, your body
is trying to tell you that your ears need a break. Give them
a rest for a few days (or until they
feel fresh). If you ignore these symptoms, you’re risking permanent hearing damage.
In addition, don’t fool yourself into thinking that you either have full-blown tinnitus or you don’t
have it at all—there are different degrees of hearing damage. For example, you might have
a mild case where you only notice ringing in your ears in the quiet of your bedroom at night.
However, once you have a slight case of tinnitus, your ears are much more susceptible to further
damage. So if you do experience mild symptoms, it’s important to be much more careful about
your exposure to loud sounds.
Sorry to sound so sobering, but a lifetime of musical enjoyment requires ears in tiptop shape.
Now that we’ve told you to be careful, don’t blame us if you blow it. If you have any more ques-
tions about hearing damage, call a doctor.
A Word About Your Hearing
12
obsessed headphone geeks at your service.
www.headphone.com
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