Weird question about hearing protection

OMGCat!

Super Member
There is the thread about songs that need to be played loud amongst others that have popped up and I know there are some of us who've got systems that would be at home powering a fair sized night club, all of which had me curious if anyone uses hearing protection while listening to their system cranked.

It sounds like an odd question but I feel it kind of makes sense.

I like going to live shows (metal, rockabilly, electronic music, etc.), all of which are played extremely (sometimes ridiculously) loud meaning hearing protection every time. I was at a GWAR show once which had some sort of feedback with the bass cabs and my eyes were actually vibrating out of focus it was so loud.
Anyway, with earplugs still get to enjoy the music, feel my clothes vibrate with the bass and can tell it's loud as it's even loud with the plugs in. I also enjoy the atmosphere but that's neither here nor there.

I have a system more geared to live jazz than metal meaning I haven't had the occasion to try but if I did have a monster system I feel I'd want to have hearing protection in when letting it rip. That way you'd get the vibrations, the feel and the fun of knowing you've got a system that could do it, all without the hearing loss. I mean 110db is 110db no matter where you're at when it's hitting your eardrums ya know?
 
I don't do that at home, but I have a friend that likes to give his D9s 100wpc and if I go to his house I will be wearing the earplugs for sure.
 
Why would you play anything so loud you need earplugs?

I like it loud enough to feel the bass and drums, even the vibrations of a cello or violin, but I wear earplugs AND muffs at work, and there's no way to hear any nuance in the music wearing hearing protection.

Music, at least a lot of music, has quiet and loud passages, or dynamics, and you need to hear it all from ppp to fff. The softest notes to the loudest notes.

Even silence sounds different with earplugs in. Try it.
 
I went to A LOT of concerts in the 1970's and played music at home as loud as my system would go and then some. I rode motorcycles so lots of wind noise and played bass in a band for years next to very aggressive drummers who loved to hit their cymbals hard in too small rehearsal places.

Now in my 60's and I cannot hear test tones higher than 8k and have had tinitus for five or six years.

Two events top my list of loud events. A Johnny Winter slow in 73/74 that caused piercing ear pain at times and a 5000+ kilometre motorcycle trip in 2012. After the 5th day of constant wind noise I was hearing impaired for 2. I remember, after that Johnny Winter show, sitting in my car afterwards with the friends I went with not speaking or turning on the radio. We all instinctively craved the relief of silence.

Personally, I think hearing damage is cumulative. I find myself now asking people to repeat what they said just like my father did with me. He never concerned himself with noise levels either.

I accept that I am probably incapable of enjoying my system to it's fullest and likewise all the recordings I've accumulated over the years. Kind of ironic in a way that my stereo now is the best and most powerful of any that I've owned.

The tinitus is bothersome but I try to ignore it. I wish I didn't have it but there you go. Fortunately the frequency range I can hear still makes my 500 WPC system enjoyable even though it must now be played at 2nd floor apartment suite listening levels. Probably a good thing.

I used headphones the other day for the first time in years to hear loud music again but could not shake the feeling afterwards that I damaged myself further.

So in hindsight, I should have taken precautions. But hell, I was invincible back then and never considered the consequences.
 
I have, in the past, cranked my system to full power, and, yes, I was using hearing protection! At probably 120 dbA, I would be stupid not to.

Over 500W/ch going into Cerwin Vega D15EEs, with an 18" sub is LOUD. I even have a video of it somewhere :)

When really cranking it, it´s not about nuances in the music :)
 
I have distortion in one ear with loud high frequency noises. I wear a musicians ear plug in that ear only and only push it into my ear until the distortion stops, about half way. It works ok and been doing it for a few years.
 
I went to A LOT of concerts in the 1970's and played music at home as loud as my system would go and then some. I rode motorcycles so lots of wind noise and played bass in a band for years next to very aggressive drummers who loved to hit their cymbals hard in too small rehearsal places.

Now in my 60's and I cannot hear test tones higher than 8k and have had tinitus for five or six years.

Two events top my list of loud events. A Johnny Winter slow in 73/74 that caused piercing ear pain at times and a 5000+ kilometre motorcycle trip in 2012. After the 5th day of constant wind noise I was hearing impaired for 2. I remember, after that Johnny Winter show, sitting in my car afterwards with the friends I went with not speaking or turning on the radio. We all instinctively craved the relief of silence.

Personally, I think hearing damage is cumulative. I find myself now asking people to repeat what they said just like my father did with me. He never concerned himself with noise levels either.

Same experience here... ZZ Top and The Who especially left my ears ringing for a couple days after the concert, and within a few years I had developed quite a problem with tinnitus. I work in an industrial plant and we have strict rules about hearing protection. The annual training refreshers ALWAYS mention that damage is cumulative. We are tested annually and my hearing isn't getting any worse because I use hearing protection religiously. I know hearing aids are in my future. I hope our younger members benefit from our failures and learn to protect their hearing.
 
If you have a decent set up, cranking it up to ridiculous levels isn't required, especially in a home setting. You're not at a concert.
I like it loud enough to hear the bass and clarity of the mid and higher frequencies and not loud enough that it would bother me or my neighbors.
When I was in my teens I was stupidly cranking it up to max etc but now in my older age I'm at the point where too loud actually bothers me. I don't even care for big car stereos anymore.
I am also a motorcyclist and always wear ear plugs when riding. Wind noise is irritating. The insulation the plugs provide is also comforting.
 
Used to see kids with the mega car stereos with ear plugs in. So much sound it would straighten curly hair. Not so much these days seems like, not a bad thing either.
 
If you have a decent set up, cranking it up to ridiculous levels isn't required, especially in a home setting. You're not at a concert.
I like it loud enough to hear the bass and clarity of the mid and higher frequencies and not loud enough that it would bother me or my neighbors.
When I was in my teens I was stupidly cranking it up to max etc but now in my older age I'm at the point where too loud actually bothers me. I don't even care for big car stereos anymore.
I am also a motorcyclist and always wear ear plugs when riding. Wind noise is irritating. The insulation the plugs provide is also comforting.

This is where I'm at. I set my volume at what would be natural for the music I listen to which is typically jazz. No crazy volume there. Even if I listen to rock I just don't like to turn it up very loud.
I just got curious with the "Songs that need to be played at full volume" thread and a few other posts where people have mentioned cranking up their monster systems.

Like I said above, I like loud concerts. I also work in a loud environment, like shooting and ride motorcycles so I've got plenty of opportunities to trash my hearing.
I've been pretty much on point with hearing protection since I was a kid so aside from some tinnitus (which I think is mostly from having a ton of ear infections when I was younger) my ears are doing ok. I can still hear to high 15k, sometimes 16k and I just turned 40.
Speaking of motorcycling, I find it is more distracting riding without ear plugs even at low speeds. I am so used to having everything attenuated it's like sensory overload when I ride without them. I even tried a session at the track without plugs in and only lasted a lap or two before I had to come in.
 
This is where I'm at. I set my volume at what would be natural for the music I listen to which is typically jazz. No crazy volume there. Even if I listen to rock I just don't like to turn it up very loud.
I just got curious with the "Songs that need to be played at full volume" thread and a few other posts where people have mentioned cranking up their monster systems.

Like I said above, I like loud concerts. I also work in a loud environment, like shooting and ride motorcycles so I've got plenty of opportunities to trash my hearing.
I've been pretty much on point with hearing protection since I was a kid so aside from some tinnitus (which I think is mostly from having a ton of ear infections when I was younger) my ears are doing ok. I can still hear to high 15k, sometimes 16k and I just turned 40.
Speaking of motorcycling, I find it is more distracting riding without ear plugs even at low speeds. I am so used to having everything attenuated it's like sensory overload when I ride without them. I even tried a session at the track without plugs in and only lasted a lap or two before I had to come in.


I hear you man. I'm just a bit older at 46 and my hearing is still ok, thankfully. I used to use a lot of loud machinery and the occasional heavy metal concerts in days gone by with some temporary ringing of the ears. I exercise more caution these days as I do know some friends who suffer permanent hearing loss and constant ringing of the ears. That would drive me insane !
Speaking of Motorcycles again.. I completely get when you say "sensory overload" As I've grown accustomed to ear plugs, the time when you forget to put them back in after a stop, that initial burst of sound is like ARRRGGHH !!
I must stop, remove helmet and put them back in. Then it's like, "oooh yes, that's better" :thumbsup:
 
I also wear ear plugs when riding my motorcycle; the wind noise is just too much for me.

I love loud Rock and Metal, but my ears just can´t take it any more. Around 105 dbA is about the loudest I go, maybe once or twice a year, and maybe just for 1 or 2 songs, and even then I pay for it when my tinnitus gets worse.
 
I like to turn the system up just to the magic point where the last jog of the volume button on the remote makes the speakers get taller rather than louder. That's the perfect spot for me. Hearing protection isn't needed yet at that point with my system. But sometimes I do get sore muscles from the grin factor.

Cheers,
James
 
With me it's certain tunes I need to turn down, The Stones in particular. That narrow mid range band with Mick's voice is what my ears are mostly sensitive to. Another is Rod Stewart's 'Hot Legs'.
 
It's not just about how "loud", it also comes down to frequency. Human hearing is generally the most sensitive at about 2000-5000hz, and hearing damage tends to occur most easily at those frequencies. It's possible to listen to other frequencies much louder with considerably less risk (Bass, etc). That is why I have various levels of "loud" that I listen to my music at, which correspond to different settings on the EQ and levels on the subwoofer amp that keep the extra sensitive frequencies in-check while allowing me to increase others. When I want to listen to some Hard Rock or Metal super loud, I want drums that I can feel in my chest, not to feel like the singer is screaming in my ear.
 
There are "buttkicker" transducers you can install to get the vibration feeling of playing music or movie soundtracks extremely loud without actually needing to play the audio at unsafe levels.


There are also some "brain shaker" headphones which vibrate your ears in time to the bass to give the same effect.
 
When I want to listen to some Hard Rock or Metal super loud, I want drums that I can feel in my chest, not to feel like the singer is screaming in my ear.
That´s exactly how I want my Metal and Rock, too! I want the wind knocked out of me without my ears bleeding :)

How do you achieve that! Which frequency range do you bump up? Around 125-180 Hz?
 
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