Does bass damage your higher-frequency hearing too?

[yddet12]

Does loud bass damage your hearing only at the specific frequencies at which it is played, or does it damage your mid- and high-frequency hearing too?

Thanks!

 

[RevMen]

The damaged frequencies in your hearing do not correspond to the frequencies of sound that damaged your hearing. The hair cells that are near the entrance to your cochlea are always first to go, especially those on the first bend (which are sensitive at about 4 kHz).

 

[Rick Vestal]

It affects all frequencies. I should have worn ear plugs all those years playing live...

 

[kevzep]

It affects all frequencies. I should have worn ear plugs all those years playing live...

Same here, I wish I had of worn some kind of protection, but thankfully I didnt like being too loud (sound guys loved me) and the drummers I played with werent too loud either, comparatively speaking......
But I think I might have got away with it, or more-so than some other musicians I know....

 

[E.Man]

Yes, it's the volume that does it not the frequency.

 

[RevMen]

Technically the frequency does matter. Certain frequencies make it through the middle ear more efficiently and therefore cause more damage. It's just that the frequency of sound causing damage doesn't correlate to the frequencies where hearing is lost.

The transfer function of the middle ear is very similar to the A - weighting function. So sound in the 1 kHz to 4 kHz range has the most potential for damaging our hearing. Excessive sound in all frequency ranges have the potential to hurt us, but we can tolerate low frequencies better.

 

[sheltie dave]

As I slide into the more pronounced hearing loss stage, I would urge everyone to care for their ears and hearing. It breaks my heart to know that as I get some of my heart's desire in gear, I no longer can hear many of the differences in performance. ity:

My friends can tho, so plenty of gatherings! :thmbsp:

 

[Soundminded]

A noted designer of preamplifiers claims to have spent a great deal of time in his youth on stage with a rock group where the spl was 130 db, ten times the threshold of pain. He designs his preamps by the way they sound having concluded measurements don't tell him what he wants to know and hear. He's won awards for his designs and acclaim from audiophiles and those who cater to them. Evidently he's judged by people with the same nature of hearing loss he has. :lmao:

 

[240sx4u]

Hindsight is 20/20. I abused my hearing badly for a long time. Just don't do it. It's one of the biggest mistakes I have ever made.

 

[scout543]

Still play a lot, but with protection because our drummer can pound the hi-hat all night and I can't hear that frequency at all!! Even "downsized" my system a couple of years ago (sold the MC 275's, C220 and 801's) because I couldn't hear the difference between them and my current Rogue int and Totem Sttafs anymore. Extra money was nice too.

 

[electronjohn]

I have to shoulder a little blame here, since I built a few radio studios back in the day. Always went with BIG monitors (DLK 1 1/2s were a fave of mine, JBLs if the budget said "ka-ching!") and never less than 50 WPC to power them. Ya, it'd get LOUD in there

Fortunately for at least myself, I've only used headphones when the mike was on...and would crank the monitors during tunes I particularly liked. I knew guys who ran both their phones and the monitors at about 10, and kept their phones on for nearly an entire shift as well. I'll bet they are paying for that now. Me? Still pretty good...but if I listen fairly loud for any extended period the tinnitus pops up.

 

[Chris Brown]

Human hearing is considerably less sensitive in the bass frequencies, but damage is certainly still possible.

 

[RevMen]

At high levels, human hearing is fairly sensitive at low frequencies. The difference is we get our low frequency sensitivity from bone conduction, which short-circuits the middle ear.

 

[Pio1980]

A noted designer of preamplifiers claims to have spent a great deal of time in his youth on stage with a rock group where the spl was 130 db, ten times the threshold of pain. He designs his preamps by the way they sound having concluded measurements don't tell him what he wants to know and hear. He's won awards for his designs and acclaim from audiophiles and those who cater to them. Evidently he's judged by people with the same nature of hearing loss he has. :lmao:

And that would be? Just a hint might do.

 

[Gang-Twanger]

A noted designer of preamplifiers claims to have spent a great deal of time in his youth on stage with a rock group where the spl was 130 db, ten times the threshold of pain. He designs his preamps by the way they sound having concluded measurements don't tell him what he wants to know and hear. He's won awards for his designs and acclaim from audiophiles and those who cater to them. Evidently he's judged by people with the same nature of hearing loss he has. :lmao:

:yes:

Yes, this is absolutely-true. I have personally-seen evidence of this among sound-engineers. John Mayall played the North Atlantic Blues Festival not that long ago, and he was the only artist who brought his own sound-engineer. And when that guy took over for the house-engineer, the sound became much-peakier and brighter. And LOUDER as well. Harsh and painful to the ears (The house guy was awesome... He does it every year, and he's great... Smooth and balanced with great mids... But not when Mayall's guy took over). That's when it became very-apparent that both Mayall AND his sound-engineer suffer from extensive hearing damage. Makes sense for Mayall. He's been bangin' around from venue to venue for 50 years. A true road warrior.

 

[Guest158]

My hearing loss started at 15 yrs old. Inner outer ear infection doubled by antibiotics I was allergic to. Lost a lot in my right ear Then all the concerts - drag cars with open headers- 21 yrs of factory work - most of the times with no protection. Probably a mistake.
But then theres my mother- never exposed to any of those things. As soon as you get out of the car at her home you can hear her TV. Has to turn it all the way up. She does not hear most conversation. Had hearing aids but didn't like them. Shes 74 but been this away for years.... makes me wonder if I wont have the same fate anyways.

 

[Soundminded]

And that would be? Just a hint might do.

Shhhh, I shouldn't really say but his initials are JOHN CURL and the band was The Grateful Dead. Frankly I'd had to endure that excrement of sound I'd be grateful to be dead instead myself. But that's another story. Anyway Curl holds court on DIY audio which uses the same software as this site. For all I know the sites are related. He's on his second thread. I think the first one lasted over 20,000 postings. The second must be well over 40,000 by now. I've never heard his equipment so I have no opinion of it one way or the other. In many ways I find him to be a strange individual.

 

[Pio1980]

Shhhh, I shouldn't really say but his initials are JOHN CURL and the band was The Grateful Dead. Frankly I'd had to endure that excrement of sound I'd be grateful to be dead instead myself. But that's another story. Anyway Curl holds court on DIY audio which uses the same software as this site. For all I know the sites are related. He's on his second thread. I think the first one lasted over 20,000 postings. The second must be well over 40,000 by now. I've never heard his equipment so I have no opinion of it one way or the other. In many ways I find him to be a strange individual.

Interesting, thnx!
Heard of him, has respect as a consultant, gained fame with the Mark Levinson JC series preamps.
The tough thing with active line stages is getting one to sound like nothing at all, a true straight wire with gain. Doesn't happen very often, dunno if he does that.