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SPL's and Hearing Loss

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Thank you, as I will post this info for our MECA competitors also.....never hurts to remind everyone once in a while

Good post
 
Thank you for posting this information, Celt.

"Concert level" SPL at home is clearly an untenable pursuit in this light; every audio hobbyist should be armed with an SPL meter for their own defense.... :thmbsp:
 
Great post! Thanks, this info gives me hope that I can actually repair some of the damage that's been done in the past.
 
Here is a great link for a hearing test you can do yourself:

http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/hearing.html

The link is courtesy of AK member Forzaroma. :thmbsp:

I measured myself at 0db at all frequencies except -3db at 8khz and -24db at 16khz. I think (hoping) that the poor reading at 16khz could be more the sound card in my laptop than my hearing loss.

Victor
 
I busted my annual hearing test in Oct., and busted my follow-up last week. My right ear is just about finished at 3-4k. I even tried the old trick of swapping the headset around on my head as soon as I heard the very first tones coming out of the right earcup. No dice.
 
Playing in bands for years wrecked my hearing. Oh, I can still hear to 12kHz, but everything has to be LOUDER in order for me to hear it. People with personal stereos should pay close attention to how loud they play music when wearing headphones.
 
I use earmuffs when I vacuum, hammer, saw mow the lawn (+ earplugs) etc...
Still great hearing for a 39 year old, sensitive as well. I used to be able to hear ultrasonic mouse chasers but i haven't been around one for ages. Also, ultrasonic remotes, they don't make that **** no more though.
 
My hearing is very much even on that test Victor posted. I am considerably more deaf to bass, need around 5-6 more notches on the lowest frequency, and continue to need less as the frequency goes up. Except 16 khz. I am apparently deaf to 16 khz. Then again, HD-555's have an extreme dead band at 16-17 khz...
 
jrsh92 said:
My hearing is very much even on that test Victor posted. I am considerably more deaf to bass, need around 5-6 more notches on the lowest frequency, and continue to need less as the frequency goes up. Except 16 khz. I am apparently deaf to 16 khz. Then again, HD-555's have an extreme dead band at 16-17 khz...
Click to expand...
I was using HD-600 headphones. As I said, I was hoping the poor results at 16khz were my equipment and not me. I think my hearing is good at 16khz because my TV has a high frequency noise that drives me nuts but none of my friends can hear it.

Also I recomend going to an audiologist for a test and good cleaning. I had my ears cleaned for the FIRST time in my life 2 years ago and it was the best audio upgrade ever. If you are planning on getting your ears checked and cleaned and like me you have not had your ears cleaned for a long time, for a week befor you go use a "home" earwax removal aid like DeBrox. This will help to soften the wax in your ears making it easy for the doctor to clean your ears. At my inital appointment the doctor would not even attempt to clean my ears, he had me use DeBrox twice a day for 7 days then at my appointment a week later he was able to clean my ears in about 2 minutes.

When the doctor tested my hearing he said I have the hearing of a 20 year old. I was so happy with the results, I forgot to ask for a print out.

Victor
 
Celt said:
Playing in bands for years wrecked my hearing. Oh, I can still hear to 12kHz, but everything has to be LOUDER in order for me to hear it. People with personal stereos should pay close attention to how loud they play music when wearing headphones.
Click to expand...

I guess if you placed the ear phone those small types over the microphone of the SPL db metre I wonder what the peak in dbA would be? I’ll bet it would be well over the safety limit!

While I aim for an 85dbA peak on the mid and high frequencies in the room at a distance from the fronts @2.4m the surrounds are considerable closer by around @1.7m.

Peak levels don’t often exceed 85dbA. Also I have ear plugs, the soft one that you roll with your fingers and pop in the ear cannel, I tend to use them when walking around on the street where noise with traffic is the worse noise level at around +90dbA!

If I become suspicious I’ll switch ON the SPL db metre and monitor the soundtrack level, one for personal interest and the other for experimentation between the fronts and surrounds as well as LFE.1 and sub bass extension.

The last time I used a free haring or auditory check was last year, and I wasn’t too bad on the high frequencies from 1Khz up to 10Khz I could just make out 16Khz at -3db or 6db, but that range as very narrow wavelength.
 
Looks like my headphones don't have much bandwith. The test thing makes it seem like I have better hearing as the frequency goes up until about 16khz.
 
Victor said:
Here is a great link for a hearing test you can do yourself:

http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/hearing.html

The link is courtesy of AK member Forzaroma. :thmbsp:

I measured myself at 0db at all frequencies except -3db at 8khz and -24db at 16khz. I think (hoping) that the poor reading at 16khz could be more the sound card in my laptop than my hearing loss.

Victor
Click to expand...

Wearing headphones, I was the most sensitive at 3Khz, and again had to turn it down at 187Hz. I had a hard time with 16kHz..mostly heard the sound card ringing. The reciever and headphones could throw it off.
 
Nikko75 said:
Wearing headphones, I was the most sensitive at 3Khz, and again had to turn it down at 187Hz. I had a hard time with 16kHz..mostly heard the sound card ringing. The reciever and headphones could throw it off.
Click to expand...

I don't know your age but it is normal for your hearing to start falling off at 8K and continue on up. Regardless of what people tell you it is very rare for a man to hear past 14-16Khz who is 40 years old. . . Women go a bit higher but not so much anymore.

I've worked around high speed moulders and saws all my life and for a 10 year period I was in charge of our hearing conservation program. I have personaly supervised the testing of thousands of men and women. Very few were flat to 8Khz. Most past the age of 40 were down as much as 20dB at 8KHz. . . For our use our testing rarely went past 8KHz.
 
I stopped going to concerts some time after seeing The Who years ago. My hearing was shot for days.

My hearing loss is from cold water surfing in the winter, Surfer's Ear (exostoses). My left ear is sensitive to loud sounds and cold temperatures. Any of the two for extended periods will give me a headache. I started using ear plugs a little to late.

You can damage your hearing in a number of ways so take care of them.
 
Since this thread has ventured off course, I've cleaned it up and have locked it where it will remain as a sticky for the links to articles about hearing loss and SPL levels.
 
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