alleycat Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 A buddy of mine is convinced that Im going to be deaf soon due to mixing in headphones all the time. Im not so sure, it seems to me the headphones are just of a broader frequency range and therefore you can hear a lot more, and clearer. But I dont know! Usually the monitor level on the mixer is only up a maximum of 1/3. If I monitor at that level when mixing on speakers, I cant even hear it. Anyone have any info or experiences related to headphones and hearing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Matta Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 What? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AppA Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 Usually, if you start hearing a peep tone after a long time of loud sound, it's a bad thing (i.e. you should turn down the vol next time). Also, your hearing of higher frequencies takes a faster toll then the others, so be aware! And furthermore, try not to listen to music at levels where your inner earsdrums (slightly) start to itch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alleycat Posted January 27, 2007 Author Share Posted January 27, 2007 none of the above ever happen despite the fact that I can take the headphones off and use them like small speakers! I thought Id make sure, I didnt think anything was wrong. No ringing, no itching! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTP Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 Usually, if you start hearing a peep tone after a long time of loud sound, it's a bad thing (i.e. you should turn down the vol next time).Aaaah, this *beeep* tone when you hear too loud music is already a prequel to permanent tinnitus! If you are listening often at that level your chances of permanent hearing damage are sky high... For god's sake, people, care for your ears and use EARPLUGS while DJing! Then the sound of the speakers won't bother you so much and you hear the headphones at an ear-friendly level. Try it and experiment with different earplugs ... there are some who block too much & some who block too little... (pro ear filters are too expensive, that's why I can't say anything about them) And also while partying out, protect your ears! I remember this girl in my class who was a DJ and always wore earplugs both while mixing or just partying out. The risk of ear damage is just too high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AppA Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 Aaaah, this *beeep* tone when you hear too loud music is already a prequel to permanent tinnitus! If you are listening often at that level your chances of permanent hearing damage are sky high... For god's sake, people, care for your ears and use EARPLUGS while DJing! Then the sound of the speakers won't bother you so much and you hear the headphones at an ear-friendly level. Try it and experiment with different earplugs ... there are some who block too much & some who block too little... (pro ear filters are too expensive, that's why I can't say anything about them) And also while partying out, protect your ears! I remember this girl in my class who was a DJ and always wore earplugs both while mixing or just partying out. The risk of ear damage is just too high. I'm happy I'm one of those who realised in time, being deaf is not comfortable when being a possible future sound engineer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alleycat Posted January 27, 2007 Author Share Posted January 27, 2007 How about normal volume levels, like listening at home? I dont play on speakers very often. Which is what worried me, Im always in the headphones. It sounds kinda loud when the headphones are off, but when they're on it seems fine... I know that this is deceiving, and the ears get used to such things. My speakers sadly went the way of the dodo... maybe the amp as well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AppA Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 How about normal volume levels, like listening at home? I dont play on speakers very often. Which is what worried me, Im always in the headphones. It sounds kinda loud when the headphones are off, but when they're on it seems fine... I know that this is deceiving, and the ears get used to such things. My speakers sadly went the way of the dodo... maybe the amp as well... As long as there's no big difference when you pull your headphone off to hear the vicinity, it's fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alleycat Posted January 28, 2007 Author Share Posted January 28, 2007 I cant hear a thing when they're on. But thats how they should be, right? They muffle the ambient noise of the room even when theres nothing coming through them. I can have a conversation with the headphones off my head, and playing, in a normal voice without having to speak up too much. They do sound pretty loud when you're not in them. Just the percussion and highs usually, and they're never THAT loud... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AppA Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 I cant hear a thing when they're on. But thats how they should be, right? They muffle the ambient noise of the room even when theres nothing coming through them. I can have a conversation with the headphones off my head, and playing, in a normal voice without having to speak up too much. They do sound pretty loud when you're not in them. Just the percussion and highs usually, and they're never THAT loud... Aha... But don't you worry there, as long as you don't overexceed the limit with your headphones, and as long as you wear some buttplugs for your ears, all shall be just fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rino Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 I prefer listening to music (at home) on my headphones. Not that my speakers are bad, but it's more that I really try to always have a nice pair of headphones, and when I have them on, I can much better catch up all the sounds and hear all the little details, which would usually get lost floating around in my room, once they get vlasted out of the speaker. But I never blast the volume too high when I listen to music at home, except when I'm home alone. That's when I like to open the window, and play loud as a f**k my all time favorite tunes. When I'm out partying, I'm usually one of the guys hugging the speakers . And yes, the morning after it's pointless that you even try talking to me. I am well aware of the whole ear damaging problem, but I figure that in one way or the other, once I'll be old, I'll just have to feel some repurcussions caused by some dumb shit I did while I was a youth. I guess I'll have a tough time communicating with my grandsons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
visine Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Here's a good techniquie when listening to headphones (applies to speakers too). When you are about to put your headphones on to listen to music for the first time start playing at a very, very low volume. Keep that extremely low volume down for a while until your ear adjusts. Once the ear is adjusted (usually about 5 minutes or so), then turn the volume up if you need to but not suddenly. You'll see that if you do this, your ear will adjust and in many cases you will not need to listen to music loud because your ear is used to it and absorbs the sound well at lower volumes. Most people tend to blast it at a very high volume immediately and their ear ajdust to high volume. Once the ear gets used to loud music the listener doesn't feel it's as loud (for example the music sounds really loud when you come to the party first, but later you don't notice the loudness as much). The problem with listening to music at high volume immediately is that after you are used to it and your ear is adjusted, you don't really notice that you are damaging your ear. Ringing in your ear, itchiness, pain etc. are definitive signs you need to take it easy and go to some silent place or turn the music off. I've heard of many DJ's go deaf because they didn't properly care for their hearing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supergroover Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 thats a very nice tip visine.. thanks for that. also buying a really good pair of headphones will help. I used to own a pair of cheap ones with which i had to put the monitor volume at almost 50 %. With my new technics its less than a fourth. Clear sound with lower volume.. what else do you want? (besides the cute blond underneath the dj booth ) Still need to look into those earplugs.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drosophila Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Yeah it is a serious question and it affects everybody who uses headphones or listen to big quateties of music during the day/night. I got a peeping noise in my ear/head in the beginning of this month and its still there, not sure its permanent cus it can disapair again, but its not a pleasant experience!!! And I have to say I have been listing to a lot music during my whole life and I have been using a lot of headphone time, but I did'nt get any particular warnings from my system before this happened. Maybe some inching a few times but then I stopped the music I was listing to, cus it was bothering me. So just wanted to say that it is important to think about this and act upon it when it something happens! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTP Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 How about normal volume levels, like listening at home?You know what's funny? Always when some mate wants me to listen to a song on his discman/mp3-player and gives me the earphones, I always have to say that he has to turn the volume down, I can't take it so loud! I mean, I then always imagine that he listens to the music when he's alone at that volume ... I really think that isn't good for the ears, but I don't say anything, I'm not his nanny, you know. And always when I give people my stuff to listen they go: "louder, dude, I can't hear shit!" So obviously I'm listening to rather lower volumes ... but I really don't percieve them as low, I percieve them just at the right volume! Once I turned the volume up to the level I just find acceptable, anything more and it would be uncomfortable ... and then I gave my mate the headphones and he was like "??? ... that's pretty low volume, you know..." I mean, at which levels do you listen, people, it is damaging your ears! In the subway I sometimes sit next to people that have turned up the volume on their earphones so lout IT'S TOO LOUD FOR ME EVEN THOUGH I SIT NEXT TO HIM and don't have the plugs in the ears! How DEAF will people become? It's insane. PROTECT YOUR EARS! This night, at the Human Blue gig I forgot my earplugs. I entered the dancefloor room and backed off, so loud the music was to me. I thought I'd go deaf, then I had the idea for rescue: I hurried to the toilets, grabbed some of the tissues there (as long as there still are some, because after some time it's just a mess there) and rolled myself custom earplugs. I spent like 10 minutes just rolling them, adapting them to the right size and right thickness to let just the right amount of sound through. And it helped. I walked home today without the "biiiiiiiiiiiiii-" noise in the ears and even the cars passing by I could hear like they really were next to me and not some miles away. PROTECT YOUR EARS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drosophila Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 It is true what u say RTP it is very important.... and the concerts are were the shock-damage is done! But I have also heard that its not only quality (the volume its played at) but also quantity of sound (the length of time) that does damage the ears. So also having breaks from listing to music might help.... anyways I just had to do these adjustments now, when I got my "fianal warning" that this is for real! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abasio Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 If you get a decent pair of headphones then you don't have to listen to music too loud anyway. When I first put on headphones the music doesn't sound to loaud but it's like my ears adjust and after a few minutes it seems pretty loud, even without adjusting the volume. As long as your headphones cut out outside noise it's fine. As for DJing though it's more difficult if you have really loud music pumping out & you are trying to listen to another track quietly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AppA Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 You know, you could go to a special installation here, and the professional ear-people there test your ears. It's free, but I don't know how that is in your country. My friend could hear up to 21 khz :S Wow, I just woke up now from a day nap dreaming that I was on vacation, on a planet on a farm with only Polish people Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alleycat Posted January 28, 2007 Author Share Posted January 28, 2007 the last time I had a professional hearing test was last year sometime, and everything was fine, I even got a pretty high score. Ive been keeping the monitor volume lower, last night I noticed it was actually pretty loud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drosophila Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 If you get a decent pair of headphones then you don't have to listen to music too loud anyway. When I first put on headphones the music doesn't sound to loaud but it's like my ears adjust and after a few minutes it seems pretty loud, even without adjusting the volume. As long as your headphones cut out outside noise it's fine. As for DJing though it's more difficult if you have really loud music pumping out & you are trying to listen to another track quietly yeah cutting outside noise is a very important feature... that means u can listen at much lover volumes outside were there is a lot of noise to compete with... same goes for dj-headphones for that matter.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
visine Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 When I first put on headphones the music doesn't sound to loaud but it's like my ears adjust and after a few minutes it seems pretty loud, even without adjusting the volume. Exactly what I was talking about Just give your ears a chance to adjust to a lower volume and you'll notice after a while that lower voume is plenty for your ear to absorb the music well. If you blast it loud immediately and then turn the volume down to the same level I was talking about above and then you ear will tell your brain that it is too quitet because it was adjusted to the higher volume to begin with. Your brain understands something as "loud" or "quiet" by comparing the current volume to the previous one you listened. If the previus or initial volume is low then after the adjustemnt period you can enjoy music without too much loudness. If you start blasting immediately, you are asking for trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alleycat Posted January 28, 2007 Author Share Posted January 28, 2007 Just as they eye sees things as large only with something small to compare it to. Like if you look really close up to a ladybug you can really freak yourself out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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