I remember the warnings during the 80s about listenting to loud music on the original sony walkman. I paid the warning little heed and whether it was that or the booming base in nightclubs that damaged my hearing I don’t know. Either way, I have less than fantastic audio acuity which is embarassing in several social situations. Anyway, The Reg leads with this article which points out that in-the-ear phones can amplify sound by a factor of around 8 times. (yes, I’m converting from dB here so no silly comments) The artilce acutally proposes some safe listening habits suggested by Dean Garstecki, A North Waestern University audiologist.
So what can we do? One solution Garstecki suggests is the 60 percent/60 minute rule, whereby people use their MP3 devices for no more than about an hour a day and at levels below 60 percent of maximum volume. “If music listeners are willing to turn the volume down further still and use different headphones, they can increase the amount of time that they can safely listen,” Garstecki added.
. This is good practice and I’d urge any reader to take this on board. Unfortunately, I’ve a state of the art Pioneer in-car headunit with an iPod adapter bus so my iPod booms away in my ears even without the phones. Some people never learn 🙁