Most important part of any sound system: your ears and brain

[muel]

I've seen something like this shared here before.  Thought it would be of interest.

 

http://headmania.org/2014/06/11/how-hearing-works/

 

[Rick J B]

One should protect their hearing when young, because once damaged.....

[BigStewMan]

my hearing is almost gone ... not because of loud music though.   oh yeah, it really sucks!

[wvu80]

Just for fun when I was young (about 25), an audiologist tested me in a sound proof room made for just that test.  I don't remember the lower number, but I could hear up to 17,000.  She told me at the time that was good hearing, but what surprised her was that I did not have a "hole" in my hearing, which she said was normal.

 

I just got some over-the-ear headphones, so just for fun I tested my hearing using one of the Youtube hearing tests.  I could hear to about 12,000 (average to good) but then nothing, then I could hear just for a bit near 17,000.  I think my lower number was about 34 Hz,

Edited September 26, 2014 by wvu80

[garyrc]

I've seen something like this shared here before.  Thought it would be of interest.

 

http://headmania.org/2014/06/11/how-hearing-works/

 

"You should also take care of your ears when going to concerts, as while you are staying in front of the loudspeakers, you’ll expose yourself to about 120 dB sound pressure levels. This will begin to damage your hearing in ~7 minutes."

 

This statement should probably read "concerts employing electronicly amplified instruments."  Acoustical music, not so much.  For instance, with a big orchestra playing clasical or modern orchestral music, or movie soundtracks employing orchestras, rather than amplified bands, loud and very loud passages tend to chug along at 90 to 105 dB, with occasional peaks as high as 115 dB (PWK).  If you have a good peak reading meter, you might (very rarely) pick up a peak as high as 120 dB, for just an instant, on "Fast," "C."  Peaks at the 115 dB or higher level in orchestral music are very short (even the passages themselves tend to be short).  OSHA's limit for 115 dB is 15 minutes continuous, rather than the ~~~ 0.5 seconds of the leading edge of a broad orchestral peak.  THX and Audyssey full scale (the upper limit) for movies is 105 dB for frequencies above 80 Hz, and 115 dB for below 80 Hz.  It is usually the special effects, rather than the music, that get to 115 dB in film, and they, too, tend to be short.  Exceptions (e.g., some of the ships in Star Trek: Into Darkness) should be turned down a bit.

[jimjimbo]

Working on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier will do it to you every time....hearing protection or not....

[Ceptorman]

Working on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier will do it to you every time....hearing protection or not....

I'll bet that was an awesome experience, seeing those jets blast off.

[jimjimbo]

I guess this really wouldn't be considered hijacking the thread...but we used to go up there at night, even though we sometimes worked the day shift, and should have been eating and sleeping...just to watch the F-14's go into afterburners on the catapults...nothing like it in the world....

[muel]

This was a link in that article http://jn.physiology.org/content/83/6/3548#ref-29

about the physiological effects of inaudible high-frequency sounds.  A little heavy reading but interesting

[derrickdj1]

Even high volume LF or ULF can lead to hearing damage.  High pressure waves can lead to pain in the worst case.  As they say in boxing, protect yourself at all times.

[garyrc]

This was a link in that article http://jn.physiology.org/content/83/6/3548#ref-29

about the physiological effects of inaudible high-frequency sounds.  A little heavy reading but interesting

 

Frequencies above audibility can cause sweating. 

 

There was a story (an urban legend?) in the '60s that the JBL 075 ring radiator tweeter, given high SPL UHF, could cut grass (the green kind lawns are made of -- I think).

 

A much newer urban legend -- at least I hope it is legend -- involves UHF being used in shopping malls to keep teens away, because they can hear it well enough to be annoyed by it, and adult customers cannot.  The problem is that some adults, even older adults, can hear it quite well, especially if they have never been around very loud sounds, are non-smokers, and female.

[Chris A]

A much newer urban legend -- at least I hope it is legend -- involves UHF being used in shopping malls to keep teens away, because they can hear it well enough to be annoyed by it, and adult customers cannot. The problem is that some adults, even older adults, can hear it quite well, especially if they have never been around very loud sounds, are non-smokers, and female.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mosquito

Edited September 27, 2014 by Chris A