I know when I listen to loud music it seems hard on the ears but when I listen to loud bass, it doesnt seem hard on the ears, you just feel it so im wondering if you will loose your hearing from listening to your music not too loud but with a lot of bass. This is hard to explain but I have always wondered because it seems like its the highs coming from the speakers that hurt your ears.

 

First off I am not a hearing expert or anything of the sort.
However from what I have read in various articles loud bass is just as hard on your ears or harder then the high notes that you hear. If you really want to investigate it yourself i would suggest www.noisefree.org (boom car section)as a start, just keep in mind that that site is made by a bunch of nuts. however some of their articles are written by profesionals and are informative.
Dont get me wrong, I have a 1300W rms system in my car and love turning it up (running 2 Kaption 12" spl subs)I just dont listen it at max volume for those 2-5hour road trips.

 

http://www.canadiancaraudio.com/cgi/...c;f=3;t=010293

Good thread there...

 

What? Could you speak louder? I can't hear you...

 

use your common sense and you can listen for a lifetime without destroying your hearing. I've been into car audio since the mid 80's with loud and now even louder systems that play really clean. I can't imagine someone listening to a 1 kilowatt system at near max power for any extended period. My systems are all well into the 1KW range and I can safely say that I listen to them at probably 1/4 to 1//3 their max output for most of the time. I like to have more than enough for those times when I just gotta crank it, but that usually only last for a song or three. The added benefit of lots of power is headroom for those transients that kill low powered systems. Just remember that the system is for your enjoyment and that most people outside the car are not impressed with a loud stereo, they are more than likely annoyed by it.

 

It is belived that you can withstand longer exposure to low frequecy sounds before damage compared to high frequency sound.

Some believe it is becuse the shape of the cochlea is suchtaht the high frequency respetors are located at the start of teh cochlea and the low frequency receptors are at the back (although there is no actual proof of what receptors are where).

There is unfortunalty little known about why hearing loss occurs and what can be done to correct it.

Prevention is easy, restoring is impossible.

 

Does anyone here know anyone who has lost their hearing through loud audio ?

 

I dont know anyone who was completely lost their hearing from loud audio, but I know that pretty much as soon as you are born, your hearing starts to decrease and slowly overtime it gets worse and worse, loud music or not.

[ June 02, 2005, 05:10 PM: Message edited by: coulter ]

 

^^
Actually your hearing matures around 8-11yrs. Then it stays stable for about the next 10-15yrs then it may decrease. After 40-50 years of age presbycosis can start (age-related hearing loss). About the same time presbiopia happens (age related vision problems).

I have seen hearing test results on 80 year old men that show normal hearing. just goes to show you that not everyone will have hearing problems.

I have met a few musicians that have hearing loss that could be attributed to loud music. On the other hand whats not to say that it wasx hereditary. Or just presbycosis.

Damage that occurs today may not be noticed until years later....