Last week’s WFTD (Word for the Day), Temporary Threshold Shift (see inSync 12/29/98), prompted one knowledgeable reader, Eric LePage, to submit an important point on hearing loss. I have summarized his point below and added one of my own.
We use the volume level of as a yardstick for what dangerous sound levels are. This is obviously the most relevant issue, but an individual’s risk of hearing damage at a given sound level varies widely. For example, risk is of hearing loss is greatly increased if you have had a lot of previous exposure to loud sounds. Damage to the inner ear accumulates, but it only results in symptoms of hearing loss once the damage process is very advanced.
This is according to the article, Latent cochlear damage in personal stereo users: a study based on click-evoked otoacoustic emissions & Hearing Loss Prevention Research, National Acoustic Laboratories, Sydney, NSW. Eric L LePage, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist; Narelle M Murray, MA (Aud), Senior Audiologist.
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Another important point is to realize that we are accustomed to using distortion and harmonic content to help our brains determine loudness in audio systems. If you have two stereo systems playing at 100 decibels each, but one of them is distorted, it will sound louder. The audio equipment we use today is cleaner, has more dynamic range, and just plain sounds better than ever before. It is very easy to be killing your ears with an audio system that doesn’t “seem” that loud. Be careful out there.