jologstyme
Member
I can't listen to headphones for more than an hour. I can listen to my speaker for hours on end. I don't feel at ease with something around my head and on my ears.
Why headphones rule
- Thread starter Rockmeister
- Start date
You'd better be careful, it's very easy to damage your ears. It's all too tempting to keep on turning up the volume. You don't realize how loud it gets with headphones.
Mike Reed
pfm Member
Think the purity (transparency, whatever,) of the source, incl. material, might be a factor. Distortion, whilst still being sound, can exacerbate aural damage, I feel.. Not sure about the above posted comment, as it could be said that the better the headphones, the less you need to turn up the volume for the same experience. Hasn't been much on pfm about this hifi aspect over the years, but with cans and can-amp's becoming more popular, it's definitely a subject worth airing, i.m.o.
martin clark
pinko bodger
Actually I think the risk of damage comes from the opposite direction: because the distortion can be so low from good headphones, the usual learned cues for 'loudness' are missed entirely. That's where the risk is.
I've been a big headphone user & proponent for 25yrs. Useful trick for open-back types: rub finger & thumb together about an inch above top of your ear - if you can justhear that over/in the music, no problem. Works for me.
(- it's actually a very conservative, if crude check: c 75-80dB pk, very, very roughly)
I've been a big headphone user & proponent for 25yrs. Useful trick for open-back types: rub finger & thumb together about an inch above top of your ear - if you can justhear that over/in the music, no problem. Works for me.
(- it's actually a very conservative, if crude check: c 75-80dB pk, very, very roughly)
ToTo Man
the band not the dog
For multiple reasons, this won't actually tell you the SPL of the headphones at your eardrums.
The easiest albeit rather crude method I use is to adjust my loudspeakers to my normal listening level (about 75dB to 80dB average C-weighted), and then dial in my headphones by ear until they sound approximately the same level as said speakers, and make a mental note of the volume setting. This approach admittedly has a major drawback: different recordings vary greatly in RMS output so you inevitably need to adjust levels on the fly, which then introduces the risk of "level creep" as your listening session progresses.
whatsnext
Naimless
Amazing how different we are. If I were posting about cables I would have to be careful to say - I just play music and if it seems a bit loud I turn it down. Not sure how you enter this level creep concept. Best of dealing with it though.
Listening to Doobie Bros, Long Train Running, Captain and Me. PX200 II
Listening to Doobie Bros, Long Train Running, Captain and Me. PX200 II
ToTo Man
the band not the dog
I'm not sure I follow your post.
Still
he said his naim was ralph
I believe Joe P rules.
You must be a young man........hearing damage is not going to happen to you.
I've listened to headphones a lot over recent years. A few months ago I was devastated to find my ears were ringing. I thought that I had caused permanent damage and was going to be like that for the rest of my life. Fortunately it has eased off.
With loudspeakers you know when it is loud.
Mike Reed
pfm Member
Interesting approach, but if I'm listening on cans, the power amps and speakers are not fired up. As I listen to TV (daily) on cans, and also to radio , CD and record player on occasion, all having a different output, I don't really have a fail-safe monitoring system except that if it sounds good, it IS good.
In the past, and after an extended session (in excess of an hour), I have felt 'uncomfortable' from a sonic pressure p.o.v.(a.k.a. 'ringing'), and have acted accordingly. This doesn't happen nowadays, though, with the new h/phone amp (and my Senn. 650s)
whatsnext
Naimless
We are all different. I listen at a level that is not uncomfortable, certainly not created a ringing effect so far. ToTo’s level creep just does not happen, nor can I imagine when it might. Then again I don’t drive speakers like a PA system, though my amp could if I wished.
Mike Reed
pfm Member
Maybe they're more Mutt and Jeff than you, Simon. As I'm well down in my right ear, I do wonder if I compensate, though I'm not aware of doing so. I do find (esp. on TV) that volume brings clarity.
richie60
pfm Member
Always preferred headphones, especially as I've invested money, time and effort into building my BH Crack with speedball and pairing it up with either the Beyer DT880 600OHM or Sennheiser HD600.
Also use Grado PS500E on a Little Dot 1+ also modified. I am very considerate towards neighbours about noise and I guess I don't like loud music blaring over loudspeakers.
Also use Grado PS500E on a Little Dot 1+ also modified. I am very considerate towards neighbours about noise and I guess I don't like loud music blaring over loudspeakers.