Hearing loss/Ear sensation

[Trdat]

It sounds like your condition may have a physical cause, and I strongly recommend consulting a specialist rather than relying on advice from strangers online. Don’t ignore it or simply "wait and see."

Good idea, in my country you can just pop into a specialist no crazy waiting times. So will do.

And I am hoping that it might be something that can improve with time if it is from the hematoma or the flight.

My next logical question , and I ask you this as it seems you know about the differences in DBa and DBc, are most noise exposure limit guidelines based on DBa or DBc? And is there anything that converts my DBc to DBa ?

I listen mainly below 85db for long listening sessions so your saying that is fine?

 

[Trdat]

Active noise cancellation actually cancels noise.
Simplified: noise is measured by a microphone, a signal equal and opposite to the noise is sent to the speaker to cancel.
It doesn't require music to be played over the speaker. There are active industrial noise cancelation schemes too, both over-ear, in-ear, and using speakers to quiet an area around a source of noise. One place I worked had active noise cancellation using speakers installed on a semiconductor test floor to deal with the high SPL from the testers and cooling.
A pair of Apple AirPods work great with over 20dB of noise reduction, a few consumer products even more:

AirPods Noise Canceling: All Your Questions Answered

AirPods Noise Canceling: All Questions Answered! How to switch noise canceling on, how it works, which AirPods have ANC and more.

thegreatestsong.com

Many people could benefit, many occupations are hard on our hearing. Musicians often have dramatic hearing loss, band teachers being particularly at risk. Airplane pilots too. Many trade workers as well.

Fascinating, I just can't get my head around how more sound can block out other sound. I get how it might fool you to think that you can't hear it but I never understood the logic of how it stops the sound getting through, but I will take the science as is without trying to understand as its above my understanding. Thanks for the explanation.

In saying that 20db is not much, in a plane I often put earplugs and earmuffs.

 

[Trdat]

Any tooth pain or sensitivity lately? Not totally off topic - but I've read gum care and general dental health can directly impact sinuses that are situated millimeters away from the upper roots (and then sinuses impact hearing). Seems that a good dentist can look at your dental X-Rays and see this kind of thing - "low level infection" or something like that.

My hearing loss is all self inflicted via SPL. I wish I could blame sinuses or dental hygiene

I had breathing problems and I chewed my teeth so hard with mouthgaurd inside during a night and burst a sinus vessel. On top of that there are no pain killers in Armenia except ibuprofen.

I mean, there is if you go to emergency section of the hospital and they give it to you but you can't go the pharmacy or get any hard pain killers prescribed. So I was in 9/10 pain for 3 to 4 full days and all I took was panadol. Anyway, enough of a soap story, point is lets hope it has something to do with hematoma.

 

[MaxwellsEq]

How does noise cancelling phones help when the sound still travels to your ear, nothing is blocking it?

It's to do with interference. If you drop two stones into a pond a few feet apart, where the rings intercept, you get interference. Some of the rings add together to make double height waves, others cancel out completely. The ones that cancel out are in anti phase with eachother - when one is going up, the other is going down.

Noise cancelling works like that. The real external noise is measured and an inverted anti phase version of it is created. This is then mixed with the music you are listening to. The inverted noise signal cancels out the real noise signal.

This is NOT your brain being fooled. The noise getting to your ears is genuinely reduced

 

[Old_School_Brad]

Good idea, in my country you can just pop into a specialist no crazy waiting times. So will do.

And I am hoping that it might be something that can improve with time if it is from the hematoma or the flight.

My next logical question , and I ask you this as it seems you know about the differences in DBa and DBc, are most noise exposure limit guidelines based on DBa or DBc? And is there anything that converts my DBc to DBa ?

I listen mainly below 85db for long listening sessions so your saying that is fine?

Noise exposure is usually assessed using A-weighting because it adjusts for the frequencies to which our hearing is most sensitive. This method significantly diminishes the impact of low and high frequencies, meaning that if there is a considerable amount of low-frequency sound energy, it won't be fully represented in the measurement.

While A-weighting is adequate for discussing exposure levels, C or Z-weighting provides a more detailed understanding when addressing technical aspects such as power requirements and musical transients.

Below is the equal loudness curve. For instance, at 80 dB SPL at 1000 Hz, trace the curve down to the low frequencies, stopping at 31.5 Hz. Check the Y-axis, which indicates that to perceive 31.5 Hz as loud as 80 dB is perceived, the SPL for 31.5 Hz must reach 110 dB. That's 30 dB more power needed.
For instance, with a speaker that has a sensitivity of 86 dB/W/m, you'll require approximately 0.3 W to achieve 80 dB at 1000 Hz. However, to achieve the same perceived loudness at 31.5 Hz, you'll need about 251 W. This significant difference illustrates the challenge of producing loud sounds at low frequencies compared to mid-range frequencies.

 

[MAB]

Fascinating, I just can't get my head around how more sound can block out other sound. I get how it might fool you to think that you can't hear it but I never understood the logic of how it stops the sound getting through, but I will take the science as is without trying to understand as its above my understanding. Thanks for the explanation.

In saying that 20db is not much, in a plane I often put earplugs and earmuffs.

You likely have already experienced this cancellation caused by the superposition of equal and opposite waves; playing two speakers out of phase and finding the bass cancels out. If you put the speakers face to face while driven out of phase the cancellation effect extends to higher frequencies due to reduction of room effects. This effect most dramatic with a mono signal.

You can explore the effect with your stereo speakers if desired. At some frequency the ability to match phase from the perspective of your listening position becomes more difficult and the cancellation becomes less dramatic.

It's a real effect. The sound is really reduced. Noise cancelling IEM do 20-30dB reduction, enough to take a dangerous noise like airplane takeoff (100+ dB in some cabins) and reduce it to safe levels, or take a typical loud cruising noise level (~85dB) and reduce it to the background. DSP can be used to allow some speech or other noises through. More dramatic reduction is available with industrial hearing protection.

 

[Trdat]

You likely have already experienced this cancellation caused by the superposition of equal and opposite waves; playing two speakers out of phase and finding the bass cancels out. If you put the speakers face to face while driven out of phase the cancellation effect extends to higher frequencies due to reduction of room effects. This effect most dramatic with a mono signal.

You can explore the effect with your stereo speakers if desired. At some frequency the ability to match phase from the perspective of your listening position becomes more difficult and the cancellation becomes less dramatic.

It's a real effect. The sound is really reduced. Noise cancelling IEM do 20-30dB reduction, enough to take a dangerous noise like airplane takeoff (100+ dB in some cabins) and reduce it to safe levels, or take a typical loud cruising noise level (~85dB) and reduce it to the background. DSP can be used to allow some speech or other noises through. More dramatic reduction is available with industrial hearing protection.

Earplugs and Ear muffs will be very ineffective against low frequencies so then am I right to presume that noise cancelling would be a better option against environments where low frequencies are more of a culprit?

 

[MAB]

Earplugs and Ear muffs will be very ineffective against low frequencies so then am I right to presume that noise cancelling would be a better option against environments where low frequencies are more of a culprit?

Yes.

 

[Old_School_Brad]

Earplugs and Ear muffs will be very ineffective against low frequencies so then am I right to presume that noise cancelling would be a better option against environments where low frequencies are more of a culprit?

Yes. This is an example (Apple Airpods Pro 2):

 

[Trdat]

Considering your low-risk listening habits, I would suggest that you might be experiencing some temporary or semi-permanent hearing loss from the high volume with distortion (?) on the other system, or you could have unequal pressure in your ears from your air travel.

I've been thinking about this and it really could be unequal pressure but not due to air travel but to a new device that I use for my breathing. Its a device that adds resistance to my inhalation(strengthens diaphragm) which pops my ears inwards not outwards, perhaps this has also contributed to unequal pressure. This was also around the same time as the air travel and listening to a poor quality system.

I just have to add though, that the volume levels on my poor quality listening level would not have been more than 85db C weighted so nothing crazy loud there.

 

[Trdat]

Yes. This is an example (Apple Airpods Pro 2):

View attachment 411001

This is great, will definitely use something like this for my next air travel. Is it possible to put earplugs in and then use headphones over it?

 

[Old_School_Brad]

This is great, will definitely use something like this for my next air travel. Is it possible to put earplugs in and then use headphones over it?

No, there wouldn’t be space for it. And as someone who owns a pair, you won’t need it anyway.