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Hearing Protection Measurements
- Thread starter Jdunk54nl
- Start date
ScepticMatt
Member
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2023
- Messages
- 14
- Likes
- 6
I'm interested in this subject. It would be interesting to see if Amir is able to do any measurements for these. The best resource I've come across is here: https://www.hearingtracker.com/earplugs
Clearly the attenuation is far from flat but they don't necessarily sound bad. I know people say that the extreme loudness at concerts degrades perceived sound quality and reducing the volume improves this despite any colouration.
I don't really understand the section at the bottom with the "Estimated Time Protected". The formula makes no sense and the chart suggest 0.3 hours is the same as 15 minutes which it obviously isn't. I don't understand the Noise Reduction Rating either. Why does it use a weird adjustment from the dBA reduction? What's wrong with using dBA measures? There is an apparent inconsistency in the reported numbers too. It's all rather confusing.
The Loops look the most comfortable but it's curious to see that it appears a fair amount of treble is let through and these higher frequencies could be a cause of hearing damage making them less effective for protection whilst also making the sound relatively brighter? I'm not sure the dummy heads used provide a particularly accurate representation of how well these work in the human ear.
Shame the earasers were not included as I've heard those are good.
Edit: I think part of the confusion in the article is that it's assuming that reported numbers are all the same. Some products are given as SNR and others as NRR. Sometimes the figures are "derated" and other times not. The "derating" is inconsistent across products. The lack of standards on this is unideal as direct comparisons from claimed ratings are impossible.
Clearly the attenuation is far from flat but they don't necessarily sound bad. I know people say that the extreme loudness at concerts degrades perceived sound quality and reducing the volume improves this despite any colouration.
I don't really understand the section at the bottom with the "Estimated Time Protected". The formula makes no sense and the chart suggest 0.3 hours is the same as 15 minutes which it obviously isn't. I don't understand the Noise Reduction Rating either. Why does it use a weird adjustment from the dBA reduction? What's wrong with using dBA measures? There is an apparent inconsistency in the reported numbers too. It's all rather confusing.
The Loops look the most comfortable but it's curious to see that it appears a fair amount of treble is let through and these higher frequencies could be a cause of hearing damage making them less effective for protection whilst also making the sound relatively brighter? I'm not sure the dummy heads used provide a particularly accurate representation of how well these work in the human ear.
Shame the earasers were not included as I've heard those are good.
Edit: I think part of the confusion in the article is that it's assuming that reported numbers are all the same. Some products are given as SNR and others as NRR. Sometimes the figures are "derated" and other times not. The "derating" is inconsistent across products. The lack of standards on this is unideal as direct comparisons from claimed ratings are impossible.
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