What's the best way to prevent hearing loss from listening to music?

[olds1959special]

Turn it down! I've found music almost as enjoyable at lower volumes, a compromise I'm trying to make sometimes to help preserve my hearing. I think boosting the bass (and treble?) can improve the sound at lower levels too.

 

[DVDdoug]

I think boosting the bass (and treble?) can improve the sound at lower levels too.

Yes, especially the bass. When you turn down the bass, the Equal Loudness Curves make it sound like you've turned-down the bass even more.

Older receivers used to have a loudness compensation switch which would boost the bass when the volume control was turned-down. It's no longer a popular feature but I believe it's built-into some room correction software.

I think loud bass is less damaging to our ears. I've never noticed ringing in my ears or a TTS from loud bass. And if you are listening at lower level with boosted bass, the bass probably isn't that unreasonable anyway.

 

[BJL]

Turn it down! I've found music almost as enjoyable at lower volumes, a compromise I'm trying to make sometimes to help preserve my hearing. I think boosting the bass (and treble?) can improve the sound at lower levels too.

I wear my Apple watch. It makes an alert if I'm listening to music at a potentially unsafe level. Very effective.

Edit: the Apple watch noise function also works if listening on an Apple branded earphone set (i.e. Airpods.)

 

[sonitus mirus]

This is one of the main reasons I love my RME DACs, as they have an excellent method (AutoLoudness feature) to automatically manage perceived loudness levels at lower volumes.

Loudness Function setup guide (Page 1) — ADI-2 & 2/4 Pro series, ADI-2 DAC series — RME User Forum

Loudness Function setup guide (Page 1) — ADI-2 & 2/4 Pro series, ADI-2 DAC series — RME User Forum —

forum.rme-audio.de

 

[SSS]

Save the ear capabilities with listening to a pleasent level without in-ear distortion. As the high frequency sensitivity degrades with age I assume that playing the mid-high frequencies very loud will kill the sensitivity at those frequencies. With bass I never had the feeling of fatigue. Using motor chain saw, mowers and other loud sources should only be used with ear protection. And if you may be a Formula 1 race pilot hopefully the helmet does the loudness dimming.

And of course, for workplaces there are strict regulation standards how loud it can be and how long the noise listening is allowed to sustain..

 

[Joe Smith]

Yes, protect your ears! Tinnitus is no fun, I can tell you.