Which speaker characteristics are best for preserving your hearing?

[Frgirard]

headphones and the like are used in noisy environments.

the perceived sound volume is increased or reduced by the decay.
with the headphones, the low decay makes the perceived sound level lower.


it's two conditions that the sound level used in headphones can be excessive.

 

[Mnyb]

Yes avoid prolonged sessions in headphones.

Take care on live events with loud music , don’t be to close to the rig it sure fun to have your trousers flapping close to bass bins ....

Avoid my life , being at industrial sites close to very noisy machines in paper mills and steel mills .
Funny enough the fans in large drive systems have noise in the 500-4000hz range where you not want it.
Suppose large datacenters and server rooms have similar fan drone , but in my experience not that loud.

 

[Mnyb]

... and always wear your hearing protection on such sites that needs it .

 

[ryanosaur]

Yes avoid prolonged sessions in headphones.

Take care on live events with loud music , don’t be to close to the rig it sure fun to have your trousers flapping close to bass bins ....

Avoid my life , being at industrial sites close to very noisy machines in paper mills and steel mills .
Funny enough the fans in large drive systems have noise in the 500-4000hz range where you not want it.
Suppose large datacenters and server rooms have similar fan drone , but in my experience not that loud.

The exhaust hoods in professional kitchens... aren't always loud, but the constant prolonged exposure has been claimed to be somewhat detrimental. I never took an SPL meter into the kitchen with me, but you are standing under those hoods for 6-8 hours!

I do not miss that.

 

[Neuro]

Trying to figure out what speaker characteristics are best for preserving your hearing,
I've found a lot of opinions but little science on the matter.

E.g some say consumer speakers are better than studio monitors in this regard since consumer speakers (supposedly) have built-in compression to even out volume levels. In other words it makes the difference in db between the loudest and most quietest sounds less, so you need less volume to hear the quitest sounds, and also get less volume spikes from the loudest sounds. Is that true?

Some say low bass is more damaging than other frequencies, and therefore low bass extension speakers and subwoofers should be avoided. Others say treble is worse than bass. Anyone know the true answer? I found one study that warns against low bass, but does not compare it to treble.

Some say headphones are worse for your hearing, others say speakers....

Are there other speaker characteristics that are relevant, is e.g. a flat response curve best for preserving hearing?

There is a consensus in medical research that high frequencies, especially around 3600 Hz, are more harmful than low ones. Repetitive exposure to more than 85 dB for longer than 8 hours/day creates permanent hearing damage. Transient sound reproduced with optimal PA loudspeakers close to the ear - gunshots - causes permanent hearing damage around 3500 Hz.

- Low distortion speakers are better than speakers with some distortion as there is no need to listen at high volume to mask the distortion.
- Array loudspeakers with cylindrical sound dispersion are preferable in ordinary listening rooms to spherical ones due to lower level of sound-destroying reflections at lower volumes.
- Horn speakers or other speakers with high directivity do not require as high a volume due to fewer sound-destroying reflections at lower volumes.
- One speaker in mono is better than two in stereo due to less sound-destroying reflexes and no need to be compensated with higher volume.
- Heavily dampened room is preferable to small reflected room as fewer sound destroying reflections are created at lower lower volume.
- Listening close to the loudspeaker increases the relative share of direct sound and reduces the share of sound-destroying reflections.

In ordinary listening rooms, a majority of the reflexes are too early and interfere with the direct sound in a negative way. This is to some extent comparable to the effect of a separate disturbing noise on the direct sound. Both noise and premature reflexes can usually be masked with higher overall volume.

 

[dasdoing]

There is a consensus in medical research that high frequencies, especially around 3600 Hz, are more harmful than low ones.

Which speaker characteristics are best for preserving your hearing?

Trying to figure out what speaker characteristics are best for preserving your hearing, I've found a lot of opinions but little science on the matter. E.g some say consumer speakers are better than studio monitors in this regard since consumer speakers (supposedly) have built-in compression to...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Trdat]

Funnily many audio engineers warn that objectively great loudspeakers/headphones can be potentially more damaging to the hearing as due to their lack of distortion and coloration which makes people turn the volume higher.

This is true. My speakers aren't tested but through a tri-amp system with all equipment measured in the chain with pristine results has given me a very low distortion system with my CD and 15 inch combination. I often crank 105db to 110 dB C weighted with long listening sessions around 75-80db.

Of course the 110db for only short periods and my ears never get tired. But yesterday for the first time it hurt probably because I was making a video and lost concentration on keeping note of the maximum handling on my ears.

 

[ColorblindLepricon]

Any speaker/sound system with good adjustments for "loudness" or bass+treble, so that one can listen at lower levels and still get a satisfying sound, without feeling the need to crank up the volume. I find that Sonos has very good and intuitive controls for this in their app (for example when using Sonos port as a streamer), which I use a lot to both adjust to volume and to individual bass balance in records. I'm sure there are many other good solutions as well.

There are also anecdotal and subjective reports that some loudspeakers just sound better at low levels, whereas other loudspeakers need more volume to sound "alive". I have experienced this myself, but I haven't seen any research on it or systematic explorations into what it may be about.

Loudness? Is this some sort of EQ adjustment to boost bass+treble?

 

[ColorblindLepricon]

May I suggest reading my post?

How loud is loud, how to measure it? Is THX calibration bad for your health?

I am an electroacoustics engineer. We are a rare breed. When I got my M.Sc. my class of six were the only ones in UK. I am now retired from engineering and audio is my hobby. You can find more about me on the about page on my profile. The behaviour of the sound (acoustics) and how we hear it...

www.audiosciencereview.com

I did! I wasn't aware of the dosimeter, that's useful knowledge

 

[ColorblindLepricon]

since music averages to pink noise

Can you elaborate on this? Not sure I understand it

 

[ColorblindLepricon]

There is a consensus in medical research that high frequencies, especially around 3600 Hz, are more harmful than low ones. Repetitive exposure to more than 85 dB for longer than 8 hours/day creates permanent hearing damage. Transient sound reproduced with optimal PA loudspeakers close to the ear - gunshots - causes permanent hearing damage around 3500 Hz.

- Low distortion speakers are better than speakers with some distortion as there is no need to listen at high volume to mask the distortion.
- Array loudspeakers with cylindrical sound dispersion are preferable in ordinary listening rooms to spherical ones due to lower level of sound-destroying reflections at lower volumes.
- Horn speakers or other speakers with high directivity do not require as high a volume due to fewer sound-destroying reflections at lower volumes.
- One speaker in mono is better than two in stereo due to less sound-destroying reflexes and no need to be compensated with higher volume.
- Heavily dampened room is preferable to small reflected room as fewer sound destroying reflections are created at lower lower volume.
- Listening close to the loudspeaker increases the relative share of direct sound and reduces the share of sound-destroying reflections.

In ordinary listening rooms, a majority of the reflexes are too early and interfere with the direct sound in a negative way. This is to some extent comparable to the effect of a separate disturbing noise on the direct sound. Both noise and premature reflexes can usually be masked with higher overall volume.

Thanks! This is very knowledgeable and informative, I hadn't considered the interference effects of two speakers, but stereo sounds so much better!

I still wonder if studio monitors or consumer speakers are best, since consumer speakers (supposedly) even out volume levels so no need to listen so loud. Maybe the smile curve on many of those speakers will lower the volume around 3600 hz, that would in theory be beneficial.

Also what is going on in your profile pic? Brain cancer?

 

[fpitas]

- Horn speakers or other speakers with high directivity do not require as high a volume due to fewer sound-destroying reflections at lower volumes.

interesting. It is true, I can hear a lot of detail even at surprisingly low volumes. Flies in the face of the myth that us horn guys crank it up to 11 all the time

 

[dasdoing]

Can you elaborate on this? Not sure I understand it

the RMS average of music generally aprouches a pink noise shape. but again, as I also noted that doesn't mean that peaks can't aprouch 0dBFS in the higher frequencies

 

[mkc]

For headphone I think it might help to calculate the theoretical maximum SPL with a given output level on the amp. I don't know how this could be done with active speakers