that would be dreadful... some of my favorite moments are listening to flac files on my hifi stereo...

i guess im glad i never had more then 1000w pushing my sub...

i do have a high pitched ring in my ears all the time... like that noise you hear when turning on an old crusty tube tv. i just figure it means i myself is still "on".

How and why people having their hearing diminish is a fairly complex problem that honestly can't be ruled down to one single thing causing it for everyone.

Some people are around excessive noise levels for years and never lose their hearing sensitivity and range yet others can lose theirs without ever having been exposed to anything that would be considered damagingly loud.

I for one was one of those kids with the outrageous sound system that I played loud constantly when driving. After that I spent countless hours running farm machinery without hearing protection. On top of that I also do and have done regular metal work all of my adult life which at times when doing shaping and grinding work or plasma cutting and torch work can produce deafening sound levels.

Last hearing test I had I was still above average for my age in both sensitivity and range. I'm 39 now and I can still hear a pin drop on a tile floor at 100 feet and have upper range to ~17KHz!

 

i agree tcmtech. we really dont know why people lose their hearing in general, but it has been scientifically proven that some combination of loud noises and urban enviroments are the key.

they came to this conclusion after doing studies that showed nearly 100% of people who live in urban areas show some signs of hearing loss over their lifetime, even if its a negligible amount, while people who live in african tribes see virtually ZERO hearing loss even at 80+ years of age. Their ears are as good as they were the day they were born...

so, it has to be something. Loud noises arent good for you, but its also very likely there are other factors we just dont know about yet.

 

i agree tcmtech. we really dont know why people lose their hearing in general, but it has been scientifically proven that some combination of loud noises and urban enviroments are the key.

While a few people may weather hearing abuse intact, the vast majority will be damaged. Studies have shown that college kids who play in orchestras suffer serious loss. I played drums in a band in high school, rode a motorcycle for 40 years. Few people realize how long term exposure to "moderate" levels like the wind noise in a MC helmet does damage, severe damage incidents are not required to kill off hearing.

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2005/09/68844

To document the trend, Novak and colleagues have been randomly examining students and found a disturbing and growing incidence of what is known as noise-induced hearing loss. Usually, it means they've lost the ability to hear higher frequencies, evidenced at times by mild ear-ringing or trouble following conversations in noisy situations.
Hearing specialists say they're also seeing more people in their 30s and 40s — many of them among the first Walkman users — who suffer from more pronounced tinnitus, an internal ringing or even the sound of whooshing or buzzing in the ears.
"It may be that we're seeing the tip of the iceberg now," says Dr. John Oghalai, director of The Hearing Center at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, who's treating more of this age group. "I would not be surprised if we start to see even more of this."

 

In my case, my high-freq hearing loss is attributable to doing all the things that tcmtech talks about, plus about 6000 hours in propeller aircraft. Up until my twenties, I could hear the horizontal oscillator in tube TVs. I'll be interested in what tcmtech's hearing is like when he is 70yo. Of course, by then I'll 102yo and stone deaf...

 

I'll be interested in what tcmtech's hearing is like when he is 70yo. Of course, by then I'll 102yo and stone deaf...

Given my present trend more than likely I will still be above average for a typical 70 year old.

 

Given my present trend more than likely I will still be above average for a typical 70 year old.

Bummer. means you will be hearing all those stupid commercials for Viagra, Cialis, Lipitor and the rest that are on every five minutes here.

 

More likely it will mean I can still hear my wife complaining about whatever it is I did or did not do that does not fit within her very fine range of expectations of me.

 

More likely it will mean I can still hear my wife complaining about whatever it is I did or did not do that does not fit within her very fine range of expectations of me.

My wife always walks out of the room pointed away from me and mumbles something even a person with perfect hearing could not hear....

And I say: "I don't know how you expect me to hear what you are saying when you walk away mumbling."

Of course, since she is facing the other way and deaf herself when I say it, she doesn't hear that either.

I think it's a perfect system.

 

Same here. She starts mid sentence and ends mid sentence to which I usually reply.

"Are you talking to me or do you just have extra words you didn't get to use today so you are just burning them off now? "

 

you guys are really making me regret my decision to stay single....