Car Subwoofer ear pressure

razorblade

CarAudio.com Newbie
Hi everyone,

A couple months ago I bought a 200W JBL BassPro Nano under seat subwoofer for my car. The sound seems good, but I think I tested the volume a bit too much in the beginning, which caused me to have to see a doctor with tinnitus-like symptoms. Now I am trying to play the subwoofer more moderately, but I still experience air pressure on my ears and after a longer ride a beep in my ears, while I feel like the sound is loud, but should not be too loud. I have a small car. Could it be my (equalizer) settings?

My current settings are
Subwoofer +0 (with quarter of subwoofer volume open)
Bass +7
Mid + 7
Treble + 7

On the subwoofer I opened the gain a bit more than half. The low pass filter is at its lowest and the bass boost is off. In my car radio, the bass boost is +2.

I have a JVC KD-R871BT radio with volume around 30. It sounds loud, of course, but I feel like it should be reasonable still. I use bluetooth and have my phone volume touching the warning level of "may be damagable to ears", but not crossing that level.

Do you have any ideas? Could it be a setting?

Thanks in advance!
 
Last edited:
Not at all. I daily drove my car with 10,000+ watt setups and never had issues with my annual hearing test. High frequencies are much more likely to damage your ears.
Popwar: Rather than threadjack, I'll start my own thread, and I'd like to hear your experience.

To OP, I wouldn't worry about the sub damaging your ears. I've heard (though haven't researched) that distortion is harder on your eardrums than volume alone, so I'd avoid overdriving your system to a point where it sounds distorted. My ears hurt more after a few hours driving on the highway in my POS work pickup (underpowered, poorly insulated, cheapest pickup my employer could possibly get) than after a few hours driving with my stereo up.
 
Extended exposure at even moderate levels can be damaging. You might want to get a set of earplugs that reduce the impact while still letting you hear the full range of frequencies.
‘Sounds silly (why not just turn volume down?), until you realize you’re also reducing vehicle noise AND can now be play loud enough to FEEL the music and not just hear it, while also protecting your irreplaceable gift.
 
Thank you for your responses. I've tried driving about 2.5 hours today. Ended with these settings:

Subwoofer +5
Bass level +5
Mid level +4
Treble +3

Had some passengers for 20 minutes. Asked about their ears. No problem. My ears after the drive are ringing a bit. Not sure what it is or what to do. If it really is the car noise and I need ear plugs for that already, I would find it odd, but would use them. I don't understand how a little music can make me feel like this. I'm confused. My hearing test was okay, but tinnitus is annoying and I want to make sure it doesn't get worse.
 
Thank you for your responses. I've tried driving about 2.5 hours today. Ended with these settings:

Subwoofer +5
Bass level +5
Mid level +4
Treble +3

Had some passengers for 20 minutes. Asked about their ears. No problem. My ears after the drive are ringing a bit. Not sure what it is or what to do. If it really is the car noise and I need ear plugs for that already, I would find it odd, but would use them. I don't understand how a little music can make me feel like this. I'm confused. My hearing test was okay, but tinnitus is annoying and I want to make sure it doesn't get worse.
Is tinnitus self-diagnosed? Does your doctor agree that you're suffering from tinnitus? Can you try driving without music on at all and see how you feel? Do your ears hurt after going to a movie, concert, or other loud event? The best bet is always to talk to your doctor. Best of luck.
 
Hi! Well kind of self diagnosed. The doctor simply says that if I feel it then I have it.

Yes I could try that! No music next time. And yes, I also can feel the ringing at other places sometimes. It's really tough. I should have taken more care.

But, I also believe that it has to do with the subwoofer or at least my loud music in the car, since the problem cane shortly after I got my subwoofer
 
Hi! Well kind of self diagnosed. The doctor simply says that if I feel it then I have it.

Yes I could try that! No music next time. And yes, I also can feel the ringing at other places sometimes. It's really tough. I should have taken more care.

But, I also believe that it has to do with the subwoofer or at least my loud music in the car, since the problem cane shortly after I got my subwoofer
You don’t work around machines or devices that make long droning noises, like a tractor or industrial machinery? Riding around in a farm tractor cab doesn’t seem that loud when you’re doing it, but doing it for 10 hours per day can cause the same damage as something extremely loud for 30 minutes can.
 
Not really as far as I know. I work in the office. But my car does make some noise and I drive quite a bit of hours per week
Nah. Just car noise doesn’t hurt. It’s the big machinery that creates louder subsonic frequencies that can hurt over long periods. Newer cars are pretty quiet. It’s probably the stereo. Everyone’s ears are different.
 
Popwar: Rather than threadjack, I'll start my own thread, and I'd like to hear your experience.

To OP, I wouldn't worry about the sub damaging your ears. I've heard (though haven't researched) that distortion is harder on your eardrums than volume alone, so I'd avoid overdriving your system to a point where it sounds distorted. My ears hurt more after a few hours driving on the highway in my POS work pickup (underpowered, poorly insulated, cheapest pickup my employer could possibly get) than after a few hours driving with my stereo up.
I took some advice I had read concerning how long term noise can actually be stressful and cause us to be physically tired without even exerting energy.
When I used to put on a lot of miles, I decided to test the theory. Simply putting some chunks of cotton ball in my ear to knock down road noise actually made a noticeable difference.
The good thing about the cotton was I could adjust it to get the best compromise between cutting down road noise and cutting out “all” sound.
Give it a try the next time you have to put in some windshield time. You might be surprised at what it can do for you.
 
I took some advice I had read concerning how long term noise can actually be stressful and cause us to be physically tired without even exerting energy.
When I used to put on a lot of miles, I decided to test the theory. Simply putting some chunks of cotton ball in my ear to knock down road noise actually made a noticeable difference.
The good thing about the cotton was I could adjust it to get the best compromise between cutting down road noise and cutting out “all” sound.
Give it a try the next time you have to put in some windshield time. You might be surprised at what it can do for you.
That explains why I am so worn out and pissy after a day of driving! Sometimes I listen to my bluetooth headphones (Kicker EB400, which I do not recommend) while I drive just to cut down on road noise. I don't know the legality of it in my state, but it makes the drive much more pleasant. Thanks for the tip. I could see the cotton cutting down on road noise, but wouldn't it also make it harder to hear your radio?
 
I've heard (though haven't researched) that distortion is harder on your eardrums than volume alone, so I'd avoid overdriving your system to a point where it sounds distorted.
This was my thought and it's called "listening fatigue".

I suspect the culprit is the +7 on whatever primitive EQ boost OP is using and driving something beyond its limits. A very misaligned frequency response will cause this fatigue rather quickly as well.

There is absolutely no way that 200W subwoofer system is causing harm, either OP has some other ear disorder or he is experiencing listening fatigue because something else is way wrong.
 
That explains why I am so worn out and pissy after a day of driving! Sometimes I listen to my bluetooth headphones (Kicker EB400, which I do not recommend) while I drive just to cut down on road noise. I don't know the legality of it in my state, but it makes the drive much more pleasant. Thanks for the tip. I could see the cotton cutting down on road noise, but wouldn't it also make it harder to hear your radio?
A strong maybe.
I actually use foam shooters earplugs and find I play the radio lower because I’m cutting out road noise.
It sounds odd, because you think the radio sound would be reduced too, but I’ve done it over and over and it’s consistent.
You could also try digital noise reduction earbuds to reduce that drone. I have them, but it almost seems like they create pressure in my ear canal. That could also be the “silence” effect, like being in an anechoic chamber. Can actually make people cuckoo.
I have what is essentially a safe room in my house with an amazingly low noise floor. It gets so quiet at night, I can hear my pulse. Can’t stand it after a few minutes…
 
Thanks everyone! Today I drove a return trip of a bit more than 30 minutes, so 1 hour in total without radio plugged in and subwoofer powered off. The ear pressure is much less! There really must be something with either the stereo or the subwoofer. I can try driving with stereo and without subwoofer to see if the problem occurs. My ears feel 'relaxed' now in the car instead of stressed out. My ear drums didn't pull back like usual.

I want to figure out what the problem is. Maybe my stereo speakers are too old? 15 years. I'm not sure what the problem could be, but I definitely want to keep my ears safe AND also hopefully enjoy my beautiful sound system as before.
 
Activity
No one is currently typing a reply...

About this thread

razorblade

CarAudio.com Newbie
Thread starter
razorblade
Joined
Location
Europe
Start date
Participants
Who Replied
Replies
29
Views
7,950
Last reply date
Last reply from
huberoy123
IMG_1882.jpeg

slater

    Oct 4, 2025
  • 0
  • 0
Screenshot_20251004_120904_Photo Translator.jpg

1aespinoza

    Oct 4, 2025
  • 0
  • 0

New threads

Top