Does bass really damage hearing......interesting read.

[vehementSPL 10+ year member]

I honestly don't totally agree that it does. I have had a few VERY loud systems for daily. My last one was doing a 156 on a lab outlaw and did around a 151 at the ear. Lets take at the head measurement. I listened to this many many times full volume blasting ... A rock concert speaker which I believe is around 120db will tear your hearing up pretty quick. And 150's is well over 100 times louder(even with the other argument about perceived on here lol... pure pressure over 100 times that of the rock concert speaker on the ear. I think the freq matters. The reason I say this. I am 26 and they say the average person I think over 20 can NOT hear over 17khz I can did some hearing test and I can for sure hear up to 20khz. This is after riding around MANY days at pressures FAR exceeding that of a rock concert. I have friends that have massive hearing loss with very little/no bass BUT with overbearing highs. I have NEVER used LOUD highs. Now I know on a perceived scale to the ear the higher freq's are louder. But i wonder what causes the damage. Is it the faster movement of the ear drum. 8,000 times per second as opposed to 50? lol. again theories here. I can recall many times getting out of my loudest (explorer) and sit in somebody's car with a bunch of treble and I would jump out QUICK (KILLED my ears) . They looked at me like I was crazy (going whats wrong with you.. you drive that thing around daily. I would be like that thing doesn't have its own rock band in there lol.Would love to hear a few replies.

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[Rideredder 10+ year member]

Do you know how much hearing aids cost? I've always been told that over 85db for long periods of time can cause hearing loss. My mom has to have them, and with the over five thousand dollar set that she has, she still can't hear sh!t.

 

[vehementSPL 10+ year member]

yes i am aware but read the first post lol. your 12 produced WAY over 85db lol

 

[Rideredder 10+ year member]

I did read your post. I was just saying...

 

[grizzly 10+ year member]

lol i actually just had a hearing conservation class for work yesterday....... yes any thing over 85 requires protection. normal traffic is around 85db so technically if ur walking around downtown with constant traffic u should have protection..... the first area to show loss is 4khz and higher.. if u dont think u have any loss go get tested every 6months and see if theres a slide at all. chances are u have and it might be slowly but ur not going to know the full amount unless u started getting tested before u started with audio. and yes even anything over 85db even in ranges you cant hear meaning below 20hz and above 20khz still causes damage.

 

[vehementSPL 10+ year member]

Well considering any system no matter how small it is (including most stock systems) break 85db by a good amount I suppose we all will be deaf. But freq does matter on how much loss. 150db at 10khz will kill ya hearing more quickly then 150db at 45hz.

 

[newusername 10+ year member]

Yes, bass is very damaging to your ears at high SPL and yes, your ears are more sensitive to higher frequencies. See Fletcher-Munson or Robinson-Dadson.

 

[nauc 10+ year member]

Yes, bass is very damaging to your ears at high SPL and yes, your ears are more sensitive to higher frequencies. See Fletcher-Munson or Robinson-Dadson.

x2.................

 

[bigbangtheory 5,000+ posts]

I have messed up my ears somewhat over the years, but I have had both loud systems into the mid 150's and enough highs to make a rock concert look lame.

 

[luvinthebass 5,000+ posts]

i know ive had some hearing loss, one day i was listening to my front speakers in my car prolly near 100 db's for about 15 minutes, i went in my house everything was all dull and quiet and it was like that for a couple days but my hearing gradually came back. but i notice the high highs i can barely hear nemore, so the music to me sounds all bassy and mid bassy with a tad of highs and vocals to it, def not like it was when i was a teenager, nice and crispy sounding and a nice clean bass sound.

 

[alpinetypeR 10+ year member]

cant a certain DB level actually make you shit your self hahah LAWL

 

[Lakota 5,000+ posts]

cant a certain DB level actually make you shit your self hahah LAWL

Try out the brown noise

 

[GoochJuice]

well hearing loss is gradual. you might not hear a difference now, but down the line you have a really good chance you will.

i assume some people will be more suseptible than others. just cause a study says 85db is damaging to one person doesnt mean its damaging to another, whose threshold could be, i dont know maybe 96 or whatever. there is never a 100% certainty on these types of things because people differ.

 

[Jep772 10+ year member]

chad gray + small venue > my car stereo

 

[04_edge 10+ year member]

id say its a combination of things...my freinds car has alot of treble, compared to mine at least, and it makes my ears hurt while his are fine, yet when hes in my truck, my bass makes his hurt while mine are fine...