Youngsters have always loved listening to their favorite music, and the louder the better - much to their parents' dismay. Inside the 1980s, the portable tape recorder with headphones - which came to be referred to as the "Walkman" - enabled teenagers to listen to their music as loud as they wanted, anywhere they wanted, without having disturbing anybody around them.
But the more modern rendition of the Walkman - portable MP3 Players and iPods - pose a major threat to our children's hearing health, and to ours.
The issue is a mixture of the technologies of portable digital devices that creates a non-buffered crystal clear sound, and also the type of headphones normally used with them, which don't have a buffer either. In December 2005, Dean Garstecki, an audiologist and professor at Northwestern University reported that more and more young people were being diagnosed with the types of hearing loss typically found in older adults. He attributed this trend to the "earbud" type headphones that usually accompany iPod and MP3 Players.
With the earbud headphones, the sound frequencies aren't buffered as they are with the much more standard, ear cup-style headsets. Newsweek Magazine recently reported that researchers at the Home Ear Institute discovered that listeners can unfortunately increase the volume of today's portable digital devices without having the "signal distortion that occurs with conventional analog audio." The older-model headphones that were popular just 15 to 20 years ago - that have ear cups outside of the ears - had that distortion when the volume was turned up, which functioned as a much-needed buffer to protect our hearing. Today's technologies doesn't supply that buffer - the earpiece is placed within the ear, not outside of it, and the digital devices don't produce that distortion, no matter how high the volume.
In addition, folks frequently listen to these devices while they're on the go, and have a tendency to crank the volume in an attempt to drown outside noise, further posing a risk to our hearing. Using the earbud style headphones throughout activities like exercise, as an example, puts the user at a greater risk. Throughout physical exercise, blood, which can act as a buffer, is diverted from the ears to other parts of the body - so our already vulnerable hearing is in even more jeopardy.
Headwize reports that a study conducted on music listeners making use of headphones revealed that while indoors with no background noise, the participants had been comfy with their music at 69 decibels. Outdoors, where the background noise was recorded at 65 decibels, participants using their headphones turned the volume up to 82 decibels and as high as 95 decibels to drown out the surrounding noise. The Occupational Safety and Wellness Administration guidelines limit exposure to noise at this level to no much more than four hours every day. The study concluded that the participants had been at risk for hearing damage and recommended "avoiding continuous use of [portable stereos] in noisy conditions."
Northwestern University's Dean Garstecki provides a lot more particular guidelines: His 60 percent/60 minute rule - listen to MP3 Players and iPods for "about an hour a day and at levels below 60 percent of maximum volume." The issue is, most of the population using headphones - young music fans - listen to their music for significantly longer than 1 hour per day. But, you can assist reduce hearing loss, harm and issues while listening to your favorite music as long as you need to - the secret is in the headphones.
Headphones for example the EX29 Extreme Isolation Noise Reduction Headphones help block out external noise permitting you to hear the fine details of your music without having blowing out your ear drums. The ear cup fits over the ear, and not in it, as well as the headphones are lightweight, do not need batteries and may be employed with your MP3 Player or iPod. With 29 decibels of isolation from outside sound, the quiet headphones block outside noise and there is no have to crank the volume of your music.
Aging rock stars like the Who's Pete Townsend, who has some permanent hearing loss from years of exposure to loud music, and Mick Fleetwood, who has teamed up with Energizer batteries to promote hearing loss prevention, have brought public attention to the fact that numerous of us take our hearing for granted. But there's no must turn off your music - just be smarter about how you listen to it. Should you are using your MP3 Player or iPod when you're exercising, in a noisy environment or you just want to hear the fine details of your music, ditch the earbud headphones and reach for a set of noise reduction ones instead. And you'll be enjoying your favorite music for a long time to come.
But the more modern rendition of the Walkman - portable MP3 Players and iPods - pose a major threat to our children's hearing health, and to ours.
The issue is a mixture of the technologies of portable digital devices that creates a non-buffered crystal clear sound, and also the type of headphones normally used with them, which don't have a buffer either. In December 2005, Dean Garstecki, an audiologist and professor at Northwestern University reported that more and more young people were being diagnosed with the types of hearing loss typically found in older adults. He attributed this trend to the "earbud" type headphones that usually accompany iPod and MP3 Players.
With the earbud headphones, the sound frequencies aren't buffered as they are with the much more standard, ear cup-style headsets. Newsweek Magazine recently reported that researchers at the Home Ear Institute discovered that listeners can unfortunately increase the volume of today's portable digital devices without having the "signal distortion that occurs with conventional analog audio." The older-model headphones that were popular just 15 to 20 years ago - that have ear cups outside of the ears - had that distortion when the volume was turned up, which functioned as a much-needed buffer to protect our hearing. Today's technologies doesn't supply that buffer - the earpiece is placed within the ear, not outside of it, and the digital devices don't produce that distortion, no matter how high the volume.
In addition, folks frequently listen to these devices while they're on the go, and have a tendency to crank the volume in an attempt to drown outside noise, further posing a risk to our hearing. Using the earbud style headphones throughout activities like exercise, as an example, puts the user at a greater risk. Throughout physical exercise, blood, which can act as a buffer, is diverted from the ears to other parts of the body - so our already vulnerable hearing is in even more jeopardy.
Headwize reports that a study conducted on music listeners making use of headphones revealed that while indoors with no background noise, the participants had been comfy with their music at 69 decibels. Outdoors, where the background noise was recorded at 65 decibels, participants using their headphones turned the volume up to 82 decibels and as high as 95 decibels to drown out the surrounding noise. The Occupational Safety and Wellness Administration guidelines limit exposure to noise at this level to no much more than four hours every day. The study concluded that the participants had been at risk for hearing damage and recommended "avoiding continuous use of [portable stereos] in noisy conditions."
Northwestern University's Dean Garstecki provides a lot more particular guidelines: His 60 percent/60 minute rule - listen to MP3 Players and iPods for "about an hour a day and at levels below 60 percent of maximum volume." The issue is, most of the population using headphones - young music fans - listen to their music for significantly longer than 1 hour per day. But, you can assist reduce hearing loss, harm and issues while listening to your favorite music as long as you need to - the secret is in the headphones.
Headphones for example the EX29 Extreme Isolation Noise Reduction Headphones help block out external noise permitting you to hear the fine details of your music without having blowing out your ear drums. The ear cup fits over the ear, and not in it, as well as the headphones are lightweight, do not need batteries and may be employed with your MP3 Player or iPod. With 29 decibels of isolation from outside sound, the quiet headphones block outside noise and there is no have to crank the volume of your music.
Aging rock stars like the Who's Pete Townsend, who has some permanent hearing loss from years of exposure to loud music, and Mick Fleetwood, who has teamed up with Energizer batteries to promote hearing loss prevention, have brought public attention to the fact that numerous of us take our hearing for granted. But there's no must turn off your music - just be smarter about how you listen to it. Should you are using your MP3 Player or iPod when you're exercising, in a noisy environment or you just want to hear the fine details of your music, ditch the earbud headphones and reach for a set of noise reduction ones instead. And you'll be enjoying your favorite music for a long time to come.
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