Protecting Your Hearing

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Hi-Lo

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
What up fam...

Question here for audio engineers and anyone else who might know. I'm getting real concerned about my hearing because I bump my mixes so loud and for any of you who are into rock music you know some of the older guys of the 60s and 70s rock generation are losing their hearing now. I dont use external hardware so I don't have a db monitor so I'm wondering if I can either monitor my db levels in Fl Studio 6 or find a program that measures my comp's audio output. Also, what is a safe level to use? I obviously gotta be able to hear everything in the mix but I don't want to be deaf when I'm 50 or 60.

Side note...I only mix/record using stereo headphones so I'd need to know whats safe for that, not necessarily for the level of audio in a room or studio.

thanks..
 
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djswivel

Producer Extraordinaire
ill o.g.
this is a GREAT question....too many people, especially in hip hop dont even think about the safety of their ears, and especially with hip hop because everyone wants their music loud, and bass (most damaging frequencies) heavy! There are guidelines that can be followed. I don't know them exactly off hand, but I think you can listen to 86db for 8 hours until you start getting damage. If you double the power (+3db) you must cut the time in half before you need a break. nightclub envoronments which are oftern in the range of 120db+ are incredibly dangerous to your hearing...i think its something like 4 minutes before you start getting damage to your ears

there are earplugs you can buy for about $100 from your doctor, that have a flat curve and you can have custom pads built into them eg. -20db pad. They are so expensive because as I said, the frequency curve on them is flat, meaniing the music will sound the exact same, just quieter...Your doctor will mold them to your ear, all custom done. Look into it!
 
Vince

Vince

2Cool2BeAHebrew
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 1
My hear started hurting while I was reading this topic :/

It's a great question, maybe something we should ask Wings :p
 
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djswivel

Producer Extraordinaire
ill o.g.
KurtisRich said:
Yea good question. I DJ at bars and clubs and go to them every week and losing my hearing would be the last thing on my mind with all them loud music. i was thinking of wearing ear plugs when I DJ. I don't want to lose my hearing like Foxy brown. It's a scary thought.
Click to expand...


You should DEFINATELY get eat plugs. I live in NYC now, but when I was in Toronto I played out at nightclubs every week. It was almost a second home. I regret not using earplugs. Now working in a studio environment, I can hear the damage it did to my ears. Most epople wouldn't even relize it, but if I step into a sound deadened room, I can hear the constand tinnitus (ringing in the ears).
 
T

The Bastard

Guest
i got significant hearing loss in the higher frequency range, and if its quiet enough ill hear that ringin in my ear non stop, i can live with it but it gave me a lisp as a young buck that only years and years of speech therapy fixed.i was born with it tho.course the countless number of hip hop shows i been too standing right in front of a speaker set couldnt have helped it. wear plugs to shows, u might feel like a herb,u might even be a herb,but at least youll have your hearing
 
Vince

Vince

2Cool2BeAHebrew
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 1
ron herman

ron herman

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
I have been a couple of sessions where I had the engineer to please turn the volume down. Im known for running an air filter in a session too, when i had my studio in the crib, I made it no smoking. A good friend of mine suffered high freqency hearing loss due to pumping the volume too much over an extended period of time.
 
Hita_K

Hita_K

Dilltastic
ill o.g.
I personaly can't listen to loud music even when im listenin to my mp3 player it has to be at a level where i can hear everything around me and still here the music. I cant have headphones in my ears for to long it jus always been like that, but i never thought of ears being damaged in a club unless ur standing right beside the speakers. Good Topic.
 
Hypnotist

Hypnotist

Ear Manipulator
ill o.g.
Hi-Lo said:
I dont use external hardware so I don't have a db monitor so I'm wondering if I can either monitor my db levels in Fl Studio 6 or find a program that measures my comp's audio output.
Click to expand...

If you monitored your computer's output, it has no bearing on what happens after that. The only real way to detect the dB levels out of your system is at the acoustic part of it; e.g. where the signal reaches your ears. If you mixed like most engineers, then you would be at a relative 0dB coming out of your computer, but in the digital state. You could also measure the voltage, but that won't matter either. After your computer's output, there is an amplifier that reaches your headphones. This could be your computer sound card, or a receiver, or a mixer, or a headphone amp. Your computer level can be all the way up, and the headphone amp halfway up, so you'll never really know.

Hi-Lo said:
Also, what is a safe level to use? I obviously gotta be able to hear everything in the mix but I don't want to be deaf when I'm 50 or 60.
Click to expand...
With the proper reading, I would NOT go over 100 dB. And if I DID listen to something at 100 dB, it would be ONE PLAY through the song AT MOST, just to hear the air move around the room and push the limit. (This is in a real studio, about 15'x20' or so). For most of the time, I would be close to my monitors, while mixing at a moderate-to-low level, say 40 dB. I'll turn it up occasionally, but I always go back down to cruise altitude.

Hi-Lo said:
Side note...I only mix/record using stereo headphones so I'd need to know whats safe for that, not necessarily for the level of audio in a room or studio.
Click to expand...

Ok, if you're using headphones to mix, and only headphones, that's where you go wrong. You might think it's really comfortable, you might really know and trust these headphones because you've made some hot mixes in them, you might live with your mom or girl or kid and don't want to keep them up while you mix all night... Whatever the case may be, if you ALWAYS mix with headphones, then your hearing will get worse MUCH quicker than if you had actual monitors. What your ears perceive to be loud gets extremely confused, and 90% of the time, you put the level much louder than you need it, with nothing in the room to relate to how loud it actually is. For example: the phone rings, you can't even hear yourself cough, etc.

Be careful. Especially if you want to make a career out of this. Your ears will be what feeds your kids. And that's nothin to fk with.
 
E

E.R.

Member
ill o.g.
ive always had a question about this...

lets say your in a bus where the motor/ac are really loud, or out in the street etc, etc...will turning up the volume still affect your hearing as bad, although theres a bunch of noise around you? i think hypnotist brought it up in his last paragraph but im not sure
 
Hypnotist

Hypnotist

Ear Manipulator
ill o.g.
Yes.

The worst is driving down the highway with the windows open, doing 80mph, while you're blasting a CD to where you can't hear the wind. That shit's DANGEROUS to your ears. You have NO IDEA how loud your sound is.

Everyone has had this problem:
You're driving around, listening to music, running some errands or something... you step out to go to the bank, you make your little deposit, you go back into your car and turn it on and OOOOOOHHHHHHHHH SHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTT!!! WHO THE HELL HAD MY RADIO ON THIS LOUD??? It's ridiculous how we don't even realize how loud we play our shit.

Put a piece of tape on your volume knobs and rarely go over that.
 
E

E.R.

Member
ill o.g.
^i dont even have a car so i dont get to experience that hahaha...

but ill be on the metro bus and shit, and i get off the bus into a car or building, and the thought'll just pop up like "damn why i got these headphones on so loud"
 
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Doc Henny

Member
ill o.g.
two easy ways to destroy your hearing is listening to music loud in your car, and listening to music on headphones often (especially earbuds!!!!). it's terrible for your hearing....the fact is that it's hard to judge how loud the music really is playing on headphones or in a car. ANd relic is right...never use headphones to mix
 
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open mind

Guest
when u go in a place where loud music being played and u dont have the power to lower the volume like party/disco/concert or WUTEVA wear EAR PLUGS.

if u are in a mix session LOW the volume thats it.
 
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open mind

Guest
wutup fam just wanna remember PROTECT YOUR EARs once they ****** up u cant repair them!!!.listen on low volume in general and in the mix and wear ear plugs if u going in the club.

on a sidenote the more iam producing the more iam enjoying listening my stuff and general music at lower volume.the ears listen more if shit is quite like they hungry for more but but they dont get mo volume heeheheh only a few moments but very rare.i just wanna protect my ears coz iam fucking scared of destroying them i cant live without music i already have a small DAMAGE on my left ear coz of clubbin at my younger age.

LOL WTF am i writing my life up in here? haahah nah u dont wanna read that aight the moral of all this mess..lmfao.


PROTECT YOUR EARZ U CANT REPAIR them peace.

one love fam.
 
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