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Did Loud Music Damage Your Hearing?


Hobbayne
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I wear hearing aids, my loss is round about 6K, the audiologist insisted it wasn't playing in a band or going to gigs that did it but working in a noisy environment, funny how I've got tinnitus in my left ear then, being cack handed I always have the drummer on my left,

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I had my hearing tested properly a few months ago and had a very interesting discussion with the Audiologist who conducted the test.

My hearing starts to tail off at about 8khz. That doesn't mean I can't hear anything above 8khz, just that as frequencies increase from there on it gets more difficult for me to hear them. Saying that however, at 12khz my hearing spikes back up slightly then tails off again. There's also a dip at 4khz. As sounds are made up of more than just the fundamental frequency created, in some instances it means I lose the clarity of some sounds and find higher pitched sounds more difficult to hear...mainly Mrs Marvin saying 'no! you're not buying another bass!' :)

Due to hearing being a very personal thing, as such, that's why you can have situations where a particular frequency will cause great discomfort to an individual despite it maybe not being particularly loud.

Everyone's hearing is, apparently, totally unique. I went to get my hearing tested as I find it difficult hearing people speaking to me when I'm in a crowded room e.g a busy pub. If someone is sat across a table from me, their voice is drowned out by background noise...that however is not because of my hearing loss but is simply down to the way I hear things.

I also I have tinnitus, which is an audio hallucination, for want of a better expression. It's a sound that you can hear but doesn't actually exist.

Edited by Marvin
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[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1427817623' post='2734621']
I had an audition with a preposterously loud band yesterday and I was the only one wearing ear plugs as usual... have done since I first started in bands when I was 13.
[/quote]

Preposterously Loud Band is a good name for a band ;)

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I had a bad case of sinusitis which made my left ear felt like it was under water. Eventually I wondered if it might be hearing loss from playing, but as I normally stand with the drummer on my right it was puzzling. Fortunately my hearing tested as normal (for my age) and the wateriness eventually disappeared but I invested in some ACS Pro earplugs because it did worry me at the time and I wish I'd done it years ago. I don't rehearse or play without them now, and if we're off to see a band I think will be loud I wear them then, too. When you think of what you spend on Basses, Amps and cabs why would you not spend proper money (mine were around £135) to protect one of the most important bits of kit you have that can't easily be repaired (if at all, in some cases). And like Discreet, I'm not normally a sensible person either!

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[quote name='phil.c60' timestamp='1427823475' post='2734731']
I had a bad case of sinusitis which made my left ear felt like it was under water. Eventually I wondered if it might be hearing loss from playing, but as I normally stand with the drummer on my right it was puzzling. Fortunately my hearing tested as normal (for my age) and the wateriness eventually disappeared but I invested in some ACS Pro earplugs because it did worry me at the time and I wish I'd done it years ago. I don't rehearse or play without them now, and if we're off to see a band I think will be loud I wear them then, too. When you think of what you spend on Basses, Amps and cabs why would you not spend proper money (mine were around £135) to protect one of the most important bits of kit you have that can't easily be repaired (if at all, in some cases). And like Discreet, I'm not normally a sensible person either!
[/quote]do these ACS Pro plugs cut all frequencies? all the ones I've tried (generic fit ones I admit) have cut the upper frequencies far more than the lower ones despite what has been said on here, which means the fashion for having loud bass drums is made even worse, ok when you're playing bass though

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I'm 29 and been playing since I was 16, Only started religiously using plugs about 3 years ago. Although that (admittedly unscientific) test shows I don't have hearing loss, I do however have bad tinnitus mostly in my right ear. It's always at night and in the morning. A constant pitched note, it's very frustrating and scary to think there is no cure. It sometimes keeps me awake if I focus on it too much, so now I have some sort of background noise going on in my room at night to refocus my mind away from the tinnitus. I Now will use my earplugs in any situation where it is loud. Even at the bar I work at on a busy saturday. I also don't play music loudly in the car anymore and have my headphones on a moderate level. It's all about preservation!

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Just started to experience what I think is a form of tinnitus- I can often hear my own heart/blood swishing in my left ear.

I've got some very basic foam plugs that make playing a lot more bearable- don't know how useful they are as they only cost 25p a pair.

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[quote name='CHW' timestamp='1427838948' post='2735012']
Just started to experience what I think is a form of tinnitus- I can often hear my own heart/blood swishing in my left ear.
[/quote]

Ditto - sometimes, however I live in a very quiet location, can hear single cars 400m away, trains 3 miles away. Can have 'real silence'

My hearing seems ok (according to the test) but what I am noticing (at 50 onwards - now 56) is losing the ability to pick out conversations in a crowd - the effect of 30 years teaching, ie long term low level noise exposure.

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These are the ones I use - they are for musicians and allow you to have conversations and hear music, but without the hearing damage. There's no 100% all-or-nothing effect that you get with foam and other types of plug which can leave you feeling a bit isolated.

[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Elacin-ER20S-musicians-hearing-protection/dp/B0034ZI9AQ/ref=pd_sim_ce_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=0W78T643QWK89B5QZP9Q"]http://www.amazon.co...643QWK89B5QZP9Q[/url]

I have no connection to Elacin OR Amazon! ;)

Edited by discreet
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8k whistle in one ear, 8.5k in the other, and I have virtually no peripheral hearing/can't hear conversations in loud environments/etc. A result of the 90s where I was going to gigs and clubs multiple times a week... I started wearing plugs around 2001 but stable doors & horses spring to mind.

Don't be an idiot like I was, kids! Wear them plugs.

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[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1427825024' post='2734763']
do these ACS Pro plugs cut all frequencies? all the ones I've tried (generic fit ones I admit) have cut the upper frequencies far more than the lower ones despite what has been said on here, which means the fashion for having loud bass drums is made even worse, ok when you're playing bass though
[/quote]

They say that the pro 17's cut evenly across the spectrum so I went for those, but I found that with my band they were too much. They willingly change the filters for free in the first 28 days, so I rang, spoke to a very helpful guy who said 15's were the answer as they cut slightly less bass and less attenuation overall, I sent them off and they were back in 48hrs. I've been perfectly happy with them ever since. I was prepared to pay what they cost because I thought I might need to swap them or get advice: I did and the service was great.Once again. you get what you pay for! I have tried disposable sqidgy foam plugs in the past for other things (like shooting) and hated them. These are moulded to fit (via a Boots hearing person included in the price with a hearing test) and are still comfortable at the end of a gig. Couldn't ask for more, really.

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[quote name='phil.c60' timestamp='1427892521' post='2735501']
They say that the pro 17's cut evenly across the spectrum so I went for those, but I found that with my band they were too much. They willingly change the filters for free in the first 28 days, so I rang, spoke to a very helpful guy who said 15's were the answer as they cut slightly less bass and less attenuation overall, I sent them off and they were back in 48hrs. I've been perfectly happy with them ever since. I was prepared to pay what they cost because I thought I might need to swap them or get advice: I did and the service was great.Once again. you get what you pay for! I have tried disposable sqidgy foam plugs in the past for other things (like shooting) and hated them. These are moulded to fit (via a Boots hearing person included in the price with a hearing test) and are still comfortable at the end of a gig. Couldn't ask for more, really.
[/quote]cheers, think I'll pull the trigger, I use Alpine sage pro's at the moment but everything sounds so muffled when I use them, it doesn't help that my hearing loss is around 6K Hz anyway

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[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1427897185' post='2735592']
cheers, think I'll pull the trigger, I use Alpine sage pro's at the moment but everything sounds so muffled when I use them, it doesn't help that my hearing loss is around 6K Hz anyway
[/quote]

If you know that is the range where your hearing loss is, If you ring ACS ask their advice I'm sure they will be more than happy to help you so you can make an informed choice when you go for your mouldings/hearing test. As I said, they will always swap them if you don't think they are quite right for you.

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Look after your ears, I've got to the point of having to wear hearing aids,luckily they are not too obvious and luckily they were free from the NHS , loud music, loud working environment and stupidity were to blame , on a positive note,without the aids I can hear the bass lines better on CD,s and at gigs because all the noisy ones( guitarists) are filtered out by the hearing loss.

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