GRW3
Feb-26-2010, 3:36pm
Since I’m involved with this music thing I’m pretty jealous of my hearing. When I go to live music venues these days I tend to stick with acoustic sessions. (Even when amplified they tend to be more modest than screaming hard rock.) I will still take ear plugs, just in case.
My stereo can deliver music at ear punishing levels but I never do that. Since most of my music is acoustic I set it at about the level of having the performance right in my living room. Having more power than I routinely use is a good thing because it allows really clean dynamics. If you do not have really good full range speakers it’s good to have a subwoofer. It can add significant low level presence and allow the overall volume to be lower. I actually have both, big speakers and a subwoofer. The speakers provide all the oomph I need for music and the subwoofer gives the rumble needed for movies or the cannons in the Overture of 1812.
But one of the most important things I do is to use hearing protection when I fly. Airplanes are very noisy. I first started using ear plugs on international flights when I got through listening to the movie or music and wanted to sleep. I found I was much more relaxed afterwards and missing some of the ringing in my ears. I have since acquired noise cancelling headphones. On long flights I use them with the ear plugs. It uses up the IPod battery faster using the higher levels but that’s OK (and no problem at all when I remember to bring my power connection).
I have tried ear bud alone but they let too much noise through. I tried them with the ear plugs but they make too much noise and bother other people. I’ve tried the in-ear plug type but I feel like they don’t reduce the external sound enough and I have to play the IPod almost as loud as with ear plugs and noise cancelling headphones so worry about too much impact on my eardrum. I have not tried the noise cancelling in-ear type yet but I plan on doing so as they offer some comfort advantage.
This is not a prescription just a note about a consideration. I like music a lot and I want to keep enjoying it for a long time.
My stereo can deliver music at ear punishing levels but I never do that. Since most of my music is acoustic I set it at about the level of having the performance right in my living room. Having more power than I routinely use is a good thing because it allows really clean dynamics. If you do not have really good full range speakers it’s good to have a subwoofer. It can add significant low level presence and allow the overall volume to be lower. I actually have both, big speakers and a subwoofer. The speakers provide all the oomph I need for music and the subwoofer gives the rumble needed for movies or the cannons in the Overture of 1812.
But one of the most important things I do is to use hearing protection when I fly. Airplanes are very noisy. I first started using ear plugs on international flights when I got through listening to the movie or music and wanted to sleep. I found I was much more relaxed afterwards and missing some of the ringing in my ears. I have since acquired noise cancelling headphones. On long flights I use them with the ear plugs. It uses up the IPod battery faster using the higher levels but that’s OK (and no problem at all when I remember to bring my power connection).
I have tried ear bud alone but they let too much noise through. I tried them with the ear plugs but they make too much noise and bother other people. I’ve tried the in-ear plug type but I feel like they don’t reduce the external sound enough and I have to play the IPod almost as loud as with ear plugs and noise cancelling headphones so worry about too much impact on my eardrum. I have not tried the noise cancelling in-ear type yet but I plan on doing so as they offer some comfort advantage.
This is not a prescription just a note about a consideration. I like music a lot and I want to keep enjoying it for a long time.