Headphone + Ear Damage Questions

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OriginHacker21

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Here at work most everyone has headphones in an ipod or plugged into their computer (work in an office setting). Well, I decided to join the crowd and get a Microsoft Zune. I've had it for about a week now.

However recently I've noticed that my ears have started ringing to the point where it becomes painful and loud. Googling around I find that this is a result of having the music too loud. This cannot be as I always have the music whisper quiet (never one for loud music) - usually at #3 volume setting out of 10 whereas the device defaults to 7 out of 10 when you turn it on. So it can't be that it is too loud. I can carry on a normal conversation with the volume at 3 out of 10 with headphones on.

Now its gotten so bad that after an hour or less of listening to music my ears are ringing so loudly that it starts hurting. Even if the volume is on 1 out of 10 (quietest) the entire hour. (Can easily carry a normal conversation with headphones on).

It takes about 30+ minutes for the ringing in my ears to go away after I stop listening to music. This can't be healthy/good for my ears I'm assuming...

Sony MDR-G74SL = headphones I have used since 2004.

Never had this problem until now. Are my ears just not up to listening to hours of music anymore (I'm only 21)? Or is this all in my head and I'm causing my ears to ring because I think there may be problems? Any advice?
cheers2.gif
 
is there an EQ setting on the zune? might be set to a harsh sounding eq choice? try changing it. or: some headphones just sound harsh/fatiguing, even though you might be used to them...
get a pair of Grado SR-60. supposed to be very good, and quite affordable:
http://www.gradolabs.com/product_pages/sr60.htm

sony, i have a feeling might have exggerated high's, which can be fatiguing even when on low volumes.
i had similar headphones like yours a l..o..n..g time ago, and nowadays use a pr of Yamaha phones, and i can listen to music for very long time without the ringing/buzzing in my ears.
 
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Thanks for the advice - I will look into that once home.

Yes there is an EQ setting on the Zune - I currently have it at NONE. It has presets like Jazz, New Age, Rock, hip hop, etc...
 
I find that any type of headphone that is held in place in the ear is painfull to use all the time for me. The iratation may be irtateing your nerves. Their are a lot of nerves in that area on you head. Even headphones that clamp on to your head can cause situations like this. If the clamping force is too high or they do not fit right you will get headache's,ringing in the ear etc..... If the ringing was due to volume level it would not go away after 30 minutes. The fact that you can carry on a converasation tell's me that the volume level is way below 96db wich means your safe! The fitting and sound quality of headsets varries so much that most Pilots own 3-6 pair of headsets from many different companies.

I also have found that any repetive noise can remain for a while.Case in point if I drive a Big rig for a day then get in my car I still hear the big rig's diesel sound for about 30 minutes to an hour. I still fell the vibrations through my body. When I fly in a noisey aircraft same things happens. I also have found that some sonic and ultra sonic harmonics that are either barely audiable or not audiable at all can cause all kinds of side effects!!! You might try running your music or self help program through a digital spectrum analyzer and see what you see! It could be the music or the play back device adding these unwanted harmonics! Brain entrainment and subliminal recording are notorius for this ver reason for causeing head ache's, feeling of pressure in the head, and ear pain in some people.

P.S. what are you listening to by the way?
 
Mostly 80s music. Just really like music from that era. Pat Benatar, Kansas, Duran Duran, Scorpions, The Doors, MC Hammer, Sheryl Crow, Yes, Motley Crue, Berlin, The B-52s, Abba, Evanescence, War, Tears for Fears, Queen, Chris Isaak, Eric Burdon, Cyndi Lauper, Bon Jovi... Oh should I stop now?

I think you have something there - "headphones that clamp on to your head can cause situations like this."

I just did a test - put the headphones on without any music going and ... the ringing and pain feeling started up within 5-10 minutes.

Guess that answers my question, wow - very strange.

97tbird - I'm ordering those headphones, read a lot of reviews on them and people really like them. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
Maybe the music is compressed to lower than 192 kbps, and your ears are upset about having to listen to the high frequency noise that replaced the symbols!
smile.gif
 
haha exactly - I always get the highest kbps I can so when I'm at home I can enjoy good sound on my surround sound speakers. I don't think my ears enjoy the sub quality 192kbps and lower that the Zune provides
wink.gif
 
I really hope you like the Grado SR-60.
i have heard them before, and they sounded great, even with sub-par sources. I never had the money to buy a pair...hopefully in the near future i will be able to buy a pair...right now, have other audio priorities...like trying to fill my speaker stands with stands, and getting the HH-3380 receiver, etc.

PLEASE let me know how you like them. I'm interested hearing your feedback. Remember that those headphones will present a very neutral image, just like how music was supposed to be. (with a serious cd player or amp/receiver, you'll hear the full potential, but they recommend these also for portables). so if you were used to trebley sounding sonys, it might take a while for your ears to get used to the smoother, but detailed neutrality of these.
 
I just noticed I wrote "symbols" instead of "cymbals"! I blame the fact that it's likely the first time I've ever attempted to write that word.
smile.gif


Can you use any bitrate you want for songs on the Zune, or are you limited by more than memory size?
 
I currently have a pair of Grado SR-225 which replaced a pair of SR-80's that were 10 years old. ABout 90% of my music listening is thru headphones and I've demo'd many high quality brands. So far nothing has beaten Grado for what I listen to, mostly hard rock, metal and blues. I have both an iPod and a pretty high end CD player with dedicated headphone amp.

I cannot recommend Grado's enough. They're worth every penny IMO.
 
Maybe get a Bone Fone. However, use it properly. Headphones go over the ears, earphones go in the ear, and the Bone Fone is worn across the shoulders.
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