Kids have always loved listening to their favorite music, and the louder the better – much to their parents’ dismay. Within the 1980s, the portable tape recorder with headphones – which came to be called the “Walkman” – enabled teenagers to listen to their music as loud as they wanted, anywhere they wanted, without having disturbing any person around them.

But the more contemporary rendition of the Walkman – portable MP3 Players and iPods – pose a key threat to our children’s hearing well being, and to ours.

The issue can be a combination of the technology of portable digital devices that creates a non-buffered crystal clear sound, as well as the kind of headphones typically used with them, which do not 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 are not buffered as they’re with the much more traditional, ear cup-style headsets. Newsweek Magazine lately reported that researchers at the House Ear Institute discovered that listeners can regrettably 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 had been common 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, as well as the digital devices do not develop that distortion, regardless of how high the volume.

Additionally, people frequently listen to these devices although 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 for example exercise, as an example, puts the user at a greater risk. In the course of 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 utilizing headphones revealed that whilst indoors with no background noise, the participants were comfy with their music at 69 decibels. Outdoors, where the background noise was recorded at 65 decibels, participants utilizing 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 Health Administration guidelines limit exposure to noise at this level to no more than four hours each 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 much more certain 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 dilemma is, most of the population utilizing headphones – young music fans – listen to their music for a lot longer than one hour per day. But, you’ll be able to help minimize hearing loss, damage and issues whilst listening to your favorite music as long as you need to – the secret is within the headphones.

Headphones such as the EX29 Extreme Isolation Noise Reduction Headphones assist block out external noise permitting you to hear the fine details of your music with out blowing out your ear drums. The ear cup fits over the ear, and not in it, and the headphones are lightweight, do not call for batteries and may be utilized together with your MP3 Player or iPod. With 29 decibels of isolation from outside sound, the quiet headphones block outside noise and there is no must 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 truth that many 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. In the event you are making use of your MP3 Player or iPod when you are exercising, in a noisy environment or you just wish 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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