Right ... plus as I have said several times earlier ... the hearing of people of different ages very often have dramatically different frequency responses. Headphones that sound great for a 16 year old might well sound atrocious to a 50 year old and vice versa.
True, I hadn't thought of that. I'd be saying the headphones are way off on the high end, because I'm way off. Maybe Apple could make them tunable. And tone down the plastic while they're at it.
Right ... plus as I have said several times earlier ... the hearing of people of different ages very often have dramatically different frequency responses. Headphones that sound great for a 16 year old might well sound atrocious to a 50 year old and vice versa.
Yes, people's high frequency hearing usually decreases as they get older, but it can also be said that younger people today have worse ears than people who came before them.
All of those morons walking around blasting their headphones with boosted bass are damaging their years at a much faster rate than previous generations.
True, I hadn't thought of that. I'd be saying the headphones are way off on the high end, because I'm way off. Maybe Apple could make them tunable. And tone down the plastic while they're at it.
I have been waiting for Apple to directly address this issue with hearing aids (I hate that term as it makes me think of my grandparent's clunky devices) that have built in AI and cloud connections. There are products out there now I recall Apple have collaborated with but I mean directly from Apple. Such aids would auto adjust EQ on the fly as they learn your needs in different acoustic environments. Kind of like the Nest Thermostat. They could also have GPS and anticipate by crowd sourcing data, so as to know for example, entering P.F Changs (a noisy restaurant chain with poor acoustics due to bad architectural design) after 7 p.m. local time, is going to be an acoustic nightmare for the hard of hearing and turn on noise cancellation... and so on.
BTW if like me you are missing the high end I found these are amazing; Audio Technica ATH-AD700 Open-air Dynamic Headphones.
Yes, people's high frequency hearing usually decreases as they get older, but it can also be said that younger people today have worse ears than people who came before them.
All of those morons walking around blasting their headphones with boosted bass are damaging their years at a much faster rate than previous generations.
You think my generation looked after their hearing better? I'm guessing you were not attending live rock concerts in the 1970's? It took a week to hear again after some concerts. The Who were good at rearranging the middle ear bones. Plus, we had real stereo systems with 100 watt r.m.s. per channel amps and real bass reflex speaker systems .. and that was in a student bed sit ... . boy we knew how to trash our hearing system, believe me.
You think my generation looked after their hearing better? I'm guessing you were not attending live rock concerts in the 1970's? It took a week to hear again after some concerts. Plus, we had real stereo systems with 100 watt r.m.s. per channel amps and real bass reflex speaker systems .. and that was in a student bed sit ... . boy we kew how to trash our hearing system, believe me.
Sure, there were rock concerts before, and I've been to plenty myself, and yes, those can be loud and leave your ears ringing for a long time afterwards.
But most people didn't go to a loud rock concert every day. The kids today abusing their ears with ultra loud bass heavy headphones do so every day, for many hours a day.
When I take the subway sometimes, I notice people with headphones on that are so loud, that half of the people on the car can hear it.
[B][SIZE=4]You, want to build a playlist for when you go to the Gym[/SIZE][/B] -- you really don't want to be there, but you have to go. You want to clear your head of the cruft of the day, so you can just get through it.
You have several versions of some songs -- upbeat/downbeat, happy/sad -- different artists, etc. Say, you have Peggy Lee's [I]Oh. Didn't He Ramble [/I] (slow and bluesy) and the same song by the Dukes Of Dixeiland, Jellyroll Morton ... [B][I] Which one[s] do you pick for this particular playlist? Why? [/I][/B]
[B][I][COLOR=blue]OK, What's the next song?[/COLOR][/I][/B]
Maybe, Streisand's "Happy Days Are Here Again (slow and sad) or an upbeat Player Piano version ... [B][I]Which? Why?[/I][/B]
[B][I][COLOR=blue]OK, What's the next song?[/COLOR][/I][/B]
* * *
[B][I][COLOR=blue]OK, What's the next song?[/COLOR][/I][/B]
I dunno', why don't you just surprise me!
* * *
Great you have that playlist for the gym (any surprises?) -- how long did it take? Did you listen to any songs (or just shuffle or point/click on a dart board)? Did the playlist to its job?
[B][SIZE=4]OK, let's do a playlist of mood music for that new date you have on Saturday night. [/SIZE][/B]
* * *
[B][I][COLOR=blue]OK, What's the next song?[/COLOR][/I][/B]
* * *
[B][SIZE=4]Now let's do one for the party you're giving next week[/SIZE][/B] (hopefully including that new date -- maybe should include/eliminate songs based on her reaction on the date)
* * *
[B][I][COLOR=blue]That's what Beats do -- and it do do it well![/COLOR][/I][/B]
All of those morons walking around blasting their headphones with boosted bass are damaging their years at a much faster rate than previous generations.
To say nothing of the morons driving around with the trunk lid bouncing due to the boosted bass of their sound system. In time, we'll see ore people walking around with hearing aids the size of Beats earphones.
I have been waiting for Apple to directly address this issue with hearing aids (I hate that term as it makes me think of my grandparent's clunky devices) that have built in AI and cloud connections. There are products out there now I recall Apple have collaborated with but I mean directly from Apple. Such aids would auto adjust EQ on the fly as they learn your needs in different acoustic environments. Kind of like the Nest Thermostat. They could also have GPS and anticipate by crowd sourcing data, so as to know for example, entering P.F Changs (a noisy restaurant chain with poor acoustics due to bad architectural design) after 7 p.m. local time, is going to be an acoustic nightmare for the hard of hearing and turn on noise cancellation... and so on.
BTW if like me you are missing the high end I found these are amazing; Audio Technica ATH-AD700 Open-air Dynamic Headphones.
Lots of young Iraq and Afghani vets with high-end loss too.
As for poor acoustics in noisy restaurants... much of that is due to gen X feeling a place is more exciting to dine in when people can hardly hear each other ... new restaurant design tries for a noisy environment. I dislike the echo-box design effect.
Sure, there were rock concerts before, and I've been to plenty myself, and yes, those can be loud and leave your ears ringing for a long time afterwards.
But most people didn't go to a loud rock concert every day. The kids today abusing their ears with ultra loud bass heavy headphones do so every day, for many hours a day.
When I take the subway sometimes, I notice people with headphones on that are so loud, that half of the people on the car can hear it.
Permanent damage can occur from just one event. That isn't to say that longterm damage isn't an issue, but I don't think you can say that headphones at 1/10th the decibels of a concert for 10x the duration will do equal damage.
You, want to build a playlist for when you go to the Gym -- you really don't want to be there, but you have to go. You want to clear your head of the cruft of the day, so you can just get through it.
You have several versions of some songs -- upbeat/downbeat, happy/sad -- different artists, etc. Say, you have Peggy Lee; Oh. Didn't He Ramble (slow and bluesy) and the same song by the Dukes Of Dixeiland, Jellyroll Morton ... Which one do you pick for this particular playlist? Why?
OK, What's the next song?
Maybe, Streisand's "Happy Days Are Here Again (slow and sad) or an upbeat Player Piano version ... Which? Why?
OK, What's the next song?
*
*
*
OK, What's the next song?
I dunno', why don't you just surprise me!
*
*
*
Great you have that playlist for the gym (any surprises?) -- how long did it take? Did you listen to any songs (or just shuffle or point/click on a dart board)? Did the playlist to its job?
OK, let's do a playlist of mood music for that new date you have on Saturday night.
*
*
*
OK, What's the next song?
*
*
*
Now let's do one for the party you're giving next week (hopefully including that new date -- maybe should include/eliminate songs based on her reaction on the date)
*
*
*
That's what Beats do -- and it do do it well!
iTunes Radio does that for me now though (or am I missing something?)... by artist, genre or specific song as the start point.. and I can save them. I have unlimited data pan so that's easy for me to say ... :smokey:
I can use them once saved from any device at any time anywhere. I have many for different moods, and Apple Tv serves them up over the Hi Fi system, such as Italian opera for a snobby dinner or 1970's European pop for a romantic evening and so on
You, want to build a playlist for when you go to the Gym -- you really don't want to be there, but you have to go. You want to clear your head of the cruft of the day, so you can just get through it.
You have several versions of some songs -- upbeat/downbeat, happy/sad -- different artists, etc. Say, you have Peggy Lee's Oh. Didn't He Ramble (slow and bluesy) and the same song by the Dukes Of Dixeiland, Jellyroll Morton ... Which one do you pick for this particular playlist? Why?
As I add songs to my iTunes library, I will many times add them to some of the play lists I already have set up. This way I always have music for different events or moods. That's much easier in my opinion than searching through a library of 1000 or more songs.
P.S. I have a play list of songs that just motivate me to get going on something, another list for times I'm in a reflective mood. Those kinds of things. All this beats the daylights out of loading up a stack of 45s on a record player... and then doing it again 30 minutes later. :-)
Permanent damage can occur from just one event. That isn't to say that longterm damage isn't an issue, but I don't think you can say that headphones at 1/10th the decibels of a concert for 10x the duration will do equal damage.
According to this, headphones are practically as loud as from a rock concert.
Decibels of Sound and Hearing Loss
The decibel is a unit to measure the level of sound.
The softest sound that you can hear is 0 dB.
Normal talking is 40 dB to 60 dB.
A rock concert is between 110 dB and 120 dB, and can be as high as 140 dB in front of the speakers.
I'm not sure how they got their figures for headphones, or if that is just an average. If it's an average, then people who blast their music on bass enhanced headphones are listening to even louder levels. Headphones are incredibly close to a person's ear drums of course. Anyway, it's their ears, and I don't really care if they go deaf sometime in the future.
As I add songs to my iTunes library, I will many times add them to some of the play lists I already have set up. This way I always have music for different events or moods. That's much easier in my opinion than searching through a library of 1000 or more songs.
P.S. I have a play list of songs that just motivate me to get going on something, another list for times I'm in a reflective mood. Those kinds of things. All this beats the daylights out of loading up a stack of 45s on a record player... and then doing it again 30 minutes later. :-)
That's how I used to do it but iTunes radio is far easier, just select a song you like and your done. Not 'as' personalized, sure but faster.
According to this, headphones are practically as loud as from a rock concert.
<h2 style="background-image:url(http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/images/ency_section_head_bg.png);background-position:0% 0%;color:rgb(0,130,200);font:normal normal normal 1em/1.2 'Lucida Grande', Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;height:25px;margin-bottom:.5em;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:10px;padding-left:1px;padding-top:2px;">Decibels of Sound and Hearing Loss</h2>
<p style="margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;">The decibel is a unit to measure the level of sound.</p>
<ul style="list-style-position:outside;list-style-type:disc;"> [*] The softest sound that you can hear is 0 dB.
[*] Normal talking is 40 dB to 60 dB.
[*] A rock concert is between 110 dB and 120 dB, and can be as high as 140 dB in front of the speakers.
[*] Headphones are 110 dB.
</ul> http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/patientinstructions/000495.htm
I'm not sure how they got their figures for headphones, or if that is just an average. If it's an average, then people who blast their music on bass enhanced headphones are listening to even louder levels. Headphones are incredibly close to a person's ear drums of course. Anyway, it's their ears, and I don't really care if they go deaf sometime in the future.
1) Interesting. I'd to know how much I'm pumping into my hear holes or in my car.
2) Since bass is a low-frequency with a longer sound wave would that make it better or worse, or simply do different damage than a high-frequency with a shorter sound wave?
Yes, people's high frequency hearing usually decreases as they get older, but it can also be said that younger people today have worse ears than people who came before them.
All of those morons walking around blasting their headphones with boosted bass are damaging their years at a much faster rate than previous generations.
You think my generation looked after their hearing better? I'm guessing you were not attending live rock concerts in the 1970's? It took a week to hear again after some concerts. The Who were good at rearranging the middle ear bones. Plus, we had real stereo systems with 100 watt r.m.s. per channel amps and real bass reflex speaker systems .. and that was in a student bed sit ... . boy we knew how to trash our hearing system, believe me.
True story:
My Dad was a radio pioneer -- and in the 1950s-1960s he would continuously build/tweak/sell his own HiFis (with bass boost & crossover) and Stereos --folded horn speakers for the corners -- and some humongus bass speakers. Dad designed and built both the cabinets and electronics (self taught in both -- even built his own table saw). Every time anyone would visit, Dad would give 'em a tour of what's new!
AIR, it was about 1959, and Dad had just finished his latest, which included a speaker enclosure about the same size as a modern washer and dryer. The front grill was held on by magnets, so Dad could continue to tinker.
Midway through the room was a large, round, marble coffee table (to bribe Mom to accept Dad's toys). Opposite the speaker was the stereo he built that sat below a large bay window.
On this particular day, Dad put a London recording of the 1812 Overture -- and cranked it up to the point where the bay window was pulsing ...
Another crank, and the front grill was blown off the speaker enclosure and a candy dish jumped off the coffee table ...
You don't hear base -- you feel base!
Or, to paraphrase General Motors: There's no substitute for cubic inches!
My Dad was a radio pioneer -- and in the 1950s-1960s he would continuously build/tweak/sell his own HiFis (with bass boost & crossover) and Stereos --folded horn speakers for the corners -- and some humongus bass speakers. Dad designed and built both the cabinets and electronics (self taught in both -- even built his own table saw). Every time anyone would visit, Dad would give 'em a tour of what's new!
AIR, it was about 1959, and Dad had just finished his latest, which included a speaker enclosure about the same size as a modern washer and dryer. The front grill was held on by magnets, so Dad could continue to tinker.
Midway through the room was a large, round, marble coffee table (to bribe Mom to accept Dad's toys). Opposite the speaker was the stereo he built that sat below a large bay window.
On this particular day, Dad put a London recording of the 1812 Overture -- and cranked it up to the point where the bay window was pulsing ...
Another crank, and the front grill was blown off the speaker enclosure and a candy dish jumped off the coffee table ...
You don't hear base -- you feel base!
Or, to paraphrase General Motors: There's no substitute for cubic inches!
So you as a child, were subject to the dangers of second hand volume ...
Not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet, but we all know Apple is interested in wearables. What makes more sense than wearable headphones? Apple could put an iPod directly into the headphones. Sure Apple could do this without Beats, but Apple has never been very successful in the audio space (headphones/speakers), so it would make sense to buy a company that has had success.
Comments
True, I hadn't thought of that. I'd be saying the headphones are way off on the high end, because I'm way off. Maybe Apple could make them tunable. And tone down the plastic while they're at it.
Right ... plus as I have said several times earlier ... the hearing of people of different ages very often have dramatically different frequency responses. Headphones that sound great for a 16 year old might well sound atrocious to a 50 year old and vice versa.
Yes, people's high frequency hearing usually decreases as they get older, but it can also be said that younger people today have worse ears than people who came before them.
All of those morons walking around blasting their headphones with boosted bass are damaging their years at a much faster rate than previous generations.
I have been waiting for Apple to directly address this issue with hearing aids (I hate that term as it makes me think of my grandparent's clunky devices) that have built in AI and cloud connections. There are products out there now I recall Apple have collaborated with but I mean directly from Apple. Such aids would auto adjust EQ on the fly as they learn your needs in different acoustic environments. Kind of like the Nest Thermostat. They could also have GPS and anticipate by crowd sourcing data, so as to know for example, entering P.F Changs (a noisy restaurant chain with poor acoustics due to bad architectural design) after 7 p.m. local time, is going to be an acoustic nightmare for the hard of hearing and turn on noise cancellation... and so on.
BTW if like me you are missing the high end I found these are amazing; Audio Technica ATH-AD700 Open-air Dynamic Headphones.
You think my generation looked after their hearing better? I'm guessing you were not attending live rock concerts in the 1970's? It took a week to hear again after some concerts. The Who were good at rearranging the middle ear bones. Plus, we had real stereo systems with 100 watt r.m.s. per channel amps and real bass reflex speaker systems .. and that was in a student bed sit ... . boy we knew how to trash our hearing system, believe me.
You think my generation looked after their hearing better? I'm guessing you were not attending live rock concerts in the 1970's? It took a week to hear again after some concerts. Plus, we had real stereo systems with 100 watt r.m.s. per channel amps and real bass reflex speaker systems .. and that was in a student bed sit ... . boy we kew how to trash our hearing system, believe me.
Sure, there were rock concerts before, and I've been to plenty myself, and yes, those can be loud and leave your ears ringing for a long time afterwards.
But most people didn't go to a loud rock concert every day. The kids today abusing their ears with ultra loud bass heavy headphones do so every day, for many hours a day.
When I take the subway sometimes, I notice people with headphones on that are so loud, that half of the people on the car can hear it.
You have, say, 1,000 songs in your music library.
[B][SIZE=4]You, want to build a playlist for when you go to the Gym[/SIZE][/B] -- you really don't want to be there, but you have to go. You want to clear your head of the cruft of the day, so you can just get through it.
You have several versions of some songs -- upbeat/downbeat, happy/sad -- different artists, etc. Say, you have Peggy Lee's [I]Oh. Didn't He Ramble [/I] (slow and bluesy) and the same song by the Dukes Of Dixeiland, Jellyroll Morton ... [B][I] Which one[s] do you pick for this particular playlist? Why? [/I][/B]
[B][I][COLOR=blue]OK, What's the next song?[/COLOR][/I][/B]
Maybe, Streisand's "Happy Days Are Here Again (slow and sad) or an upbeat Player Piano version ... [B][I]Which? Why?[/I][/B]
[B][I][COLOR=blue]OK, What's the next song?[/COLOR][/I][/B]
*
*
*
[B][I][COLOR=blue]OK, What's the next song?[/COLOR][/I][/B]
I dunno', why don't you just surprise me!
*
*
*
Great you have that playlist for the gym (any surprises?) -- how long did it take? Did you listen to any songs (or just shuffle or point/click on a dart board)? Did the playlist to its job?
[B][SIZE=4]OK, let's do a playlist of mood music for that new date you have on Saturday night.
[/SIZE][/B]
*
*
*
[B][I][COLOR=blue]OK, What's the next song?[/COLOR][/I][/B]
*
*
*
[B][SIZE=4]Now let's do one for the party you're giving next week[/SIZE][/B] (hopefully including that new date -- maybe should include/eliminate songs based on her reaction on the date)
*
*
*
[B][I][COLOR=blue]That's what Beats do -- and it do do it well![/COLOR][/I][/B]
To say nothing of the morons driving around with the trunk lid bouncing due to the boosted bass of their sound system. In time, we'll see ore people walking around with hearing aids the size of Beats earphones.
Lots of young Iraq and Afghani vets with high-end loss too.
As for poor acoustics in noisy restaurants... much of that is due to gen X feeling a place is more exciting to dine in when people can hardly hear each other ... new restaurant design tries for a noisy environment. I dislike the echo-box design effect.
In time, we'll see more people walking around with hearing aids the size of Beats earphones.
That was pretty funny.
" src="http://forums-files.appleinsider.com/images/smilies//lol.gif" />
Permanent damage can occur from just one event. That isn't to say that longterm damage isn't an issue, but I don't think you can say that headphones at 1/10th the decibels of a concert for 10x the duration will do equal damage.
iTunes Radio does that for me now though (or am I missing something?)... by artist, genre or specific song as the start point.. and I can save them. I have unlimited data pan so that's easy for me to say ... :smokey:
I can use them once saved from any device at any time anywhere. I have many for different moods, and Apple Tv serves them up over the Hi Fi system, such as Italian opera for a snobby dinner or 1970's European pop for a romantic evening and so on
As I add songs to my iTunes library, I will many times add them to some of the play lists I already have set up. This way I always have music for different events or moods. That's much easier in my opinion than searching through a library of 1000 or more songs.
P.S. I have a play list of songs that just motivate me to get going on something, another list for times I'm in a reflective mood. Those kinds of things. All this beats the daylights out of loading up a stack of 45s on a record player... and then doing it again 30 minutes later. :-)
Permanent damage can occur from just one event. That isn't to say that longterm damage isn't an issue, but I don't think you can say that headphones at 1/10th the decibels of a concert for 10x the duration will do equal damage.
According to this, headphones are practically as loud as from a rock concert.
Decibels of Sound and Hearing Loss
The decibel is a unit to measure the level of sound.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/patientinstructions/000495.htm
I'm not sure how they got their figures for headphones, or if that is just an average. If it's an average, then people who blast their music on bass enhanced headphones are listening to even louder levels. Headphones are incredibly close to a person's ear drums of course. Anyway, it's their ears, and I don't really care if they go deaf sometime in the future.
That's how I used to do it but iTunes radio is far easier, just select a song you like and your done. Not 'as' personalized, sure but faster.
1) Interesting. I'd to know how much I'm pumping into my hear holes or in my car.
2) Since bass is a low-frequency with a longer sound wave would that make it better or worse, or simply do different damage than a high-frequency with a shorter sound wave?
True story:
My Dad was a radio pioneer -- and in the 1950s-1960s he would continuously build/tweak/sell his own HiFis (with bass boost & crossover) and Stereos --folded horn speakers for the corners -- and some humongus bass speakers. Dad designed and built both the cabinets and electronics (self taught in both -- even built his own table saw). Every time anyone would visit, Dad would give 'em a tour of what's new!
AIR, it was about 1959, and Dad had just finished his latest, which included a speaker enclosure about the same size as a modern washer and dryer. The front grill was held on by magnets, so Dad could continue to tinker.
Midway through the room was a large, round, marble coffee table (to bribe Mom to accept Dad's toys). Opposite the speaker was the stereo he built that sat below a large bay window.
On this particular day, Dad put a London recording of the 1812 Overture -- and cranked it up to the point where the bay window was pulsing ...
Another crank, and the front grill was blown off the speaker enclosure and a candy dish jumped off the coffee table ...
You don't hear base -- you feel base!
Or, to paraphrase General Motors: There's no substitute for cubic inches!
What's even funnier -- who do you think will be supplying those cool hearing aids?
So you as a child, were subject to the dangers of second hand volume ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_weapon
Not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet, but we all know Apple is interested in wearables. What makes more sense than wearable headphones? Apple could put an iPod directly into the headphones. Sure Apple could do this without Beats, but Apple has never been very successful in the audio space (headphones/speakers), so it would make sense to buy a company that has had success.