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12/20/2005, 12:00pm, EST

Tuesday, December 20th

iPod earbuds can cause hearing loss

A Northwestern University professor and audiologist claims that the earbud-style headphones which ship with Apple's iPod and other MP3 players can cause serious, permanent hearing loss. "Insert earphones can boost the signal by as much as six to nine decibels. That's about the difference between the sound of a vacuum cleaner and a motorcycle," said Dean Garstecki, a professor at Northwestern. "It's a significant difference." The earbud-style headphones which rest inside the ear can lead to permanent damage after just an hour of high-volume music in the 110-120 decibel range, equivalent to the noise level of a concert, according to the professor. Garstecki says the large storage capacity of iPods also contributes to problems: "not only do you have a signal that is likely to be more intense, you're likely to be using this device longer than people have been using CD players and Walkmans in the past. This increases the likelihood of hearing loss down the road."

The professor said that rock and rap music are the most dangerous, since they're typically played at a higher volume than other genres, such as classical or jazz, according to a report from InformationWeek. Garstecki recommends listening no more than an hour a day, switching to over-the-ear headphones, and turning down the volume on iPods to six or lower to minimize hearing loss. MacNN in mid-August reported the results of a study in Australia conducted by the National Acoustic Laboratories, suggesting that up to 25 percent of people will have hearing problems caused by listening to their iPods at "excessive and damaging" levels.


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six or lower?
0
12/20, 1:40pm, EST
did his ipod come with a numeric volue control? mine just has a line/bar across the bottom of the screen.
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6 or lower?
0
12/20, 1:42pm, EST
i'm not familirar with the volume numbers, my ipods just have a bar across the bottom for volume adjustment.
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Wow...
0
12/20, 4:59pm, EST
What a great study. Loud music causes hearing loss... Is it too late to nominate this guy for a 2005 WELL, DUH award?

These studies have been around since the invention of headphones. Also, the inner-ear headphones have been around for the past 15-20 years. Is this suppposed to be something new?

I understand that it's hard to determinte how much decibals are being pumped out, but it would have been a great part of the study to tell us what those levels would be akin to.. Like choosing songs from the iTMS with output levels at 75% of the volume bar on the iPod.

For all we know, 110 decibals is achieved on the iPod by cranking the volume adjustment in iTunes to 100% and pushing the volume all the way up on the iPod.

Yes, Alex.. I'll take useless information for $100.

"A lame study that shows us nothing new and has very little relevant facts."

What is this study?
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Why target iPods?
0
02/02, 12:57am, EST
iPods are not the only music player that ships with Earbuds. Grrr....it makes me so angry when people do that. The logic is just Stupid. Things that are too loud cause hearing loss Imagine that
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