I’m depressed and I wanna listen to music… 🥲
Its just fearmongering right?
I don’t max the volume, just turn it high enough to hear it, if I used speakers, I’d also turn it so that my ears detect the “same volume” so I don’t get why headphones is worse? Literally the same volume.
Also privacy, I don’t want others to know what I’m listening, the fuck lol.
Depends entirely on the volume and time spent at that volume.
Just using headphones in general? No.
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As others have already said: take breaks. It’s really easy (speaking from experience) to “get used” to a volume level that’s way too loud, ESPECIALLY if using isolating or noise-cancelling headphones.
Part of how your brain determines if something is too loud is its contrast with the environment. Yelling at the top of your lungs sounds a lot louder in a quiet library than it does in the middle of a live concert. Taking a break both recalibrates your sense of loudness and gives your ears a rest.
If you can afford decent “reference” or “studio” headphones, you’ll enjoy the same music at MUCH quieter levels than cheaper or lower-quality headphones. They are designed to be used for long periods of time by professional audio engineers and musicians, who are notoriously protective of their hearing and perfectionistic about even the most subtle of sounds.
Although I was a broke college student and couldn’t afford hardly anything they talked about, I learned a ton scrolling through audiophile forums like Head-Fi ( https://www.head-fi.org/forums/ ). Now I’m less broke, but somehow equipment envy and window-shopping just feels more right than spending way too much money on something I probably don’t have the time to enjoy anymore… Such is life.
edit: stupid grammar mistakes
I have you tagged from an older post and remember your mom saying some whack ass shit in another post you made. Headphones won’t make you deaf unless you’re absolutely blasting your music at full volume.
I hope you’re feeling better soon and not letting her shit get you down. You got this.
Been doing it for almost 30 years. I still have better and more precise hearing than most.
However
Most people in the “headphones bad”-crowd fail to understand that it’s the volume and not the medium at fault. I’ve always been very afraid of permanent damage to my senses, ears and eyes in particular, so as much as I love head banging to loud music, I ensure it’s not too loud. I’m the kind of person who brings earplugs to a concert (the type that dampens the audio without distorting it). I rarely need them, but I keep them with me just in case.
Using headphones is more polite since you’re not forcing it upon others.
Don’t listen to her.
Let her believe.
Headphones won’t break your ears any worse than loud speakers do, and noise cancelling headphones are actually a solution to blocking loud noise (e.g. construction), or for people who get overstimulated.
In fact, since headphones can block out sound you might even be listening at a lower volume than if you were trying to drown out sound with speakers, assuming the headphones have any noise cancellation (even just muffled cups). Even just competing with ambient noise can cause us to raise volumes more than necessary.
I used to mow lawns growing up. Would listen to headphones to drown out the mower. 30 years later I essentially hear this 24/7: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D96_1AsUajA My wife (and everyone else who knows me) knows my general hearing is bad, but not horribly so, and much worse in noisy situations. There are times when I don’t hear that tone as much, but it’s there every morning when I wake up and it’s quiet.
Also, at max volume, I had to hold the phone speaker on my ear to make sure that video was even making a noise.
Frequencies above 6k-7k have disappeared/are always there.
Do yourself a favor and take advantage of noise-canceling headphones so you can keep the volume down.
I often take long walks through a busy city, and in-ear headphones are a godsend. With on-ear ones, I have to turn the podcasts off at high-traffic crosswalks around here, for fear of blowing out what’s remaining of my aging ears.
Headphones are absolutely fine. I tend to crank music and have 0 loss in hearing over the last 10 years (we get annual hearing tests at work for OSHA). I do have a significant hearing loss in one ear but that is genetics and hasn’t gotten worse in 3 decades of using headphones.
Just don’t turn it up so loud it hurts, and once you find an initial good volume don’t turn it up later. You acclimate to the sound level so it seems quieter.
I love headphones. I have quite a few very good pairs. And headphone amps. And portable headphone amps. Ive been in the hobby for about 10 years now, maybe a bit more. My hearing is still excellent (according to hearing tests I’ve had). Aside from my tinnitus, which ive had since I was a kid. Just be mindful of the volume levels.
Fear mongering. Definitely.
My Helicopter Mother’s PoV when I have headphones on to drown out the living-room arguments.
(It’s noise-cancelling, I don’t blast it at max volume lol)
A helicopter emits sound in the 85 (max 40 hours a week) to 110 (WILL cause damage, even in bursts of 15 minutes or less) dB.
So a helicopter mother’s yelling is likely more damaging to your ears than the headphones if it is prolonged ;)
No, actually my mother flies around in circles in a F15 and fires warning rockets at me all the time…
…wait what did you say again? Sorry the missile explosions are too loud can’t hear you!
Sounds like what someone says who wants to know and control what you’re listening to
Bruh they really have no right to judge. They watch short-form videos on WeChat in the livingroom on loudspeakers. Weird skits with overdramatized acting. WTF are they even watching. Its like tik-tok but more boomer and cringy.
Just be aware that the music volume and the volume of noise in your environment are supplementary.
That means that if you raise the volume of your headphones to hear over your environment you risk damage.
Noise cancelling headphones help with this.
I haven’t read any research on whether active nouse cancellation contributes to this, since active NC is producing more noise in the audible range that you can’t perceive.
I do use active NC on planes and don’t feel pain in my ears, but I am wary of it and only use it on planes for now.
