Is my hearing getting better as I get older

BlueFox

Not too long ago I used to blast the stereo, and one night I broke two Magico S5 speakers while playing the stereo in excess of 110 dB. I was trying to find out when the speakers would start distorting. Now when I play the stereo loud it is only in the 80-90 dB range, sounds great, and is more than loud enough. I thought as one gets older their hearing deteriorates, but enjoying music at a lower volume seems to be a hearing improvement. Not complaining. Just curious. At least the lower volume saves money on speaker repair.

Polkitup2

My normal listening level is 65 decibels and sometimes that seems too loud.

mhardy6647

Improved hearing with age, I think, is very unlikely, as the effect of damage caused by exposure to loud noise is cumulative* and permanent.
That would be my guess as to why @BlueFox is happy with lower SPLs now as he was in the past. I certanly have paid that price (although I never worked in noisy environments, nor, except for a handful of concerts and clubs, have I suffered much deliberate exposure to really loud music).

___________
* NIOSH and OSHA exposure limits

rooftop59

No, it’s not.

msg

I picked up an SPL meter a couple of years ago. It's a handy little tool for various things like levels tuning and troubleshooting. Sometimes I just use it to check what's going on. I had no idea what levels I was listening at before.

I've found that my usual comfortable listening range is in the 70s.

For louder levels sometimes, it's in the upper-70s through the mid-80s, and to upper-80s maybe low 90s on spikes. Anything consistently louder than that isn't sustainable for me.

VR3

I usually hang out at 85 to 90db 😜🚀

maxward

I’m turning 71 in a month. I worked summers at my dad’s custom kitchen cabinet shop through college. Hearing protection was unheard of then. Nonetheless, I’m hearing fine while my wife and several friends use hearing aids. I have Decibel X on my phone and at my normal levels the average is mid 70s and “peaks” are barely 80. This thread prompted me to try it at what I consider loud and peaks were 87.

Emlyn

80dB to 85dB is comfortable for me and what I call involving. Anything above that just doesn't seem to be as musical. Anything below is more like boring background music.

msg

Great descriptors of the general character.

decal

BlueFox wrote: »

Not too long ago I used to blast the stereo, and one night I broke two Magico S5 speakers while playing the stereo in excess of 110 dB. I was trying to find out when the speakers would start distorting.

I think hearing might be the least of your problems!!!

boston1450

HUH

stevep

What?

mhardy6647

Generalissimo Francisco Franco...
IS STILL DEAD.

https://youtu.be/BjRqj_STFFM

WLDock

Take the test!

How Old is Your Hearing? - Interactive Test for Your Ears

https://youtu.be/iN3PBpInNJM



Years of loud music, playing the drums, working on the phone all day, wife screaming at me have caught up with me. I've got 37 years old ears. Could not hear until 14, 937 Hz... I'm 55!

pitdogg2

jeesh I've got the ears of a 12yo....

Jstas

I got between 10 and 12 . Left ear is slightly less sensitive. Right ear was 10-11, left ear was 11-12. I started hearing clicking first and then the gurgle-ish sound came in at about 19,250 Hz.

Kex

I’ve listened at “reference level” before (75dB), but it was as loud as I’d ever want to go. AFAIK, hearing loss is permanent, and cannot be repaired. You can only amplify what’s left.

I’m usually careful now, and never drove at freeway speeds with the window down (a frequent source of hearing loss), but I did use things like chainsaws & lawnmowers as a teenager, sometimes without protection, sadly.

BlueFox

I would have been more accurate if I had said 80-85 dB instead of 80-90 dB for listening to loud music. The overall majority of the time the ‘loud’ music is in the upper 70s. Maybe occasionally in the low 80s.

Milito

Tested 73 years old w/o hearing aids. Too much loud music, loud cars, motorcycles and r/c cars when I was young.

I had some background noise from the fans in my desktop computer so that probably affected my hearing the test tones.

george daniel

Nope

Kex

BlueFox wrote: »

I would have been more accurate if I had said 80-85 dB instead of 80-90 dB for listening to loud music. The overall majority of the time the ‘loud’ music is in the upper 70s. Maybe occasionally in the low 80s.

There’s also dB-A vs. dB-C. They’re not the same. C-weighted measurements will always give a higher rating, but A-weighted measurements should be used to determine acceptable levels of exposure & duration.

Kex

I’m quite confident that I don’t exceed 👆 those 👆 levels…

… at least, not since the chainsaws, lawnmowers, and other random machinery used without protection during my teenage years. 🤷‍♂️