Advice on a headset, ears ringing

S

Sui

Weaksauce
Joined
Sep 27, 2005
Messages
98
A few weeks ago I noticed a slight ringing in my ears that would go away after a few seconds. This was after about two weeks of serious game'n in the evenings while I wore my headset for extended periods of time. A friend suggested that I might need to get an open headset instead of the closed type that I prefer.

Is there that much of a difference?

For the most part I do not enjoy loud volumes. That always seemed like the advantage of closed earphones. I did not need as much volume to hear the little details. So any input on this would be appreciated. I know little about the difference between the two types.

And if anyone can suggest a good quality headset that is open please do so. (if I do need to make the switch) I would like to keep the budget around 100 but no higher than 150. This headset will only be used while I game and need voice comms.
 
If your ears are ringing you NEED to listen at lower volumes to avoid permanant hearing damage! If there is a lot of outside noise where you listen, than you will want some closed headphones that have a lot of isolation to them... and also ones that have a lot of detail to the sound so you can turn it down and still resolve what you need to.

Try the Sennheiser HD280 Pro. It should suit your needs quite well.
 
Thanks I'll give those a look.

I tend to avoid loud volumes, that why I was rather shocked by this.
 
Headphones are closer to your ear so higher more damaging frequencies more readily transmit to the eardrum. The equivalent precieved volume on headphones is much more damaging than the same volume when played over speakers.
 
with my ATH A900s, alot of the time when im mixing and listening to dance for a pretty period of time i make my ears ring.. I dont think you should be too worried, since it goes away so fast it's just a warning from the ears that you gotta take it easy.. it doesnt mean your are jamming your ears for sure. Just dont make your ears bleed, if your damaging your ears for real it would hurt.. but have good breaks between your "hardcore" listening periods, so your ears can recover.
 
I was actually at the audiologists place and I asked her about that. She says headphones that are hermetically sealed (not open) cause the most damaged to ears because it doesn't allow excess sound or air to escape, so it causes direct sound to penetrate the ear drum. Or something like that.

Just turn your headphones down a bit man, simple as that =P.
 
Something to consider is that some headphones will boost high frequencies because many people prefer the "brighter" sound. This means that, even though you may think that you have the volume at a reasonable level, the high frequencies might be loud enough to be damaging. Depending on the frequencies, it may not even be noticeable.

I developed tinnitus about two years ago from listening to headphones with the volume too loud, and I've become very aware of the dangers since then. The temporary ringing you're experiencing should be considered an early warning, and you should take it very seriously. It's possible that your ears have already been damaged, and you may be at even greater risk for further damage. If you catch it early, though, there are plenty of things you can do about it.

  • Turn the volume down; your ears can be damaged at a lower volume than you might think. You don't need to turn it way down, but start by turning it down quieter than you would prefer; you'll get used to the volume pretty quickly.
  • Use an equalizer to turn down the high frequencies a bit. If you can find information on the frequency response of your headphones, you can use an equalizer to correct the imbalances for more neutral sound, as well.
  • Take short breaks after extended listening periods; audiologists recommend a 15 minute break every hour.
One thing that you should certainly do is to start taking vitamins, if you don't already. There is evidence that magnesium reduces the risk of noise-related hearing loss. Zinc is suspected to be beneficial as well, but there's no scientific evidence proving it, as far as I know. I take about 450mg of magnesium and 90mg of zinc a day, and I find that it helps tremendously in reducing my tinnitus.

A few sites with more information are the Tinnitus FAQ and the American Tinnitus Association.

This might sound like a lot, but it's certainly better than going deaf. It only takes a minimal amount of prevention to significantly reduce the risks, and I really wish I had taken this stuff more seriously before.
 
TehRoflcopter said:
I was actually at the audiologists place and I asked her about that. She says headphones that are hermetically sealed (not open) cause the most damaged to ears because it doesn't allow excess sound or air to escape, so it causes direct sound to penetrate the ear drum. Or something like that.

Just turn your headphones down a bit man, simple as that =P.
Click to expand...

Makes sense, with a900's that sound would bouce off the metallic housing and kill yours ears more.
 
TehRoflcopter said:
I was actually at the audiologists place and I asked her about that. She says headphones that are hermetically sealed (not open) cause the most damaged to ears because it doesn't allow excess sound or air to escape, so it causes direct sound to penetrate the ear drum. Or something like that.

Just turn your headphones down a bit man, simple as that =P.
Click to expand...

Such a statement about open vs. closed is misleading.

If you are comparing 2 headphones that use the same drivers and are outputing at the same SPL, of course the closed ones will cause more damage to the ear. Particularly, if you accidentally increase the volume to max, there is of course a greater risk of damage with closed headphones.

However, when you consider that the perception of detail is higher with closed headphones compared to open at the same SPL (due to isolation), you can listen to closed headphones at a lower SPL level. I'm not sure how much (if at all) the decrease in SPL offsets the "bad" effects of closed vs. open, but I'm sure that many would argue from experience that their ears simply hurt less after using closed rather than open. The WHOLE POINT of in-ear-monitors is isolation and protection from ear damage that would occur from listening with open headphones at volumes loud enough to compete with a noisy ambient environement.
 
Dood if your ears are ringing turn it down.
This is a lesson I failed to learn when I was younger.
Now, and forever, I will never again hear the sound of silence. :(


 
What sound card are you using??? For some reason my intigrated soundcard made a ringing noise. A brand new x-fi card fixed that in a jffiy.
 
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