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following my quest for ear plugs I wondered if there’s a way to tell if headphones are set too loud. By “too” I mean causing harm to my ears.
At times my Platronics 8200 seem like they’re quite loud even on the lowest setting for some Apple Podcasts.
Does your computer or phone or whatever not have a volume control that lets you adjust the volume all the way down to inaudible?
iPhones are supposed to limit exposure to loud headphone levels by default (I remember a bunch of moaning on here when they brought that in 😂) though I don’t know how it measures the levels for non-Apple headphones?
with AirPods it measures the volume in real-time (you can see it from the control centre as you’re listening) and you can set a maximum dB level which it won’t exceed. I guess this lets you monitor the level accurately, rather than subjectively.
There’s also an option in Settings to reduce loud sound spikes, though mine was off by default.
It is an iPhone. I did find a setting somewhere which was selected to keep noise down but as you say it’s non-apple kit that is giving the sound so no idea how that works. indeed I’m not sure it does because if I turn the volume up I can get to the sort of level where the rest of the train can enjoy the music too.
Be VERY careful when listening to the Singletrack podcast.
Very quiet whispery chat that's difficult to make out so turned right up, then the MUTN Podcast comes on next automatically and I'm grabbing desperately for my headphones trying to rip them off before my ears bleed and then implode 😳
Please do something with the levels folks!
@muddyjames I'm as big an Apple fan as they come but I cannot recommend proper AirPods enough! Got some recently as I wanted noise-cancelling for a flight, did begrudge splashing out on the Pro 2s but they massively exceeded my expectations in every way, and then some. Surely one of the best products they've ever made up to this point. Had a couple of pairs of Plantronics before which were fine until they disintegrated but the AirPods are on another level in all areas.
@Zilog6128, thanks. My ears have little gremlins in that push ear buds out, what keeps them in for the ergonomically challenged, the ear buds rather than gremlins that is.
iPhones are supposed to limit exposure to loud headphone levels by default (I remember a bunch of moaning on here when they brought that in 😂) though I don’t know how it measures the levels for non-Apple headphones?
My Bose QC35 seem to report back the sound level as my iPhone can show me noise exposure data after using them (I don't own any Apple earbuds etc).
tricky without finding someone with a pair that you can test before buying! The Pros come with 4 different sizes of tip so should fit most I guess, plus there are also aftermarket ones (in different materials) available I think. They are totally different from the old-style hard, wired earbud things that used to come bundled with iPhones though if that's what you're worried about (they never used to stay in my ears either!)My ears have little gremlins in that push ear buds out, what keeps them in for the ergonomically challenged, the ear buds rather than gremlins that is.
Reduced to £209 for Prime day, cheapest I've seen them (new!)
I wondered if there’s a way to tell if headphones are set too loud. By “too” I mean causing harm to my ears.
Usually, if your ears are ringing, it’s too loud!
Recently I’ve either been wearing a pair of UE TripleFi Pro IEM’s with triple-flange eartips, which hold them in place properly, and give industrial standard noise isolation, and a pair of closed-back Røde NTH-100 studio-spec cabled headphones using the standard 1m 3.5mm Jack cable with a 3.5mm>Lightning adapter. There’s no noise-cancellation with the Røde ‘phones, so there’s a certain amount of noise bleed-through; they’re studio cans, so no added electronics to adversely affect the sound quality.
Here’s my stats over the last week or so. I have them loud enough to be comfortable but be able to hear the music clearly.
What I’m listening to is unpredictable; I have a music library with around 60,000 tracks in running from classical through folk, country, instrumental, soul, Dub, Prog, rock, metal, to Scandi black metal, on shuffle, so highly variable.
I don’t have ‘Reduce Loud Sounds’ turned on in ‘Headphone Safety’, I’m just tweaking the volume with the side controls while the phone’s in my pocket, or with the remote on the UE’s, so I’m literally going by ear!
I could be wrong, but as far as I can see the headphone audio level stats are only accurate with Airpods/Beats, for other headphones it's just an estimate based on the volume setting 🤷♂️
The problem is if your ears are ringing then this may indicate prior exposure to excessive volume not that the current usage is too high?