ears get distressed

siberiansun · Post by **siberiansun** » Wed Jan 22, 2003 8:56 pm

a big power amp in those days was 300watts bridged.pa systems these days have stereo amps that are 1300 watts a SIDE.loud stages are not needed and in fact,they make bands look like amatuers.

100 db from a 1300 watts system sounds a lot better than 100 db from a 300 watts system.
the purpose of a powerful pa system isn't always to play loud. i'd rather have a powerful system running on "half strength" than a small rig screaming.

bosone · Post by **bosone** » Wed Jan 22, 2003 10:03 pm

for all the ones who are experiencing tinnitus (strange "sounds" in the ear)
search for "tinnitus retraing therapy" on internet or TRT
it is very interesting and it may help you

Post by **garyb** » Wed Jan 22, 2003 10:08 pm

yes,i agree.the reason i wrote that was to point out that there is no need for tremendous stage volumes or hurting one's self with them.
also, that half throttled,high power p.a. will have a minimum of distortion compared to the small p.a. running at full power,something which is damaging to ears,equipment and psyche.

kensuguro · Post by **kensuguro** » Thu Jan 23, 2003 4:27 am

This would be a great oppertunity for everyone to have their ears checked. Or atleast find out who can check your ears in your area. I think a musician should have a personal doctor who can tell you when something is wrong with your ears.

And of course, the interest towards the ear, itself is great. The info being poured in to this thread is just great!

On a side note, I've always been sort of speculative about ear plugs.. The idea of having an air tight cavity built inside the ear has always been a little scary. It only means, if the ear plugs get pushed 5mm, your eardrums will also get pushed about that much, because it's almost airtight. (probably VERY easy to pop them) Now that's more dangerous than listening to any loud sound of any frequency I think. Any ear plug users have info about this?

"The musician's EAR day" heh,

With a quick search, I found these ear plugs:
http://www.earplugsonline.com/index.html
At NRR 34. Not sure what NRR is (probably Noise Reduction Rate) but it seems like 34 is as high as they go. And plus, they ship worldwide for $6. Not bad I think. But still, the potential risk of using an ear plug still worries me.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: kensuguro on 2003-01-23 04:51 ]</font>

Immanuel · Post by **Immanuel** » Thu Jan 23, 2003 4:51 am

I am a BIG EARPLUGS user. In fact I have 3 times been to "group sessions", where a bunch of musicians had their ears filled with blue stuff and sit very still for 10 minutes to get custom made earplugs with almost flat frequency response. I saw this way, that different people have extremely different ears. Some have narow and others wide auditory meatuses. Some have them turning like a spiral others have them almost straight. Mine are wide and straight (maybe due to ears of using the big yellow foam "blocks all tribble" tradesman ear plugs?). Anyway, because of the shape of my auditory meatus I could not use these. Well I could, but I would not, since every time I smiled, the would "leak", and I would get a burst of sound comming in. I don't want to stop smiling.

Anyway, after ears with the "big yellow", I have grown used to the sound of them. Due to my wide auditory meatus, I have also only very rarely had irritations when using them. And here comes why I write this. I have never heard of people splitting their eardrums from using earplugs. It may have happened, but I believe it would cause much talk about. Personally I have often adjusted them by pushing them a bit further in (but remember my unusually wide auditory meatus may make this easyer). I am one of those people, who once in a while can hace trouble getting them out (it is good to play guitar - nails

).

And as I said, I have used them so regularly, that my ears (brain I believe) have addapted to the sound of them. To me that is the natural sound of loud music. I also believe, that a sound enginier, who is used to these earplugs will be able to make usefull live sound for a rock band. Just do, what you always do - get it to sound "normal"

.

Good luck to all. I glad there was a break thru in this subject about 10 or 11 years ago. Before that it was taboo, and musicians and sound enginiers would go with untold "pain", because they where afraid they would loose their jobs, if they told the world about their problems.

kensuguro · Post by **kensuguro** » Thu Jan 23, 2003 5:05 am

Very reassuring, Immanuel. Thnx for the info. I think I'm gonna head to the pharmacy now and see what they have. I think it won't hurt if we all went out and got one. Actually it'll be cool if we can have a "PlanetZ model". LOL.

I've also found some new info about hearing loss.. Vitamins.

Hearing loss, especially types associated with natural aging, are from decrease in blood flow to the ears. (and well, less ear "hair") And, naturally, vitamin E, will help. But the study was about aging (grandma grandpa types) poeple, so it might not be applicable to everyone.. But anyway, the experiment showed that the group that took vitamin E had twice as many people who passed the hearing test, compared to the group that didn't.

Vitamin B12 is still undergoing tests to see whether it will recover hearing loss.

Not enough to get me taking vitamin E suppliments.. but still, an interesting fact.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: kensuguro on 2003-01-23 05:09 ]</font>

at0m · Post by **at0m** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 2:49 pm

I just read this page, which I found rather interesting:

http://www.sensaphonics.com/articles/protect.html