[Blazingmonga]

A-Daamage is absolutely right. Look after your ears!

I always found that when I used 'inner' type headphones that my ears would ache after an hour or two, especially if it was cold. It never felt healthy.

Your ears deserve better.

Yes, very good advice, though sound isolating in-ear headphones obviously have the advantage that there is less of a tendency to play them at really high volumes, but it is definately worth making sure you look after your ears!!

Earbuds are bad for your ears, I recommend against them. .

I don't really know much about them (And have no plans to get any, but out of interest...) why are they bad for your ears?

Two reasons:

1. Because they produce a far more focused sound and
2. Because they are much closer to your ear drums

They contribute to hearing loss at a MUCH faster rate than normal headphones. To reduce potential hearing loss using ANY style of headphones, it's a good idea to keep your listening session to a maximum of one hour, giving yourself a good half hour in between periodic listens. This is especially true for situations involving long session periods, i.e. recording in a studio, whether professional or home.

It's a fact that if you overextend your eardrums, certain frequencies become inaudible and your eardrums can never be repaired, thus denying you the possibility of ever hearing those frequencies again. Gradual loss of certain frequencies is inevitable, but there's no reason to speed up the process. Your ears are precious tools and should be treated as so.

If you're going to be using headphones for any extended periods of time, make sure to give your ears a break every hour or so for a good half hour. Believe me, your ears will be no good to you if they've been strained, and if you're doing any recording or mixing, the quality will suffer and you won't know it until further down the road and end up getting frustrated.

Well, that was way longer than I had planned.

Can you post any links to back this up? I'm not being argumentative. It's just that I've had conflicting experiences. I use headphones for hours at a time, but I do it at a reasonable level. When I was much younger I used to blast my headphones but not nowadays. One thing I like about the in-ear monitor style (like Shure and Etymotic) is that you can listen at a much lower volume since the isolation blocks out outside noise. It used to be that when I mowed the lawn, for example, I had to turn up my earphones to hear over the mower. Now, with my Shures, they are actually protecting my ears from the loud sounds.

One key way to know if you're doing damage to your ears is hearing a ringing in your ears after using headphones. If your ears ring then it's too loud and you need to turn them down next time. My ears never ring after I use headphones.

I always found that when I used 'inner' type headphones that my ears would ache after an hour or two, especially if it was cold. It never felt healthy.

Yeah, I've experienced that too..Plus the bastards keep poppin' out no matter how hard I push them in..I think my ears are deformed or something.

Those big headphones mess with my hair!

I have AKG k141s, studio version (lower impedance). Cost me $240 AUD; possibly were on special. I wouldn't bother using them with portable players - they aren't sensitive or bright enough; they're really designed to be plugged into something with juice... that said, they did still sound considerably better than the default white iPod earbuds when I tried them on my friend's iPod. I use them with a Soundblaster Live and heavyish parametric EQ-ing (perfected over the years) to my taste.

I have AKG k141s, studio version (lower impedance). Cost me $240 AUD; possibly were on special. I wouldn't bother using them with portable players - they aren't sensitive or bright enough; they're really designed to be plugged into something with juice... that said, they did still sound considerably better than the default white iPod earbuds when I tried them on my friend's iPod. I use them with a Soundblaster Live and heavyish parametric EQ-ing (perfected over the years) to my taste.

You probably know this but you can get an amp to use with the headphones which would make them sound better with a portable.

Earbuds are bad for your ears, I recommend against them. .

I don't really know much about them (And have no plans to get any, but out of interest...) why are they bad for your ears?

Two reasons:

1. Because they produce a far more focused sound and
2. Because they are much closer to your ear drums

They contribute to hearing loss at a MUCH faster rate than normal headphones. To reduce potential hearing loss using ANY style of headphones, it's a good idea to keep your listening session to a maximum of one hour, giving yourself a good half hour in between periodic listens. This is especially true for situations involving long session periods, i.e. recording in a studio, whether professional or home.

It's a fact that if you overextend your eardrums, certain frequencies become inaudible and your eardrums can never be repaired, thus denying you the possibility of ever hearing those frequencies again. Gradual loss of certain frequencies is inevitable, but there's no reason to speed up the process. Your ears are precious tools and should be treated as so.

If you're going to be using headphones for any extended periods of time, make sure to give your ears a break every hour or so for a good half hour. Believe me, your ears will be no good to you if they've been strained, and if you're doing any recording or mixing, the quality will suffer and you won't know it until further down the road and end up getting frustrated.

Well, that was way longer than I had planned.

Can you post any links to back this up? I'm not being argumentative. It's just that I've had conflicting experiences. I use headphones for hours at a time, but I do it at a reasonable level. When I was much younger I used to blast my headphones but not nowadays. One thing I like about the in-ear monitor style (like Shure and Etymotic) is that you can listen at a much lower volume since the isolation blocks out outside noise. It used to be that when I mowed the lawn, for example, I had to turn up my earphones to hear over the mower. Now, with my Shures, they are actually protecting my ears from the loud sounds.

One key way to know if you're doing damage to your ears is hearing a ringing in your ears after using headphones. If your ears ring then it's too loud and you need to turn them down next time. My ears never ring after I use headphones.

One of the first things we were taught in the first week of Audio Production 1 at my college was that prolonged exposure (approximately anything longer than an hour) to headphones, at almost any volume except whisper quiet can damage your eardrums' response to certain frequencies. Sadly, these are frequencies that are not very noticeable until so much of them are inaudible that it's too late.

About the "ringing" sensation: this is a strong sign of possible eardrum damage and is called tinnitus. Be very aware of this sign because it can be a sign of permanent hearing loss. There are people (many of them musicians who never wear earplugs during practice or concerts) who have permanent tinnitus. That means they will hear that ringing, every second of the day, for the REST OF THEIR LIVES. If you start to hear any ringing, immediately take off the headphones and give your ears a break for the day.

So many people abuse their eardrums without any regard for their hearing, which is such a precious thing and should be cherished, not punished.

If you really want the BEST headphones, you can buy some that cost thousands.
In the more "affordable" range, get the SKG Hearo 999s. they are simply astounding.

Can you post any links to back this up? I'm not being argumentative. It's just that I've had conflicting experiences. I use headphones for hours at a time, but I do it at a reasonable level. When I was much younger I used to blast my headphones but not nowadays. One thing I like about the in-ear monitor style (like Shure and Etymotic) is that you can listen at a much lower volume since the isolation blocks out outside noise. It used to be that when I mowed the lawn, for example, I had to turn up my earphones to hear over the mower. Now, with my Shures, they are actually protecting my ears from the loud sounds.

One key way to know if you're doing damage to your ears is hearing a ringing in your ears after using headphones. If your ears ring then it's too loud and you need to turn them down next time. My ears never ring after I use headphones.

I saw a little article about earbuds and hearing loss here: http://www.startribune.com/789/story/150546.html

I think the best explanation was that earbuds don't block any outside sound so people play music louder to compensate.

If you really want the BEST headphones, you can buy some that cost thousands.
In the more "affordable" range, get the SKG Hearo 999s. they are simply astounding.

I think you mean AKG Hearo 999.

And I don't think I can justify shelling out $499.99 for a pair of headphones, even if they ARE wireless and can decode surround sound. For those of us on a bit of a tigher budget and don't consider themselves audiophiles, the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro Closed Back ($99.99) or Sony MDR-7506 ($99.99) are both very good, studio quality headphones.