Struggling between a few earbuds

Audio Hardware & Software Headphones and Headsets
21

There is so much wrong with what you just said, It is hard to figure out where to start.

You DO NOT get hearing damage from listening to MP3's or any other particular format.What will cause hearing damage though is subjecting yourself to extended periods of loud environments. That means that it wouldn't matter if they were MP3's, OGG, lossless, or analog, if you are listening to music at 100+ db for hours on end, then you will likely get hearing damage after doing so time and time again.

Also, cleaning your ear will NOT help with fixing your hearing. if anything, intrusive cleaning can actually further damage your hearing. Popping usually occurs when pressures are changed or equalized between the inner and middle ear. This can also be caused by damage to the ear drum, which can leak pressure. Usually, hearing damage tends to be permanent.

So no, ear-buds will not improve your hearing of higher frequencies..

22

I forgot to say that I like to play loud music through 4ft floor speakers. And that the music being played was a mp3 metal album which is loud to begin with dynamic rang wise.l And did you know that the amazon mp3 files are 80% compressed? It was not the loud noise that harmed my hearing it was the semblances within the music which can happen at normal volumes.

23

Sorry, but you are wrong. Compression does not cause hearing loss. What your are essentially saying is that there are some magical frequencies that cause hearing loss, regardless of what volume you are listening to. By that definition, pink or white noise would cause hearing loss, which it obviously does not.

I'm not sure where you got this false information, but that is what it is, false.

Edit: just to add to that, it doesn't take much to cause hearing damage. Almost any phone can play music at 100db, and are that level, it only takes 15 minutes to cause hearing damage. So think about this: if you ever listened to just a few songs with the volume on your phone turned up, you are at risk. If those volumes are "normal", then it's no wonder you have hearing damage.

24

OP: I haven't used many iem's, but of the few that I've used, I like this one the best.

Arn: Lol please tell us more about this pseudoscience bullshit. It's very entertaining.

25

It may seem odd. But If you have many open head phones that require a bit of power. Then yes 100db might seem reasonable. And big speakers require big power to get the best sound out of them. If you want to be enveloped in a symphony of music.

26

Sorry for the late response guys, really tough few days.Anyways .. I don't care that much about noise isolation and stuff .. so far I've been using my samsung s4 headphones' and I must say they are amazing .. I just wanted to buy something like that just .. a bit of a higher durability and mic/sound quality.If that is gonna help you point me out somehow :)

27

Mic quality is going to be shoddy no matter which you pick, even for high end ones. Honestly a hit and miss thing. If you are happy with the Samsung ones, then i would just stick with them, because for under $50, you will notice a bigger difference on sound quality by simply upgrading the tips with something like Comply, than you will by upgrading to new ear buds. Also, more expensive does not always mean better. Stick to trusted brands, like Sennheiser, Beyerdynamic, Etymotic, Shure, and AKG just to name a few. Stay away from the stuff you usually see in retail stores.

Now if you need more durable headphones because you're active, try some of the sport lines. They are usually more bass heavy, but are built to withstand the rigors of exercise and such.

28

The only reason i feel the need to respond to this, is that i hope people in the future don't look at it as truth.

The dB unit is a form of measurement. 100dB is 100dB no matter the source, just as 65mph is 65mph regardless of the car. Also, if you are wearing open headphones in a quiet environment at 50% volume and they are at 85dB, then you are putting 85dB into your ears. Now you do the exact same thing outside in the city, and find it is harder to hear, your are probably still at 85dB. Turning up the volume so your can hear will only increase the dB (volume of sound/noise) to your ear.

Also, bigger speakers and open headphones does not automatically mean you need lots of power. How much power you need depends on how efficient the speakers are, the source, and the acoustics of the environment. For example, if you try to play some well mastered classical music, it is often done with very low gain to preserve as much detail as possible. Likewise most EDM, rock/metal, and especially pop tend to ramp up the gain in mastering all the way to the upper limits. What this means is what while you may only need 25% volume for most EDM/rock/pop, you may need 75% to achieve the same dB of volume. Note: this has nothing to do with what format it is in (mp3 or lossless), and everything to do with the actual studio that made the music. Point is quiet source = more power for same dB of volume. This can further be taken to the discussion of preamps, but i digress.

Next, the efficiency of the speakers plays a major part. I've owned old passive bookshelves with 6" woofers, 12" woofers, and modern towers with multiple 6"+ woofers. I've also owned closed and open headphones. The point is that I've had large open headphones that were easier to drive than some smaller closed backed ones. I've had giant tower speakers that were easier to drive than smaller single 6" bookshelves. What matters is the efficiency of the drivers themselves.

Lastly, acoustics. People vastly overestimate the actual power required to drive speakers, especially when you are only 4feet away from them as you say you are. It doesn't take more than 15 Watts to get 100+ dB from most speakers with music like metal when you are so close. Hell, it doesn't take more than 15 Watts to drive them to loud volumes in a large master bedroom. As the room gets larger, and you move further away from the speakers though, more power is exponentially required to drive them.

So to counter what your said simply: no, you do not need "big power" to get the best from large speakers, and no it doesn't matter whether the speaker is an iem, open back headphone, or giant tower speaker, 100dB is still 100dB to your ear.

29

I like to play my guitar loud. And I like the depth my speakers give when they are amped loud. Is that so hard to understand? I just so happend to have damaged my hearing when I felt i had the music to loud to begin with. And I normally play high quality albums loud because it has more range to it than mp3.