Hearing Damage as a DJ
Hearing Damage as a DJ Posted on: 20.11.2011 by Gerard Cowin I couldn't help but notice that my sense of hearing has diminished somewhat as a result of constantly listening to loud music. It began as a young child listening to rock n roll, progressing to heavy metal in my teens, and finally techno and house as an adult. As a full time DJ and producer, how do you put up with the noise withstanding minimal damage to your ears? Do you wear earplugs at shows/gigs? I couldn't see myself wearing ear plugs at home, but at shows it is understandable due to the high decibel output. I have heard from others that it is actually the high end frequencies that damage the ears rather than the low. Is that true? Would listening to music at a moderate level while DJing damage the ears over a sustained amount of time? I am becoming worried about my hearing :\ What's your take on the issue? | |
| Nicola Oatts 13.02.2012 |
Originally Posted by Steeevo
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| Stephnie Godbole 13.02.2012 |
Originally Posted by guiltyblade
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| Dorie Scelzo 30.11.2011 |
Originally Posted by Chris Macom
I used a pair of Etymotic ER-6 (not 6i) for a long while and loved them. It was great just being able to turn off moitors, and they sounded better than the booth anywhere I've played. Unfortunately, they died and I went back to my trusty HD-25s. I'll probably try out some Shures for Christmas |
| Teodoro Woolever 30.11.2011 |
Originally Posted by MeowMix
Been wearing them for about a few weeks now cause I was noticing that my ears starting to ring for a longer period of time after a evening DJ'ing. Use to be just a few hours after a gig. Now it is more the entire next day. I wore these plugs for shooting. In all honesty they work great for shooting if you are outdoors. In an indoor range though, they suck. They are very comfortable wearing with headphones. It is equally attenuated across all the freqs. Although they are made for blocking higher decibels such as gun fire and anything above 85db. But it is all freqs across the board granted most of the higher db are going to be your highs. I find that through out the evening it easier for me to adjust EQ accordingly with these on. My ears don't ring the next day. And I also seem to hear people better when they come up to the booth and talk or make a request. Having said that, I have recently made an appointment to get my hearing checked just in case. I may get a custom molded plugs as well. |
| Tess Faillace 30.11.2011 |
Originally Posted by hrtbrkd
As for the Alpine Safe Pros i should mention that i have issues with them when wearing headphones (RPDJ-1200). They occasionally fall out when moving the headphones earcap and its a huge pain in the ass to find them while in the middle of a gig. They do have really good attenuation ranges though. @ATX i didnt see anything on the SureFire website about equal attenuation across the frequencies. The Alpine's definitely lower all frequencies equally so there is no distortion or imbalance. Whats your experience with the SureFires? |
| Teodoro Woolever 30.11.2011 |
Originally Posted by Chris Macom
I do agree with you about the crappy club monitors. I have played at some clubs in SoCal and here in Dallas and either the monitor are crazy loud, or have too much highs or They are mounted right next to our head or they were non existent (like at the club I play at now, where I have to bring my own) They really should let DJ's design the booth, not sound guys that have never DJ'd a day in their life. |
| Clyde Huy 01.11.2013 | I have been DJ'ing since i was 14 in 1998 and have definitely noticed a deterioration in my hearing, especially noticeable when i'm in the back seat of a car when music is playing, i struggle to hear the what the guys in the front seat are saying. In a bid to prevent any further deterioration i now wear ear plugs when mixing and whenever in a club or loud music venue. I'm going to invest in some custom plugs soon but for the time being i use these http://www.prowaveaudio.co.uk/product/dj-earplugs The cost a tenner and definatley help to reduce any ringing in my ears when mixing. |
| Nicola Oatts 13.02.2012 | must be a way to unblock it ... they said they could like put a hole in my ear drum and put a drain like thing into it so it can drain its self but wasnt to keen on that to be honest |
| Keli Muennink 13.02.2012 | No Don't Really Get A Pain. He Looked In My Ear And Asked My to hold my noise and blow then swallow while he looked and that's when he saw that I couldn't pop my ears properly. But They do pop everytime I swallow which he said indicated the tubes blocked. Basically we are stuck with tinitus. I'm kinda glad its not music related. He also said it shouldn't get any worse. |
| Nicola Oatts 13.02.2012 | all coool.. i google most of my words :P do you ever get a sharp pain in your ear?... i sometimes get it and have to pinch my nose and blow hard.. i assume its because my Eustachian tube is blocked and it cant eqaul the air pressure from the middle ear to the canal |
| Keli Muennink 13.02.2012 | Yes I googled it ok. Haha. Basically he said that's what started the tinitus but even if you clear it your tinitus won't go. He was going on about how its your brain which makes you believe there's a noise but it all stemmed from the tube |
| Nicola Oatts 13.02.2012 |
Originally Posted by Steeevo
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| Kiyoko Hansey 13.02.2012 | I never dj'ed for money or a large gathering but did many house parties years ago. Normally we had a pretty small setup but with 400watts in a small garage, I typically had my headphones turned up pretty loud. I still remember having my Vestax PMC05Pro-II headphone monitor turned all the way up, and still needed to cup the headphones to get that extra sound. Also what didn't help was spending time at raves and clubs, especially drum n' bass evening s. I guess music just sounded better with 18" bass bins. Pretty much now, my left ear is pretty bad (which I monitored with), where I can head but certain frequencies will cause this annoying buzz in my ear. Sounds like a blown tweeter. Also I'll get the ringing in my ears at evening when the room is silent, my wife is very understanding and we leave a fan on during the evening for white noise. But I'm also extra careful about my hearing now. If I know I'm going to any event with loud music, I'll bring along ear plugs instead of risking more hearing loss. Especially true at concerts, race events, or any where I might have to sit with loud music. Strangely enough, one of the worse sounds for me is sporting games, the voice announcer will hit this weird frequency and just very annoying. A few years ago I started to wear in ear monitors, Shure E4C's while I was working in a data center with a constant 90db. These saved my ears further and really wonder why don't more and more dj's use these. It's almost a standard with musicians. |
| Barton Rigazio 13.02.2012 | I had tried in-ear monitors (shure se215's) and as much as I enjoyed the sound quality, I really did not like the "around-the-ear" cord. I found it super annoying and even just getting the iem's in my ear was a struggle every time. I'm sure others are totally fine with it though and enjoy them quite a bit. The sound was so amazing on the 215's I can only imagine how awesome the 425's are. Going in for some custom moulds in one hour! |
| Stephnie Godbole 13.02.2012 |
Originally Posted by guiltyblade
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| Keli Muennink 13.02.2012 | Just thought id mention to you guys, i went to an ear doctor today about tinitus. i had a hearing test and they found that i cant hear really low frequencys very well, and from what i told him he seems to believe the tinitus was not caused by loud noises, he said when you hear a low frequency your ear drum vibrates alot more than high frequencys and my ear drum is tight and not allowing it to move much. and because i told him my ears pop when i swallow he said my Eustachian tube has probably been blocked/clogged for years and that is what started the tinitus. he said my inner ear hair cells will not be damaged and it started through that blocked tube. Interesting. i always thought tinitus was noise induced. |
| Dorie Scelzo 30.11.2011 |
Originally Posted by Chris Macom
I used a pair of Etymotic ER-6 (not 6i) for a long while and loved them. It was great just being able to turn off moitors, and they sounded better than the booth anywhere I've played. Unfortunately, they died and I went back to my trusty HD-25s. I'll probably try out some Shures for Christmas |
| Teodoro Woolever 30.11.2011 |
Originally Posted by MeowMix
Been wearing them for about a few weeks now cause I was noticing that my ears starting to ring for a longer period of time after a evening DJ'ing. Use to be just a few hours after a gig. Now it is more the entire next day. I wore these plugs for shooting. In all honesty they work great for shooting if you are outdoors. In an indoor range though, they suck. They are very comfortable wearing with headphones. It is equally attenuated across all the freqs. Although they are made for blocking higher decibels such as gun fire and anything above 85db. But it is all freqs across the board granted most of the higher db are going to be your highs. I find that through out the evening it easier for me to adjust EQ accordingly with these on. My ears don't ring the next day. And I also seem to hear people better when they come up to the booth and talk or make a request. Having said that, I have recently made an appointment to get my hearing checked just in case. I may get a custom molded plugs as well. |
| Tess Faillace 30.11.2011 |
Originally Posted by hrtbrkd
As for the Alpine Safe Pros i should mention that i have issues with them when wearing headphones (RPDJ-1200). They occasionally fall out when moving the headphones earcap and its a huge pain in the ass to find them while in the middle of a gig. They do have really good attenuation ranges though. @ATX i didnt see anything on the SureFire website about equal attenuation across the frequencies. The Alpine's definitely lower all frequencies equally so there is no distortion or imbalance. Whats your experience with the SureFires? |
| Teodoro Woolever 30.11.2011 |
Originally Posted by Chris Macom
I do agree with you about the crappy club monitors. I have played at some clubs in SoCal and here in Dallas and either the monitor are crazy loud, or have too much highs or They are mounted right next to our head or they were non existent (like at the club I play at now, where I have to bring my own) They really should let DJ's design the booth, not sound guys that have never DJ'd a day in their life. |
| Malka Wickerham 30.11.2011 | I'm surprised that nobody mentioned anything about in-ear monitors. There's a couple articles I know Ean wrote about them. That's what inspired me to get some, and I absolutely love them. Instead of taking my headphones off or adjusting them, I just turn the headphone volume down when I'm not mixing. Before this I was using earplugs with headphones. The earplugs stuck out too far and and were uncomfortable. I mix better with in-ears, save my hearing, and never have to worry about the clubs crappy ass monitoring system with mad echo. I have Shure SE 425's BTW. |
| Dorie Scelzo 28.11.2011 | Don't worry about cutting back. "Don't listen too loud" is a really bad guideline, but that's all there is unless you're going to spend some money on a meter |
| Marybelle Ver 28.11.2011 |
Originally Posted by Steeevo
Great plugs for the price they're well worth it. |
| Albertina Fay 28.11.2011 |
Originally Posted by BRENNER
I can say you have good taste... lol |
| Belle Tufnell 28.11.2011 |
Originally Posted by HedgeHog
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| Teodoro Woolever 28.11.2011 |
Originally Posted by Xonetacular
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| Audrey Pinda 27.11.2011 | My wife was just testing out a "dog whistle" that is adjustable. There were a few tones on it I couldn't hear at all, and she could. I'm going to be a deaf old man. |
| Dorie Scelzo 27.11.2011 | I actually don't get that from the hearos nearly as much as anything else I've tried for $15. But AFAI can tell, the only way you get better is custom plugs. |
| Romelia Stankard 27.11.2011 |
Originally Posted by PharSide
On a related not I forgot my earplugs yesterday for dancegiving festival and my ears are still ringing. I have the hearos ear plugs from guitar center and they are ok for $15 but they still don't sound great when you are in a bass heavy environment- they muffle the mids and highs too much and you still feel/hear the bass more and it sounds like you are underwater it's strange. |
| Makkins Clifton 27.11.2011 | While you are able to adjust the volume you shouldn't need any. Just don't overdo it volume-wise for longer periods of time. |
| Joselyn Supina 27.11.2011 | Well, how loud do you play? Honestly, I don't use any at home. When I go to a concert, club, show, party...basically anywhere you expect super loud music to be playing. Even if you're young and can't go out yet, you will someday...and the $15 will be well spent. I don't have experience with the surefire ones yet, but I can tell you the etymotics do a great job and sound way better than the foam crap you get at the drug store. |
| Belle Tufnell 27.11.2011 | Ok, probably a stupid question, but do I need earplugs even as a bedroom dj? |
| Akiko Jarret 26.11.2011 | Great post. Definitely will be picking up a pair of surefire ep 3's after reading/looking into tinnitus. |
| Evelyn Navarijo 25.11.2011 |
Originally Posted by OmniRoss
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| Faustino Stringfellow 25.11.2011 |
Originally Posted by OmniRoss
I believe he may have had other problems other than simple tinnitus ...it's not normally something to top yourself over. |
| Faustino Stringfellow 25.11.2011 |
Originally Posted by sparkbro
You get used to it after a while, it does increase if I'm too close to a monitor without my noise cancelling headphones .... but one thing is for sure, once it's there, it doesn't go away. However there's treatment these days (too late for me), where the audiologist plays test tones into your ears in a bid to find the frequency and cancelling the tinnitus. I don't know how effective it is as it wasn't suitable for me, but I've read good reports. |
| Annalisa Shogren 24.11.2011 | I don't want to put a downer or things, but I saw this article today about tinnitus. http://www.nme.com/news/them-crooked-vultures/60492 Pretty sad really. |
| Spencer Kilcoyne 24.11.2011 |
Originally Posted by Steeevo
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| Arletha Heddens 24.11.2011 |
Originally Posted by ToS
I'm assuming Bad Very bad Very very bad Very very very bad |
| Keli Muennink 24.11.2011 | these are perfect [ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000VO8PR0/ref=asc_df_B000VO8PR05378593?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&t ag=googlecouk06-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B000VO 8PR0"]Alpine Music Safe Pro Filter Ear Plugs: Amazon.co.uk: Musical Instruments@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41HfHSZT3PL.@@AMEPARAM@@41HfHSZT3PL[/ame] and its the cheapest place to get them, there are 3 different filters to choose when you go out also which is great and you get a cool canister case thingy. if your worried about people seeing them they will have a hard job as they are clear. or you can cut the stem a little then put the filters in. people never no im wearing them |
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