Well, I suppose you could try, but not for any amount of money. A court in the U.S. (San Francisco) ruled in favour of Apple in a lawsuit filed in an attempt to blame Apple for hearing loss caused by the iPod ear buds. The plaintiff wanted a sum for damages and for the court to order that Apple improved its ear buds to prevent hearing damage. Hmmm…
While it’s quite true that any personal music device can cause hearing damage, the volume control allows the user to determine the decibel level. So, in my personal opinion, it was a fair judgement, especially since Apple includes a warning that states permanent hearing damage can occur if the “ear buds or headphones are used at high volume.”
Furthermore, the manual also reads, “You can adapt over time to a higher volume of sound, which may sound normal but can be damaging to your hearing. Set your iPod volume to a safe level before that happens. If you experience ringing in your ears, reduce the volume or discontinue use of your iPod.”
Seems like pretty sound advice (pun not intended that time). I love my music as those of you who follow this blog regularly know, and I know prior to learning so much about hearing loss, I did crank up the volume using cheap ear buds. I mean, who wants to listen to their iPod and still hear all the background noise. The general advice is to keep the volume at a level where you could still hear someone talking to you. If you have children, you know this sort of takes away from the enjoyment of having a personal music device. I may as well place it in the docking station and try to drown out fighting siblings. Of course, then I’d be damaging everybody’s hearing.
The real solution? Custom earphones and/or musician’s earplugs. Custom earphones are designed to filter out damaging noise while allowing a higher quality music into your ears. We tend to crank up the volume with cheap ear buds because the quality is not enough for our ears to actually “hear” and feel the music.
The same is true if you are listening to music through speakers. Musician’s earplugs also have filters so you can hear the music without cranking the volume. It’s important to use musician’s earplugs at concert venues and clubs as well.
Professional musician’s and DJ’s will tell you firsthand what it’s like to experience hearing loss after years ear-splitting, pounding music without using musician’s earplugs. Painful tinnitus as well as hearing loss is common amongst professionals who for one reason or another, failed to protect their ears with in-ear monitoring devices or musician’s earplugs.
If you do choose to crank up the volume, understand hearing loss (at least to some degree) is inevitable if you listen on a regular basis!