How bad is it really to listen to music with headphones? My mother told me if I keep doing that I'd go deaf... Is that fearmongering?
from DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world on 15 Nov 2025 03:58
https://sh.itjust.works/post/49826905
from DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world on 15 Nov 2025 03:58
https://sh.itjust.works/post/49826905
I’m depressed and I wanna listen to music… 🥲
Its just fearmongering right?
I don’t max the volume, just turn it high enough to hear it, if I used speakers, I’d also turn it so that my ears detect the “same volume” so I don’t get why headphones is worse? Literally the same volume.
Also privacy, I don’t want others to know what I’m listening, the fuck lol.
#nostupidquestions
threaded - newest
All I get is ears full of earwax.
Depends entirely on the volume and time spent at that volume.
Just using headphones in general? No.
Yeah, it is a bit more fatiguing on your ears but not inherently more dangerous to them, what is important is to listen to your body and don’t push it too long for too loud. Your ears need breaks! It is weird but true. Damage doesn’t come from headphones, it comes from not paying attention to your body and not giving your ears the breaks they need.
What I would say is if you are turning up music on headphones to drown out something else that is loud, that is when you are much more likely to hurt your ears without realizing. Try to get noise cancelling headphones if you find yourself doing that.
Listen to this guy OP. Don’t be like me and give yourself tinnitus by your early 20s listening to Nine Inch Nails full volume for hours on end. Aint worth it.
Same, but SOAD
(not so) fun fact: tinnitus can cause chronic depression and anxiety! Ask me how I know …
Like everything in life, most dangers is a matter of quantity.
Listening to music with headphones is a fantastic way to enjoy music, as long as you are reasonable, it is fine to listen to music loud enough to drown out other sounds for periods.
Back in 2022, I got double flat feet, double heel spurs and a bad knee at the same time, walking was agony at the end of the day, so when I had to walk home from the bus stop, I put on some quite loud Sabaton in my headphones, used that to gather strength to move, usually ending up crying hard as I dragged myself up the path to my apartment building.
I still hear ok, sure, I have a bit of bad hearing, but that was something I had found out a decade before.
You won’t go deaf just by listening to music in headphones, they are an important tool in several sectors, especially in music, every live performance artist is wearing in ear monitors these days, they are special headphones that allow the artist to not only hear the other performers and instruments, but also protect their hearing from the extremely loud speakers and crowds at a live event.
Then you have the people working post production, they all wear headphones all day, you have radio DJs, they also wear headphones all day, pilots, air traffic controllers, police, security guards, and similar professions also often wear head phones constantly.
What you are being told about headphones is just fearmongering, but built on a small kernel of truth, loud sounds can and will damage your ears, but that goes for all loud noise, not just headphones.
<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/22627fe4-1d5d-4e66-8eac-fde021e7d06e.png">
My Helicopter Mother’s PoV when I have headphones on to drown out the living-room arguments.
(It’s noise-cancelling, I don’t blast it at max volume lol)
A helicopter emits sound in the 85 (max 40 hours a week) to 110 (WILL cause damage, even in bursts of 15 minutes or less) dB.
So a helicopter mother’s yelling is likely more damaging to your ears than the headphones if it is prolonged ;)
No, actually my mother flies around in circles in a F15 and fires warning rockets at me all the time…
…wait what did you say again? Sorry the missile explosions are too loud can’t hear you!
Be reasonable
Some songs are best loud, but slide them slightly off your ears when you get to those
Have fun
Mom’s sorta right, but also not… If you blast the headphones, yeah, of course it’ll eventually screw your hearing. If you leave them at a level, where you’re able to hear the outside world around you, you’l be fine.
Noise cancelling, you can have it at half-volume and it already covers up all the external noise.
I think they still don’t know what noise cancelling headphone are, or the fact that noise-cancelling is even a thing, and assume the music must be too loud
Remember: noise cancelling works by playing the inverse waveform to cancel out the external one. That’s still pressure waves in your ear; they’re just no longer registering as sound.
There have been plenty of studies in this area; to minimize the risk of hearing loss, keep the headphone audio between 60 and 85 dB (remember: it’s a logarithmic scale)
Anything from 70dB down should be safe; you want to listen to 70-80dB a maximum of 40 hours a week, and 80-85 a maximum of 8 hours a day.
It doesn’t matter where the sound is coming from; those are just the guidelines for sound waves in your ear canal. Headphones can actually muffle external sounds louder than 85 dB, protecting your hearing.
Most phones have a setting somewhere to prevent the headphones from emitting sound over 85dB; this is required to be the default by law in the EU.
My mother told me, someday, I will buy galleys with good oars, sail to distant shores. Stand up on the prow, noble barque I steer. Steady course to the haven, hew many foe-men. Hew many foe-men.
As someone who has had tinnitus for nearly 30 years, PLEASE take care of your ears. Headphones don’t always mean T, but if you listen loud enough, you WILL get T. Respect ear health.
Yep, me too. I had a type of headphones way back when, one they don’t build anymore because it brings the speaker membrane too close to your inner ear. That, the kind of music I liked to listen to, and many loud live concerts…
Fucking memories! I had these headphones and the bar style portable fm radio with the same color scheme. I’m so happy my tinnitus is pretty limited.
What are you talking about. It has nothing to do with the speaker being too close to your ear, its because they were an awful design. Regular earbuds get the driver just as close and are still made, but arent very popular. The style has trended more towards in ear monitors because they seal your ear canal and get better bass. Due to the sealing IEMs are probably worse for your ears if you crank the volume but you probably don’t need to crank them as loud since they provide some passive noise cancellation.
I could never use regular earbuds. To me the above mentioned was a far superior design.
Yeah I'm hearing impaired on my left ear. Probably from sitting with headphones half off, playing world of warcraft and listening to loud music all day every day back in the day. I wouldn't recommend it. I'm lucky in that it isn't entirely gone, but I'd be lying if I said that it hasn't affected my life.
Do you still have it?
Tinnitus has no cure and is generally a permanent condition, so my guess is yes.
Most of often than not, yes, but some people magically recovered from tinnitus suddenly after several years, although this is not the norm.
i want to try tongue electro shock therapy
I do, yes. I got it as a young kid and now I’m in my late 30s
🤨
Huh?
Lol, no I’m not watching porn, lmao.
As others have already said: take breaks. It’s really easy (speaking from experience) to “get used” to a volume level that’s way too loud, ESPECIALLY if using isolating or noise-cancelling headphones.
Part of how your brain determines if something is too loud is its contrast with the environment. Yelling at the top of your lungs sounds a lot louder in a quiet library than it does in the middle of a live concert. Taking a break both recalibrates your sense of loudness and gives your ears a rest.
If you can afford decent “reference” or “studio” headphones, you’ll enjoy the same music at MUCH quieter levels than cheaper or lower-quality headphones. They are designed to be used for long periods of time by professional audio engineers and musicians, who are notoriously protective of their hearing and perfectionistic about even the most subtle of sounds.
Although I was a broke college student and couldn’t afford hardly anything they talked about, I learned a ton scrolling through audiophile forums like Head-Fi ( www.head-fi.org/forums/ ). Now I’m less broke, but somehow equipment envy and window-shopping just feels more right than spending way too much money on something I probably don’t have the time to enjoy anymore… Such is life.
edit: stupid grammar mistakes
I have you tagged from an older post and remember your mom saying some whack ass shit in another post you made. Headphones won’t make you deaf unless you’re absolutely blasting your music at full volume.
I hope you’re feeling better soon and not letting her shit get you down. You got this.
Your reply made me wonder: perhaps this is about more than the headphones? I’m not saying this justified her statement, but perhaps his mother feels like she isn’t being heard?
Yeah it’s possible, but what I remember from the other post is about her calling him a loser or useless or something along those lines, so I think she’s just very controlling.
Oh for sure! My theory is because of that, she’ll go overboard immediately on any little thing she doesn’t feel in control of, more or less.
Headphones won’t break your ears any worse than loud speakers do, and noise cancelling headphones are actually a solution to blocking loud noise (e.g. construction), or for people who get overstimulated.
In fact, since headphones can block out sound you might even be listening at a lower volume than if you were trying to drown out sound with speakers, assuming the headphones have any noise cancellation (even just muffled cups). Even just competing with ambient noise can cause us to raise volumes more than necessary.
Tinnitus? Yes, if you listen to very loud music a lot
for years and years. Deaf? No.Trust me, you can get tinnitus from listening to very loud music just the once. I’ve had it since I stood next to a speaker during a concert. Why the speaker was so low down is beyond me. Wasn’t able to hear anything for a couple of hours and I’ve been hearing gas boiler noises ever since.
People made fun of me for using foam ear plugs at a concert, and the occasional gun range idiot who throw various insults my way. Then I shoot my 7.5 inch ar and they either leave or get their own ear pro. Fucking chuds also I’m sorry you gotta deal with it. I’ve had a few episodes of it, but it’s nice not having it be a constant struggle. So I’m sorry you gotta deal with that. I also had a handful of “exploding head syndrome” moments and I honestly didn’t know which is worse.
Oooh, they’re fun (not), especially when they happen in the middle of the night.
They seem to only happen when I’m right on the cusp of sleep!
Sennheiser and other hifi companies make earplugs specially for concerts and for musicians themselves. You get quality sound, but quieter.
On one hand, it’s funny that the issue of overly loud concerts exists in the first place and needs correction. On the other, hearing Amon Tobin at 5000 watt levels leads to a sudden realization that his music isn’t chill downtempo idm.
Sennheiser and audio technica are my two favorite audio companies. Thanks for letting me know!
Also didn’t know about Brazilian homie, but his name kinda reminded me of the guitarist from animal as leaders.
Tobin released stuff on the Ninja Tune label, which mostly specialized back then in instrumental hiphop, future jazz and such fun and chill musics: like Wagon Christ, Funki Porcini, etc. So his early tunes like ‘Verbal’ fit the theme nicely, but then he did things like this, which sound straight up scary in person.
Headphones don’t make you go deaf, it’s the volume level. Just keep the volume low and your hearing will be fine.
Another crucial part is duration. You can still damage your hearing if you’re listening to something at 70 decibels. For example, if you were listening to something that loud all day long for months, . In fact you could probably change your hearing with things even quieter than that if you’re constantly hearing it for long durations.
If you have your headphones in and you’re constantly listening to something for hours on end everyday, chances are, you are causing changes to your hearing. It will start as hearing fatigue. And if you keep pressing, eventually you’ll start to hear a mild ringing in your ears that may never go away. Keep pressing even further, yeesh… I don’t think it’s advisable to listen to anything constantly for months on end, no matter how quiet.
Please take breaks that last hours. If you want to maximize listening during the waking hours, then it’s probably a good idea to sleep with ear plugs if you can. It’s also good idea to take a day off, or even a week, if you can. Sometimes even take a month off.
I have been obsessed with listening to new music for three decades, I’ve also been in plenty of bands, it took quite a few shows. I am now beginning to pay the price of my lack of care towards protecting my hearing.
Don’t be like me; protect your hearing!!
The message is good, but I’m gonna guess that your tinnitus is much more likely due to being in bands, presumably with them being loud on stage. I’ve never heard of tinnitus originating from quiet listening at home.
Not even low, just not maxed out. I got a pair of cheap KZ’s in ear guys that I use for yardwork. And since I’ve started using them I’ve noticed the frequency of tinnitus events I have had fallen sharply.
If I’m having a bad tinnitus day I put on a set of headphones and use a pink/brown noise generator, some will sweep between the two or other colours as well. An hour or so of that will usually soothe it out for a good while.
Ask yourself:
Do you like to hear loud music? At all?
If yes, then you are in danger. Then you need to be careful all the time, and even more so with headphones, because the feeling of loudness is disturbed a little with headphones.
Otherwise, forget it all.
Fear mongering. Definitely.
Been doing it for almost 30 years. I still have better and more precise hearing than most.
However
Most people in the “headphones bad”-crowd fail to understand that it’s the volume and not the medium at fault. I’ve always been very afraid of permanent damage to my senses, ears and eyes in particular, so as much as I love head banging to loud music, I ensure it’s not too loud. I’m the kind of person who brings earplugs to a concert (the type that dampens the audio without distorting it). I rarely need them, but I keep them with me just in case.
Sounds like what someone says who wants to know and control what you’re listening to
Bruh they really have no right to judge. They watch short-form videos on WeChat in the livingroom on loudspeakers. Weird skits with overdramatized acting. WTF are they even watching. Its like tik-tok but more boomer and cringy.
I used to mow lawns growing up. Would listen to headphones to drown out the mower. 30 years later I essentially hear this 24/7: www.youtube.com/watch?v=D96_1AsUajA My wife (and everyone else who knows me) knows my general hearing is bad, but not horribly so, and much worse in noisy situations. There are times when I don’t hear that tone as much, but it’s there every morning when I wake up and it’s quiet.
Also, at max volume, I had to hold the phone speaker on my ear to make sure that video was even making a noise.
Frequencies above 6k-7k have disappeared/are always there.
Do yourself a favor and take advantage of noise-canceling headphones so you can keep the volume down.
I often take long walks through a busy city, and in-ear headphones are a godsend. With on-ear ones, I have to turn the podcasts off at high-traffic crosswalks around here, for fear of blowing out what’s remaining of my aging ears.
Remember when everyone smoked and we were taught that it was good for our health?
The harm in OP’s example is immediate.
I was under the impression that hearing loss is usually a gradual thing.
That’s absolutely insane logic. “Everyone’s doing it, it must be fine, right?” You know how many incredibly cancerous and harmful materials were once in common use by everyone?
Bad logic, yes, but it stands in this case because the harm is immediate, not in some future decade. Given such widespread use, headphones must be OK or doctors would have been sounding the alarm decades ago after seeing young people with blown out ears.
you’re right now that I think about it doesn’t make sense to say that, consult experts is better advice
Boom! Take THAT, anti-vaxxers!
there was a kids toy with ACTUAL radioactive material in it. Might have been uranium or maybe plutonium.
If you have to use headphones, use soundcancelling like AirPods Pro or whatever else that has noise-canxelling and set your phone to use headphone safety where it reduces the maximum volume to as much as it can
Headphones are absolutely fine. I tend to crank music and have 0 loss in hearing over the last 10 years (we get annual hearing tests at work for OSHA). I do have a significant hearing loss in one ear but that is genetics and hasn’t gotten worse in 3 decades of using headphones.
Just don’t turn it up so loud it hurts, and once you find an initial good volume don’t turn it up later. You acclimate to the sound level so it seems quieter.
It’s a myth that headphones cause more ear damage than speakers.
95dBs measured at the eardrum are 95dBs independently if the source is 10m away or inside your ear canal.
Now most people tend to blast louder on headphones than they do on speakers, I tend to do the opposite, so in my case speakers cause more damage.
If you “just turn it high enough to hear it” then there’s no damage. In fact if you listened to speakers you would have to probably turn it louder to overcome the environment noise than you do on headphones that muffle outside noise.
If you search “OSHA dB chart” you should get a basic idea of how loud is loud, note than ear damage is cumulative, so it’s OK to blast super loud for few minutes a day, on the other hand if you listen to music all day you need to play at lower levels.
<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.zip/pictrs/image/24d87313-92bd-4070-8158-9a3142d23499.webp">
<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.zip/pictrs/image/a57a9077-ff68-4b62-ae30-f2460580bc6a.webp">
Also, listen to your body, if after a listening session you hear tinnitus (ringing in your ears), then it’s too loud. (That doesn’t mean it’s OK just because you don’t hear ringing)
I usually listen around 100dB(A) but I don’t recommend it.
100 db is crazy lol. That’s definitely enough to cause hearing damage if regular
Complete fear mongering. If you listen to any sound too loud from any source you can get hearing damage, but there’s no reason you need to listen to music too loud with headphones. To the contrary since headphones help block outside sounds (especially with modern noise cancelling headphones,) you can actually turn the music down and hear it just fine.
It’s a bunch of crap. In fact, modern headphones can if anything help protect your hearing.
The thing that damages your hearing is sound level. Doesn’t matter if it’s from a speaker to inches away or 20 ft away, what matters is the sound pressure level that arrives at your eardrum.
The problem with headphones is many people turn them up to drown out outside noise. To get it loud enough that you actually can’t hear the surrounding noise, it’s pretty loud. That is what causes hearing damage, not the fact that it is headphones. It would be no different if you put speakers and turned it up loud enough to drown out the noise.
I say modern headphones can help because a lot of modern headphones have noise canceling. Thus, reducing the ambient noise level means you don’t feel a need to turn up the volume as high.
I remember an Iron Man novel that suggested Tony had poor hearing because he played heavy metal in his helmet while flying from place to place.
Again, it would be about the volume, not just having music in a helmet.
Tony’s type A personality may suggest he was in fact listening to it too loud.
Indeed, that was as it was described in the book. Apologies for not elaborating.
And if he’s flying at Mach 2, there’s probably a fuckton of wind noise against the helmet. Which means he’s probably listening way too loud. Same problem.
I love headphones. I have quite a few very good pairs. And headphone amps. And portable headphone amps. Ive been in the hobby for about 10 years now, maybe a bit more. My hearing is still excellent (according to hearing tests I’ve had). Aside from my tinnitus, which ive had since I was a kid. Just be mindful of the volume levels.
Maybe instead of listening to mom, listen to an ENT or hearing professional. Better yet, look up scientific resources.
Don’t listen to her.
Let her believe.
Using headphones is more polite since you’re not forcing it upon others.
Just be aware that the music volume and the volume of noise in your environment are supplementary.
That means that if you raise the volume of your headphones to hear over your environment you risk damage.
Noise cancelling headphones help with this.
I haven’t read any research on whether active nouse cancellation contributes to this, since active NC is producing more noise in the audible range that you can’t perceive.
I do use active NC on planes and don’t feel pain in my ears, but I am wary of it and only use it on planes for now.
The issue is probably more that you don’t hear her when you are focused.
My husband is like that. Especially if he’s listening to something with headphones.
It’s not the volume (he’s not got them loud) it’s that he’s locked in. I’m the same way, except if you say my name and pause a beat, I snap out quicker.
I have to say his a couple times. Just starting to talk without a cue and the focus makes us miss the beginning, if not all.
Also happens with reading, programming, writing Which are immersive. quiet activities
Some people are just like that, regardless of headphones. My fiance gets like that to the point I have to nudge her to get her attention.
Yeah, for sure. My husband and I are both like this. Waving my arm often works for getting his attention.
But a frustrated parent could definitely blame it on headphones or think the kid is going deaf. Especially if they are not the kind of person that immerses like that.
Unless the parent can hear the headphone music themselves from a few feet away. In which case, they have a point that it might be too loud.
Headphones vs speakers is way less significant than listening volume. The big thing to be careful of is listening with just one earbud in. When we do this we almost always end up turning the volume in that one too high, because you need on average 6db more volume to compensate for the audio input of the other ear.