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is it a myth?
Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 4:00 pm
by phrex
heard it a lot: low frequencies don't damage the ear (as much as the high frequencies do?).
true or not? if not, all the way a wrong assumption?
Re: is it a myth?
Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 4:02 pm
by 2manynoobs
vulvavibration wrote:heard it a lot: low frequencies don't damage the ear (as much as the high frequencies do?).
true or not? if not, all the way a wrong assumption?
true. Google.
Re: is it a myth?
Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 4:06 pm
by phrex
did not find anything yet on google.
but i'm a bit lazy actually

Re: is it a myth?
Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 4:08 pm
by kp mike
any frequency will damage your ear if you listen to it for too long
Re: is it a myth?
Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 4:13 pm
by uncle bill
I play live music in my spare time and I’ve got to tell you that cymbals are the devil’s work. The sort of lead guitar sound I favour (middle turned right down, loads of top end) is just as bad if you’re hearing most of it straight out of the amp instead of a monitor mix.
You could be trapped in a room with Loefah for five hundred years and you’d escape with better hearing than someone who plays regular gigs in small clubs and pubs.
Treble is very dangerous.
Re: is it a myth?
Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 4:15 pm
by oli90
Frequencies over 20khz (ultrasound) can cause severe damage to hearing, and even the body in general, if a person is exposed to them at high spls (about 120db+)
Re: is it a myth?
Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 4:38 pm
by kins83
At certain nights out, snares really fucking hurt my ears. Never noticed any problems with bass. I'd generally equate painful as damging, that's not to say that bass wouldn't eventually fuck your ears too.
Re: is it a myth?
Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 4:42 pm
by the wiggle baron
I was pretty sure (am aaaaaaalways ready to be completely wrong though) that lower frequency soundwaves actually carry more energy, which will cause tinitus as much/more than anything else. But in the short term you don't notice as much, as the "receptors" or whatever for sound are frequency specific (vaguely) so when you over expose your ears to a range of frequencies, the sensitivity to those specific frequencies is likely to be diminished. Then, if you take into account the frequencies of sound you are exposed to in day to day life, you can see how you can come out of a drum n bass night that was put through a not very loud but shit rig and not be able to hear properly for days, yet you can have your chest cavity pummeled to death by loefah and a 12 foot high stack of subs and not really be none the wiser as you leave! Sure, youre ability to hear 20-30hz is probably fucked, but unless youre married to Barry White you aint gonna notice.
</fail?>
Re: is it a myth?
Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 4:44 pm
by karmacazee
Yeah, I've been doing some live sound engineering over the last few months and cymbals have that real horrible white noise like frequency that kills your ears, especially in small rooms.
Someone needs to invent a dampener for whatever frequency it is on cymbals that causes the PAIN.
Re: is it a myth?
Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 5:00 pm
by magma
the wiggle baron wrote:I was pretty sure (am aaaaaaalways ready to be completely wrong though) that lower frequency soundwaves actually carry more energy, which will cause tinitus as much/more than anything else. But in the short term you don't notice as much, as the "receptors" or whatever for sound are frequency specific (vaguely) so when you over expose your ears to a range of frequencies, the sensitivity to those specific frequencies is likely to be diminished. Then, if you take into account the frequencies of sound you are exposed to in day to day life, you can see how you can come out of a drum n bass night that was put through a not very loud but shit rig and not be able to hear properly for days, yet you can have your chest cavity pummeled to death by loefah and a 12 foot high stack of subs and not really be none the wiser as you leave! Sure, youre ability to hear 20-30hz is probably fucked, but unless youre married to Barry White you aint gonna notice.
</fail?>
Weren't you studying medicine or something, Wiggles? Can't you find out for us?

Re: is it a myth?
Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 5:03 pm
by phrex
humm.. still no answer though...
arenät there any scientific studies about that topic?
Re: is it a myth?
Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 5:28 pm
by p.t.b.d
best to get some of those next ear protectors
Re: is it a myth?
Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 5:32 pm
by Y_H
karmacazee wrote:Yeah, I've been doing some live sound engineering over the last few months and cymbals have that real horrible white noise like frequency that kills your ears, especially in small rooms.
Them cymbals kill your ears!
Re: is it a myth?
Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 5:33 pm
by manillathrilla
high frequencey makes my uncomfortable, low frequency makes me wanna fart
Re: is it a myth?
Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 5:39 pm
by Pada
yeah low frequencies less damaging according to the packet of my ear plugs....