Get a hearing test if you disagree with me

I would say that you can only question the hearing of the majority of ASR members. Otherwise, it’s not a big deal, since we all vary in this regard.

 

I know this was said in jest, but in doing the math... 1000 dB is going to be roughly 10^50 times higher than atmospheric pressure. For comparison, the pressure at the center of the sun is only 10^13 times higher. For additional reference, the maximum possible sound pressure in atmospheric conditions is roughly 194dB before total vacuum/cavitation occurs.

 

I am pretty sure that if I have damage to my hearing (beyond that caused by age alone) it has something to do with motorcycles. The damage done by 10+ hours in the saddle at 90 mph with no hearing protection is substantial. Circumstances almost like they were designed to cause hearing damage.

When I started riding 55 years ago, nobody really talked about hearing protection in that context. I even used the foam earplugs that employers provide in very loud workplaces for racing/track days, but didn't use them on the street or for off-road riding. Riding on the track is definitely louder than riding on the street, but if it isn't endurance racing, a race might be 20-30 minutes long. It never occurred to me that the length of time of exposure is effectively like listening to much louder sound when it comes to the severity of any damage caused. At 55, I could hear a tone at 13k, but nothing at 14. Haven't checked it since.

Ironically, I returned to the audio world (after a detour through home theater; an effort to make the hi-fi more family-friendly) via Westone when I was looking for custom earplugs to use riding. When I saw that they also made custom iems, which in 2013 I didn't even know existed, the proverbial light bulb lit. I had been looking for a way to listen to music while riding for many years, starting with a cassette Walkman ofc, and at that time I had a Koss earphone called the "Plug," but nothing up to that point had sufficient isolation to allow me to hear the music over the ambient noise that was also causing damage to my hearing. The question wasn't whether my hearing was being damaged, but was it being caused by the wind or the music from a maxed out Creative dap?

Needless to say, my impressions were used to make iems, not earplugs. And in no time, I was reading head-fi etc.., and the rest is history, as they say. My lack of faith in my own hearing is but one of many reasons I have never posted a review here.

 

I think it quite likely that Hot Black Desiato played at these volumes

 

What's your favorite planet @Armaegis? Mine's the sun. When that thing burns out we were all going to be dead...

 

It's a shame that this thread has got so shitty. Remember what a first stated - I cannot find anyone's opinion that tallied with RD - he then launches into a bogus rant about - my opinion against his - he refuses point blank to answer my totally rational point that his opinion is at variance with every other I have seen which led me to ask the rational question about hearing tests. He could easily have said 'I don't care this is what I have found' - how dare you question my hearing - wow what an arrogant and flaky reaction.

No matter, I've been using h/phones for some time - Senn 600/650/2 Beyers and at last I've found the Oppo PM 2 which float my boat, are not perfect but as so many experienced reviewers have said - that they still come back to them because they are so enjoyable. If I had seen anything like a 50/50 reaction to the Oppos I would not have bought them. Reviewers and punters alike kept repeating the same opinion.

Last night I listened to a bootleg copy of Queen in Montreal. I bought this like lots of other bootlegs whilst sitting in the best bar/bodega in Guadix/Andaluz bought from the workshy illegal Senegalese 3 for €10. Many of which I have never listened to and many of which I cannot now play. because for whatever reason they have naturally degraded unlike any kosher CDs I have. This one was fine and bloody hell I never heard Queen play like this on any studio LP. What surprised me was the bass slam and incredible atmosphere on this bootleg. I didn't think that the Oppos were capable of this kind of bass slam even more impressed with them now. I looked on discogs for buyers reviews and saw the stupid money for the 3 x LPs, no thank you. The 2 x CDs from the same year, 2007 @ €21 delivered will do nicely.

CD has had so much bad press and the style police have made so many arrogant statements over the years about early and current CD quality. I have early CDs that sound like shit and others that sound marvellous. I recently bought CDs by EST- Live In London and Mine Kawakami - El Piano. Stunning sound quality, I've listened using the Beyers and the Oppos, no contest for me but others may well think completely differently - so it goes. I state again that I and others have found that the i/connects used have a profound effect on CD replay quality - agree or disagree - no pasa nada.

 

And yet, astonishingly, you fail to notice that your discourteous, unpleasant post is what made the thread "shitty" in the first place. You'd do well to note that this new thread, moved over to the "How to win friends and influence people" section, begins with your post. You'd also do well to note that you caused offense and that plenty of people disliked your post, which ought to tell you something.

There are many reasons why one person's impressions might diverge from others'. Some of them could be perfectly logical, and doubts about someone's hearing could, conceivably, be one of them. It's a shame that you automatically discounted other rational explanations and instead honed in on the most offensive one. There could be several rational explanations for your rudeness but I'll refrain from mentioning them so as not to hurt your feelings.

It's not hard to say, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause offense. I realize my comment was insulting, and I apologize." Instead, you double down with your nastiness.

 

The poster has walked into a local bar, loudly insulted the barkeep, and wonders why the regulars are angry at them.

Even if the interloper is 100% right, and the barkeep is 100% wrong, you just don't do that.

My favorite fact about the sun...... It takes no less than 2,000 (and up to several million) years for a photon created at the centre of the sun to actually make it to the surface. The interior of the sun is just that dense (and it's a stellar lightweight!) that the energy just bounces around in there. But after leaving the sun, the photon then makes it's way to planet Earth in 499 seconds, before potentially missing and going on it's journey for billions more years.

So much prep time, for such a fleeting interaction, then into the aether for eternity.

 

Sure, a noob should’t be offensive to staff (I honestly expect to be treated like everyone else though, I need to be called out too sometimes for being an ass). And yes, hearing ability is a factor maybe in our impressions. But that’s not what makes the accusation that “you should get a hearing test” so f'ing distasteful. It’s partly the context.

When discussing gear and our impressions, things should never get personal. It should always be about the gear and not about the person. When someone disagrees with your impressions of a piece of gear and you tell them to get a hearing test, what you are doing is taking personal offense that your favorite toy is being criticized and getting defensive and attacking the other person’s hearing to discredit their impressions. You are attacking them as a person to discredit their impressions of gear so that you can hold on to your own hyped up idea of your toy, your precious. That’s just not what I or any of us expect on SBAF. This is head-fi behavior. Needing affirmation of your precious, and not being able to have your own opinion of it, and attacking anyone who disagrees so you can maintain your idea that it is amazeballs.

Furthermore, our hearing is not a place we need to go to when discussing gear. It’s just one of many factors in someone’s preferences, which you need to learn to understand their impressions of gear. There is no need to go there and attack someone’s physical hearing ability. “They like more treble than I do” is good enough. It really doesn’t matter why. When I hear that someone likes the Utopia or HD800 and think they sound natural, I learn that they have different preferences than I do and like more treble than me. It’s as simple as that. I don’t need to think about their hearing ability and make it personal.

That is the real fail here. I expect all SBAF members to be able to take criticism of their favorite gear without getting defensive. Discussion of why we have different impressions is what this forum is all about we can certainly discuss and disagree and argue till the bitter end like the weirdly passionate enthusiasts we are, but this isn’t the place for needing affirmation. Go to head-fi and join one of the “appreciation threads” were you can jerk yourself off in peace with lots of other dumbasses.

 

We should totally change this forum to parrot (reviewer/HF) consensus, f**k what individual members hear. Obviously if someone disagrees the rational conclusion is their hearing is broken.