Hearing loss Temporary or more permanent?

FWIW my ENT specialist told me not to listen to music past 90dB when I went for a checkup. Obviously she does not have a hifi system at home.

Anyway back to some seriousness, do take care of your ears if you want to preserve your hearing until your old age. Although I occasionally like my music loud I try not to listen past 95dB at prolonged listening sessions. 80-85dB average would be good. If higher SPLs are preferred, do check the standards from OSHA or other similar guidelines for recommended duration of exposure.

One caveat when using the OSHA guidelines is the lobbying that goes into setting them. It costs money to make the workplace quieter. I'd be inclined to use a few dB under the guidelines or to shorten my exposure time. I attended a gathering of audiophiles at a high-end shop in soCal, and in the room with the most expensive stuff the attendees wanted the level so high I left, because it was uncomfortable.

db

Great advice Elizabeth. I too use a Shack digital meter and keep it handy for listening. For longer listening sessions, I adjust the volume so that the peaks (max setting, C weighted, fast response) hit just on 80. This way I know I am not doing any damage; I can relax and listen without worry. And I find that, after a few minutes, my ears take on increased sensitivity and "ramp up" their gain so that the preceived loudness increases with time.

Dbphd: Your comments make a lot of sense. Take a look at the excerpt I clipped from Wikipedia, which discussed the difference in using a 3db versus 5db exchange rate. The difference in listening threshold is quite significant.

For example, under the OSHA guidelines (which I believe are based on a 5db exchange rate), if the SPL is: (a) 90db, the recommended duration is 8 hours; and (b) 115 db, the recommended duration is 15 minutes or less. By contrast, as illustrated in the Wikipedia excerpt (presumably based on a 3db exchange rate), if the SPL is: (a) 90 db, the recommended duration is only 2 hours; and (b) 115db, 30 seconds!!!

So, last night I kept the SPL meter on while listening to various types of music. It required some discipline not to raise the gain, but I'm a believer now.

Bifwynne, I knew some of the people who were on the scientific committees that made the recommendations to OSHA.

Stevecham, I think you're doing the right thing by keeping peaks lower, but you need to know neither the auditory system nor other neural systems ramp up in sensitivity, although your perception may be concentrated with exposure. Adaptation is the mechanism, and thus it's easy to expose yourself to higher and higher levels.

Re fast v slow trajectory for an SL meter: Except for very high level peaks, gun shots usually, noise-induced hearing loss is a cumulative process. The military took advantage of what's called the stapedius reflex, in which the stapes is pulled slight away from the ear drum in response to a loud sound, by sounding a loud horn before firing a large gun. The purpose of such a reflex has been argued, but severe sounds are not part of our natural environment, so it's unlikely it was developed over time to provide protection from such sounds. Using fast trajectory is OK, but it makes it more difficult to estimate the cumulative SPL exposure.