They don't output audio like they used to?

[scottter140]

I've just noticed latley that everything I listen to music on doesn't crank quite as loud as I want it to.

I'm 29 and I remember in high school I would always listen to music on my disc-man or whatever, with cheap CVS headphones and if I accidentally turned the volume up all the way it would be WAY too loud and I'd end up quickly ripping the headphones off in a panic... Now a days the things I have to listen to music to on are an Ipod, smartphone, Macbook and even my recording interface, a Stienburg UR22, I'm always trying to turn it up louder so I can hear the subtleties and background guitars and whatever, but I can never get it quiet loud enough. I've even tried downloading apps that are supposed to allow you the raise the volume.

So is it just me or do things not output like they used....? I would think at least the interface would be able to be cranked... I know there are expensive headphones with built in amps and stuff like that, but I never used to need that so why should I need it now?

Whats changed? Is it the devices I use or has my hearing just gone bad?

BTW, the headphones I own are AKG K52 over-ear, closed back headphones, and i have a pair of apple earbuds.

 

[lsiberian]

Have you had your hearing checked?

 

[KenM10759]

Your ears lose sensitivity over time if listening to loud music or noise. Damage is cumulative, and permanent. I'm not saying that's the cause of the symptom you describe, just one possibility.

 

[j_garcia]

It is called getting old. Hearing does not improve over time, only gets worse. Get used to it.

All those times you ripped your headphones off because it was too loud probably damaged your hearing. Headphones with the volume cranked are one of the quickest ways to damage your hearing.

 

[KenM10759]

A lot of environmental factors also degrade hearing. By environmental I don't mean bird calls, I mean working in a machine shop like me and my late father did from late teens to about 50 (me) and 55 (him.) My maternal grandfather was a blacksmith, pounding horseshoes on an anvil for years. He was nearly deaf by the time he passed. It *all* adds up...the cumulative thing.

 

[Bizarro_Stormy]

Have you had your hearing checked?

What?

Your ears lose sensitivity over time if listening to loud music or noise.

What.?

It is called getting old. Hearing does not improve over time, only gets worse. Get used to it.

WHAT..?

 

[rojo]

Whats changed? Is it the devices I use or has my hearing just gone bad?

BTW, the headphones I own are AKG K52 over-ear, closed back headphones, and i have a pair of apple earbuds.

Just to be the voice of hope here, maybe it's not your hearing. Maybe in your youth you didn't care as much about hearing the background guitars and whatever, that you just enjoyed the harmonies as they fit together as a whole. But as you age, your aural tastes are refining -- and you are, in fact, becoming an audiophile. If that's the case, then the same fecal speakers and headphones you listened to in your youth simply won't cut it. Get something more revealing, and you'll hear those fret noises, glottal stops, lip smacks, and other minutiae without having to crank the volume so high. Don't expect this sort of detail out of something that cost $50 or came free with your iPhone.

 

[highfigh]

I've just noticed latley that everything I listen to music on doesn't crank quite as loud as I want it to.

I'm 29 and I remember in high school I would always listen to music on my disc-man or whatever, with cheap CVS headphones and if I accidentally turned the volume up all the way it would be WAY too loud and I'd end up quickly ripping the headphones off in a panic... Now a days the things I have to listen to music to on are an Ipod, smartphone, Macbook and even my recording interface, a Stienburg UR22, I'm always trying to turn it up louder so I can hear the subtleties and background guitars and whatever, but I can never get it quiet loud enough. I've even tried downloading apps that are supposed to allow you the raise the volume.

So is it just me or do things not output like they used....? I would think at least the interface would be able to be cranked... I know there are expensive headphones with built in amps and stuff like that, but I never used to need that so why should I need it now?

Whats changed? Is it the devices I use or has my hearing just gone bad?

BTW, the headphones I own are AKG K52 over-ear, closed back headphones, and i have a pair of apple earbuds.

I know someone who runs a lot while using her iPod and ear buds. Her hearing is toast. More than ten years ago, she and her husband asked if there was any way for me to make the dialog easier for her to hear and this is when I asked a series of questions that resulted in finding out about her use of the iPod. I was able to make some changes to the EQ in a way that allowed her to hear the dialog better without annoying everyone else but her hearing isn't going to get any better.

Koss, the company that made the first widely available headphones used to place a written warning in or on the packaging for their phones, about the fact that listening at high levels is detrimental to hearing, but most people never read it and if they did, they ignored it.

If your ears ring when you're in a place that's quiet, your hearing has been damaged. If you're taking medication, check the list of side effects- Aspirin and Aleve are two that are known to cause Tinnitus.

 

[scottter140]

Okay, so we are all saying that that the output from a diskman from 15 years ago should be the say as from a macbook or phone today?

 

[Dan Madden]

I agree that devices today do not play as loud as the older stuff. I have a Samsung Note and listen to music on it frequently but most times I'm at maximum volume or close to it. My older phones and walkman's played much louder if I wanted them to. I have tinnitus but had my hearing checked and it's normal for a man of my age (52). According to recent tests, I can hear frequencies up to 15khz which is really good for a man of my age.

I think there are two types of Tinnitus. One caused by hearing damage due to years of loud exposure. The other I believe is caused by an auto-immune issue. When I was 40 years old or so, I got a flu shot (first time) and 24 hours later my ears began to ring. It never went away!! Also, every time I am about to get sick, my Tinnitus gets noticeably worse. When my body is fighting something, it ALWAYS gets worse! Some medications such as Aspirin make it worse as well.

However, my hearing for all intents and purposes is normal for a 52 year old male.

 

[scottter140]

If your ears ring when you're in a place that's quiet, your hearing has been damaged. If you're taking medication, check the list of side effects- Aspirin and Aleve are two that are known to cause Tinnitus.

My hears don't ring. I am really bothered by white noise like the motor or whatever it is from the refrigerator, the high pitch squeal of an old CRT TV (I got one for retro gaming but I couldn't stand the noise) or if its hot and I have to use fans and AC, or and my old job at the deli/seafood department of a grocery store there was SO much white noise from all the refrigerators, freezers, walkins, ice machines, the mother loving god awful lobster tank, ect, it drove me crazy every day. I felt like it was slowly driving my crazy. I did a decibel test once and I forget the number but it said it was like standing next to a loud truck. and that was with no customers around.

I do take adderall and have for a long time but I dont think that is one of the listed side effects. Then there's also my alcohol, caffeine and nicotine intake to consider I suppose.

 

[KenM10759]

Lobster truck? Hey...you must be a virtual next door neighbor! I don't think they have enough lobsters to justify a lobster tank anywhere but New England.

 

[scottter140]

I agree that devices today do not play as loud as the older stuff. I have a Samsung Note and listen to music on it frequently but most times I'm at maximum volume or close to it. My older phones and walkman's played much louder if I wanted them to.

Thank you for verifying my theory. Maybe I'll hunt down a bunch of old equipment and do a disciple test on them a report my findings. I just think its odd there isn't more information of this out there... Maybe, the companies that make music playing things do it deliberately to save money and to get you to buy more expensive headphones and such.

See, 8 months ago I started working for Bestbuy. I wanted to use my discount to buy something cool so I set out to buy some headphones because I realized It had been a really long time since I just sat and really LISTENED to music. Like just sat and listened to an album from start to finish. Also I wanted to get into recording music. First, I got Beats headphone and quickly returned them. Then I wound up spending a lot more money on these Blue Mo-Fi headphones with a built in amplifier you had to charge with a USB and a bunch of other really fancy specs i don't remember. They were pretty great and you did absolutely have to be careful how much you turned them up. But then one day they blew. I think, not because I was listening to them super loud, but because on my 88 key Midi keyboard I used for recording, there is one key on the low bass end that is broken, so when you press it, however lightly, it thinks you are hammering on it with maximum force. So, I had to return the headphones but it got me thinking: do I really need all this crazy stuff in my headphones?

People have been listening to music and using headphones to record music for a very long time. Why now do I need such intense, technologically advanced headphones? Working for the company I do made me realize something: some things really don't need to be improved upon. They just work. BUT thats not very marketable for the company making the product or the store thats selling it.

One day I came into work and I saw that they had a new redesigned KitchenAid Mixer…. Really? They have been making these things the same for nearly 100 years because they are perfect the way they are… No one was asking for a new version of it but BestBuy is all about having the latest and greatest things so I guess they had to try.

I think that go’s for a lot of things. Refrigerators, washing machines, TVs, and a lot of audio stuff too. In my quest for headphones, I couldn't find just simple good quality headphones. They all had to have some gimmick.

I kept thinking back to the pair of headphones my dad had when I was a kid. They were the kind of ugly brown, curly cord, 1/4 inch connector headphone that I think a lot of people around in the 70’s and 80’s will remember. They weren't very comfortable because they just kind of loosely rested on your head, but they served their purpose and they worked great. Why can't I find something like that now a days? Because they won't just master a technology and then keep reproducing it for a million years….

I’m just rambling but my point is they really don't make em like they used to.

 

[scottter140]

Lobster truck? Hey...you must be a virtual next door neighbor! I don't think they have enough lobsters to justify a lobster tank anywhere but New England.

Haha, yup, here is Massachusetts just about every grocery store has a lobster tank. Disgusting little sea-bug creatures.

 

[lsiberian]

Louder is often not a better property of an audio system. My speakers don't really play loud, but they have much higher sound quality than many speakers that do play louder. Engineering is about tradeoffs. You can't have loud and high quality without paying a lot for it. Since it's better for people's hearing to have quieter source material and it allow manufacturers to produce better quality sound. It's actually a good sign. Another factor to consider is the loudness wars dominated the 90s. I consider them a terrible thing for music in general because they rob music of it's dynamics. A lot of engineers have backed off from that type of mastering.

 

[rojo]

Thank you for verifying my theory. Maybe I'll hunt down a bunch of old equipment and do a disciple test on them a report my findings. I just think its odd there isn't more information of this out there... Maybe, the companies that make music playing things do it deliberately to save money and to get you to buy more expensive headphones and such.

See, 8 months ago I started working for Bestbuy. I wanted to use my discount to buy something cool so I set out to buy some headphones because I realized It had been a really long time since I just sat and really LISTENED to music. Like just sat and listened to an album from start to finish. Also I wanted to get into recording music. First, I got Beats headphone and quickly returned them. Then I wound up spending a lot more money on these Blue Mo-Fi headphones with a built in amplifier you had to charge with a USB and a bunch of other really fancy specs i don't remember. They were pretty great and you did absolutely have to be careful how much you turned them up. But then one day they blew. I think, not because I was listening to them super loud, but because on my 88 key Midi keyboard I used for recording, there is one key on the low bass end that is broken, so when you press it, however lightly, it thinks you are hammering on it with maximum force. So, I had to return the headphones but it got me thinking: do I really need all this crazy stuff in my headphones?

People have been listening to music and using headphones to record music for a very long time. Why now do I need such intense, technologically advanced headphones? Working for the company I do made me realize something: some things really don't need to be improved upon. They just work. BUT thats not very marketable for the company making the product or the store thats selling it.

One day I came into work and I saw that they had a new redesigned KitchenAid Mixer…. Really? They have been making these things the same for nearly 100 years because they are perfect the way they are… No one was asking for a new version of it but BestBuy is all about having the latest and greatest things so I guess they had to try.

I think that go’s for a lot of things. Refrigerators, washing machines, TVs, and a lot of audio stuff too. In my quest for headphones, I couldn't find just simple good quality headphones. They all had to have some gimmick.

I kept thinking back to the pair of headphones my dad had when I was a kid. They were the kind of ugly brown, curly cord, 1/4 inch connector headphone that I think a lot of people around in the 70’s and 80’s will remember. They weren't very comfortable because they just kind of loosely rested on your head, but they served their purpose and they worked great. Why can't I find something like that now a days? Because they won't just master a technology and then keep reproducing it for a million years….

I’m just rambling but my point is they really don't make em like they used to.

Thank God they don't make them like they used to.

Age / date of manufacture has nothing to do with the sensitivity of headphones. Lower impedance cans will play louder with less voltage than higher. And I mean this in the kindest way possible, but don't depend on your 8 months' experience working at Best Buy to make you an expert.

The best headphones will account for head-related transfer function, shaping the response curve in a way that takes into account how the shape of your head, your ears, and even your torso affect sound from a distance. What plays flat far away needs not to play flat when coupled directly to your ear canal, but with a 13 - 16dB hump in the upper midrange. Read this for more info. You aren't going to get this sort of tuning from $50 cans, no matter how affronted you are by the possibility that cheap headphones are not just as good as expensive ones.

 

[KenM10759]

Haha, yup, here is Massachusetts just about every grocery store has a lobster tank. Disgusting little sea-bug creatures.

Well my wife and millions of other people seem to like them. I don't either, nor can I find the appeal of clams, mussels, quahogs, etc. Shrimp & most fish, I'm in.

Good luck figuring out the hearing issue.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I believe the industry was told to limit the output on those devices so that kids will not lose their hearing by full volumes that could be as high as 105 dB spl or more. At least that is my recollection.

 

[highfigh]

Thank God they don't make them like they used to.

Age / date of manufacture has nothing to do with the sensitivity of headphones. Lower impedance cans will play louder with less voltage than higher. And I mean this in the kindest way possible, but don't depend on your 8 months' experience working at Best Buy to make you an expert.

The best headphones will account for head-related transfer function, shaping the response curve in a way that takes into account how the shape of your head, your ears, and even your torso affect sound from a distance. What plays flat far away needs not to play flat when coupled directly to your ear canal, but with a 13 - 16dB hump in the upper midrange. Read this for more info. You aren't going to get this sort of tuning from $50 cans, no matter how affronted you are by the possibility that cheap headphones are not just as good as expensive ones.

Are those from LabTec? One of the service techs where I worked called them 'Lobster Tech". Precursor to the Logitech brand name. Sucked.

 

[highfigh]

Thank you for verifying my theory. Maybe I'll hunt down a bunch of old equipment and do a disciple test on them a report my findings. I just think its odd there isn't more information of this out there... Maybe, the companies that make music playing things do it deliberately to save money and to get you to buy more expensive headphones and such.

See, 8 months ago I started working for Bestbuy. I wanted to use my discount to buy something cool so I set out to buy some headphones because I realized It had been a really long time since I just sat and really LISTENED to music. Like just sat and listened to an album from start to finish. Also I wanted to get into recording music. First, I got Beats headphone and quickly returned them. Then I wound up spending a lot more money on these Blue Mo-Fi headphones with a built in amplifier you had to charge with a USB and a bunch of other really fancy specs i don't remember. They were pretty great and you did absolutely have to be careful how much you turned them up. But then one day they blew. I think, not because I was listening to them super loud, but because on my 88 key Midi keyboard I used for recording, there is one key on the low bass end that is broken, so when you press it, however lightly, it thinks you are hammering on it with maximum force. So, I had to return the headphones but it got me thinking: do I really need all this crazy stuff in my headphones?

People have been listening to music and using headphones to record music for a very long time. Why now do I need such intense, technologically advanced headphones? Working for the company I do made me realize something: some things really don't need to be improved upon. They just work. BUT thats not very marketable for the company making the product or the store thats selling it.

One day I came into work and I saw that they had a new redesigned KitchenAid Mixer…. Really? They have been making these things the same for nearly 100 years because they are perfect the way they are… No one was asking for a new version of it but BestBuy is all about having the latest and greatest things so I guess they had to try.

I think that go’s for a lot of things. Refrigerators, washing machines, TVs, and a lot of audio stuff too. In my quest for headphones, I couldn't find just simple good quality headphones. They all had to have some gimmick.

I kept thinking back to the pair of headphones my dad had when I was a kid. They were the kind of ugly brown, curly cord, 1/4 inch connector headphone that I think a lot of people around in the 70’s and 80’s will remember. They weren't very comfortable because they just kind of loosely rested on your head, but they served their purpose and they worked great. Why can't I find something like that now a days? Because they won't just master a technology and then keep reproducing it for a million years….

I’m just rambling but my point is they really don't make em like they used to.

Brown and a curly cord? Were they Koss headphones? If they were round with a button or volume control in the center, they may have been the HV-1 (button) or HV-1LC (level control).