Townshend cautions iPod users

Studio headphones cause damage? It wouldn't have anything to do with the 2+ hour concerts at decibils louder that Harrier jump jets, would it?

Most of your time in the studio is spent mixing the songs down, not playing. Most studios are sound proof and use high quality speakers for output.. not headphones. Why would u use sub-par headphones over HQ speakers for your albums?

I remember losing my hearing at a Who concert I attended once. Tommy can you hear me (now)?

There's actually quite a bit of truth in all of this, despite the denial from folks like eldarkus.. Yes, there's 2+ hours of intense noise at concerts... if you are in the audience. The sound experience is quite different on stage (as it has to be), but far more than that, the noise stops after the concert.

The average musician will spend far more time in a studio, than on tour/stage, and would have been cranking up their studio headphones far louder.

Still, this is irrelevant to end users wearing button headphones, and cranking up the noise to '11' -- which is causing hearing loss, and which will be permanent under continued exposure.

Mr. Townshend's warning should be heeded, but (of course) won't be. After all, those cranking up their tunes are, as we all know, imortal and invulnerable. These kind of things only happen to other people.

Don't play your music so loud. Simple as that.

Both zinkdifferent and eldarkus are right. Mr Townshend didn't loose his hearing because of the iPod. And, yes, things sound different on stage but still rival a gas turbine engine. At least with the advent of in-ear foldback, the stage is quieter, but the foldback is being pumped directly into the inner ear.

Mr Townshend is right to point out the dangers of incorrect use of headphones, but I really can't understand the singling out of the iPod for special mention since plugging the earphones into a computer and listening to iTunes or even QT player with the volume up will do the same thing. Perhaps the iPod thing is media based and not from him though.

Anyway, personal responsibility! Do stupid stuff (like detonate dynamite in your ears) and keep the complaints to yourself because those of us who use earphones properly and still have our hearing in 30 years won't care enough to learn sign language just so you can whine.

Well, the only reason he's mentioning iPod (and not other things) is because 6 out of 7 people who use portable devices have one. Obviously, iPod is the most common portable audio device today, so you'll cover the most ground by referring to it.

As for studio, I spent some 20 years of my professional musical career in a recording studio. Live gigs are fun and short. Recording sessions are gruelling and long. For live gigs, (smart) musicians use earplugs when too close to the stacks. In a studio musicians use headphones. Almost 90% of the time. Unfortunately, when the headphones are of excellend sound quality, and the sound comming out of them is pristine, you don't realise you're losing your hearing until the session is over (some 10 hours later)... Earbuds are even worse; they pump it directly into your ear, and don't isolate the noise from outside. When the noise from outside is too lout, you crank up the music to overcome the noise. Try walking from a noisy street (NYC, for example) into an elevator inside a building, without adjusting the volume. You'll be surprised how loud your music is playing once you're indoors...!

So why are people singling out in-ear buds? If I'm getting the same volumn (at my ear drum) with either buds or more traditional headphones, isn't the damage going to be the same? I agree with the campaign to turn down the volumn, but let's not give poeple the impression that it's OK to crank up your in-home stereo as long as you don't turn up your iPod too loud!

Isn't a more appropriate warning one that cautions young children of the alleged dangers posed by Mr.Townshend?

What could be a more appropriate source for such a warning than someone who lost much of their own hearing because of loud music?

Your ears don't care whether the music is coming from an iPod, a live concert, or a crappy clock radio turned way up. For that matter they don't care if the sound is the most beautiful music perfectly rendered by a pair of $400 headphones or a jackhammer. All that matters is that if the sound is turned up too loud for too long you WILL lose your hearing over time. There is no arguing about it. You WILL lose your hearing. And it will NEVER come back. The hair cells in your ears do not grow back. EVER.

The louder the music, and the more often it is allowed to assault your ears, the sooner and more severe the hearing loss will be. So instead of criticizing the warning, you should be heeding it.

But as others pointed out earlier, most won't. I suspect 20 years from now, you will be giving the same warning to the next generation. Hopefully you will have enough hearing left to hear their response.

eldarkus, have you heard the phrase "opinions are like a-holes, everyone has one"?

Speaking as a vocalist and iPod owner, I will say that I try my best to preserve my hearing bv trying to not play my iPod over 1/8th the volume range.

That has kept my hearing in working order so far and I don't listen to my iPod too often either. My hearing is important to me because I have to do things by ear since I cannot read music.