In-ear headphones produce the most 4 kHz hearing loss among headphone types
Evidence
Dobrucki et al. (2013) measured hearing loss of 81 young people (16 to 25 years of age) to study the influence of headphone type on hearing loss. The subjects claimed to listen frequently to loud music on headphones and were classified into four categories: young classical musicians, front-of-house/public address (FOH/PA) sound engineers, sound engineers working in recording studios, and general users of headphones not involved in the entertainment industry. Not surprisingly, the FOH/PA engineers had the highest average hearing loss regardless of headphone type, with 9 dB more hearing loss at 4 kHz than the next closest group. The average hearing loss at 4 kHz was observed for in-ear headphones (9.2 dB), with less hearing loss for open (3.9 dB), closed (2.9 dB) and semi-open (0.1 dB) designs. Hodgetts et al. (2009) found increased background noise and activities like exercise tend to lead to higher preferred headphone levels. This suggests that headphone with good passive and active attenuation of background noise can lead to lower preferred playback levels and prevent noise-induced hearing loss. — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 1706
Categorization
- QUESTION: The finding that open-ear designs caused 3.9 dB loss but semi-open only 0.1 dB is odd — the ordering doesn’t obviously track acoustic isolation. Worth checking the original paper for what ‘semi-open’ means in their sample sizing.
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 1706
- XREF: connects to: Noise-induced hearing loss first appears near 4 kHz as an audiometric notch; Headphone type changes both comfort and ear-canal geometry during testing
Broader Connections
- Noise-induced hearing loss first appears near 4 kHz as an audiometric notch
#expands(0.82) - Headphone type changes both comfort and ear-canal geometry during testing
#complicates(0.75)