Despite playing in a rock band for over 15 years, my hearing is still "above average". I had it tested not too long ago, and at the same session, I had molds taken for custom earplugs. These have been invaluable, as they fit very well, are invisible to the eye, and can accomodate different "mufflers" for various levels of attenuation. Best of all, the sound remains clear, just quieter. In truth, I find them more helpful for the rare times that I get to hear another band (as opposed to when I am playing). In most cases, the sound levels hitting the audience are much higher than those that the musician's experience on stage. Interestingly, our lead singer/rhythm guitar player has suffered significant hearing loss, which is what prompted me to get this last test (I have had several other tests over the last 5-6 years, too). It is strange that we have been in the same band for 15 years, have had the same exposure (neither of our jobs involve high SPLs), and one of us experiences significant loss, while the other is (apparently) not effected.
Have you had a hearing test?
I'm 49 years old and work on cars for a living so I'm exposed to noisy air tools, engines, grinders and other loud noises. Plus I spend about three hours a day listening to my stereo system with the average level in the 80db range, sometimes louder when the mood strikes. The other day, a customer came in and requested I take a test drive with him to listen for a "jingle bell" noise emanating from under his car and once under way he remarked "there it is, do you hear it" and I told him I didn't hear anything that sounded like a "jingle bell" noise. My service advisor then rode with him and he told me he could hear the noise but not identify it. So, my 30 year old service advisor could hear the noise but not golden eared me, hmmm. I decided the best course of action would be to have my hearing tested. I checked in the yellow pages and found to my surprise that there were many centers that offered free hearing tests. Yep, absolutely free. The test took about 40 minutes of my time including filling out the questionaire and personal information forms. The results for me were better than I expected. I do have slight high frequency loss but excellent hearing up to the 2K range on the Audiometry test. I checked some sites on the web under the topic "hearing test results" and found I'm in pretty good shape for my age group. Almost all men my age will exhibit some loss but I wanted to establish a benchmark now so that I can take the exam again in a year and monitor any changes. I will definitely be more aware of sheltering my ears from loud damaging noises since I have already experienced some hearing loss. I also found a chart on the web that indicated the maximum recommended time exposure to certain db levels which was very informative. The 95db max was two hours, so if you are going to crank up the tunes, keep it short. I would recommend all you Hi End enthusiasts get your free test and establish a base line, even if you are not forty.