iPods May Pose Health Risk

[theFerf]

According to researchers at Sydney's National Acoustic Laboratories, one out of four iPod users is damaging their ears by blasting audio at unsafe levels.

The researchers found that about 25% of those surveyed listened to their players at volumes similar to small power tools. The team predicts increased levels of tinnitus as a result.

Read more... (http://www.podcastingnews.com/archives/2005/08/ipods_may_pose.html)

Source: Podcasting News (http://www.podcastingnews.com/)
Podcasting News features the latest podcast news, along with reviews, hardware and software info, and a podcast directory.

[jimk]

I hate...well, not HATE hate, but maybe dislike these kinds of stories. It's not iPods, it's dumb people! Same with Walkmans, portable CD...hell, in the 70s records and headphones were ruining hearing.

Tech reporters are whores. iPods are hot, so they toss the word iPod in there to get attention. *ANY* portable player in any format will hurt you if you play it too loudly. My tinnutus wasn't even from a portable device...unless you consider my old boombox portable. I used to detach the speakers, put then close to my ears like headphones and just BLAST Metallica's "Master of Puppets." That album specifically. I did this for most of 1986 and half of 1987. The ringing has been with me ever since.

This is another reason to like in-ear canal phones, BTW. You can get better isolation from outside noise and play the music at a lower volume, thereby reducing your risk.