![]() Permanent hearing impairments, especially at higher frequencies, have often been reported after years of continual high-level exposure. While the vulnerability of the ear is somewhat individual in long-term high-level exposure, music-induced tinnitus, hyperacusis (a reduced tolerance of suprathreshold sounds), diplacusis (perception of a single sound as double), temporary threshold shift (recoverable worsening of hearing thresholds) and ![]() Music as a hobby or a profession often exposes the listener to sound levels that are hazardous to hearing. Keywords: Bekesy audiometry, earplug, hearing conservation, measurement It was concluded that support and determination to get accustomed to hearing protector use are important factors in hearing conservation. No significant association was found between earplug attenuation properties and earplug use. Mean attenuation was found to be somewhat closer to the nominal attenuation of the ER-9 and ER-15 earplugs up to about 1 kHz, whereas REAT measurements in sound field revealed more even attenuation at frequencies between 1 and 6 kHz. We therefore tested 10 additional subjects to find out whether a sweeping signal used in Bekesy audiometry would bring more detailed information on earplug attenuation. Fluctuation in attenuation might be related to low use of hearing protectors, and REAT measured at fixed center frequencies may be too robust a method to uncover it. In the frequency range studied (0.125-8 kHz), individual variation in REAT was, however, up to 15 dB across the measured frequencies. The REAT values obtained in sound field were relatively close to the manufacturer's nominal specifications, being 13.7 dB, on average. Additionally, several reasons related to discomfort of use were itemized, but the musicians who consistently used their earplugs did so in spite of problems with use. Earplug use was found to be low, and the musicians reported that earplugs hampered listening to their own and their colleagues' playing earplugs affected either timbre or dynamics, or both. ![]() ![]() We explored the usage rate of custom-molded musician's earplugs (ER-15) among 15 symphony orchestra musicians with a questionnaire, and measured the attenuation properties of their earplugs with a Real-Ear Attenuation at Threshold (REAT) procedure in a sound field. For better hearing conservation, it is important to identify and eliminate the causes for the low motivation to use hearing protection. Institute of Clinical Medicine, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Oulu, Oulu, 'Department of Signal Processing and Acoustics, Aalto University, Helsinki, Finlandĭespite a high level of sound exposure and a fairly large selection of earplugs available, musicians have often been reported to use personal hearing protectors only seldom. Symphony orchestra musicians' use of hearing protection and attenuation of custom-made hearing protectors as measured with two different real-ear attenuation at threshold methods ![]()
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