9°c Sunny
6°c Clear
Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Tech toys
Faders VIP earplugs by Ear Armor from V-Moda
PRICE: $20 a pair (v-moda.com/faders-vip).
HOT: Attenuation (12 decibels at all frequencies) that reduces volume, not sound quality. Earphone look-alikes available in gunmetal black, rouge red and electro pink.
NOT: Inadequate sound reduction for the loudest concerts.
But what if the headliners are the Jackhammers, real-life pneumatic tools blasting 95 decibels toward your eardrums?
Music to your ears? Of course not. You're already packing up, ready to leave. Concert sound levels, however, routinely reach 95 decibels, and they're just as damaging, though certainly less grating.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommends less than an hour of exposure to 95-decibel sound levels in the workplace. If your ears are ringing after a concert, it's a sign of temporary hearing loss and perhaps longer-lasting, even permanent, damage. Don't boycott concerts this summer, and don't bother standing on your friends' shoulders and screaming, "Turn it down!" It won't work.
Protect yourself, and still enjoy the concert with earplugs designed for music such as the Faders VIP by Ear Armor from V-Moda. The $20 Faders VIP earplugs, with a stainless-steel body, hybrid silicone fittings and a safety cable that make them look and feel remarkably like earphones, reduce sound levels 12 decibels at all frequencies. They alter volume, not sound quality.
Industrial foam earplugs don't work that way. For the concertgoer, foam plugs attenuate sound excessively in the high frequencies. It's like listening to a concert with a memory-foam pillow wrapped around your head.
Foam earplugs make the wearer's voice sound unnaturally loud. With the Faders VIP, I could hear normal conversations, my voice sounded natural and I could still listen to music comfortably.
Here's the difference: More than 15 minutes of unprotected listening to 100-decibel-plus music could cause hearing loss. At that same 100-decibel concert with the Faders VIP, the volume reaching your ears would be 88 decibels. You'd be essentially risk-free for about four hours, long enough for every headliner except Springsteen or Phish.
The real danger is when the concert moves indoors, where exposure for more than a minute to sound that could reach 125 decibels might cause permanent hearing loss; the Faders VIP's 12-decibel attenuation might not be enough.
However, with four sizes, the Faders VIP should fit all ears. At $20, they're among the season's smartest buys.
-- The Hartford Courant
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 18, 2012 E2
More Science & Technology
- Back to Top
- Return to Science & Technology
More Science & Technology
(1 of 23 articles for this week)
TV importers accuse border officials of misleading advance tariff rulings
11:14 AM 0OTTAWA - Importers of popular electronics such as big-screen TVs and MP3 players are ramping up their fight against federal ...
Poll
Most Popular Science & Tech
- Twitter adds login verification as extra security measure following breaches
- 'Heads Up!' top paid iPhone app in Canada
- site seeing may 23
- US killer tornado had power of many Hiroshima atomic bombs
- Skyrocketing inflation: Russia now charging NASA $70 million per seat to fly US astronauts
- Poll: More US teens are trending to Twitter; say Facebook older, with too much drama
- First Look: Microsoft introduces an elegant Xbox with sharper Kinect, but much unknown
- Microsoft reveals Xbox One as all-in-1 entertainment console, last of 3 major systems unveiled
- Ebook sales plateauing: BookNet Canada report
- Astronaut Chris Hadfield back on Earth after five-month mission in space
- The end of the credit card?
- Possible BlackBerry tablet steals the show at company's annual conference
- Chris Hadfield's week: from commanding the space station, to being unfit to drive a car
- US killer tornado had power of many Hiroshima atomic bombs
- In unusual pattern, Oklahoma tornado tracked path of 1999 monster twister with record winds
- Poll: More US teens are trending to Twitter; say Facebook older, with too much drama
- All the fitness that fits
- Twitter adds login verification as extra security measure following breaches
- 'Heads Up!' top paid iPhone app in Canada
- Billion-year-old underground water could hold clues to early life on Earth, Mars
- The end of the credit card?
- Astronaut Chris Hadfield back on Earth after five-month mission in space
- Possible BlackBerry tablet steals the show at company's annual conference
- 'WhatsApp Messenger' top paid iPhone app in Canada
- Astronaut MP Garneau snubbed at museum opening of Canadarm exhibit
- Chris Hadfield's week: from commanding the space station, to being unfit to drive a car
- Saskatchewan professor wants to test the health benefits of nose-picking
- Bugged by the billions: East Coast about to see power of big numbers in coming cicada invasion
- Greenhouse gas that's key to global warming hits highest level in about 2 million years
- US killer tornado had power of many Hiroshima atomic bombs
- The end of the credit card?
- Chris Hadfield's week: from commanding the space station, to being unfit to drive a car
- All the fitness that fits
- Possible BlackBerry tablet steals the show at company's annual conference
- Microsoft reveals Xbox One as all-in-1 entertainment console, last of 3 major systems unveiled
- Poll: More US teens are trending to Twitter; say Facebook older, with too much drama
- Saskatchewan professor wants to test the health benefits of nose-picking
- The end of the credit card?
- Astronaut Chris Hadfield back on Earth after five-month mission in space
- Canadians watch 30 hours of TV a week but for many the web dominates free time
- New wireless players Mobilicity, Wind Mobile and Public Mobile may all face sale
- How do you compare? New report reveals stats about social media usage in Canada
- Hurricane watch at Saturn's North Pole: Cyclone eye is 1,250 miles wide, cloud speed 330 mph
- Bugged by the billions: East Coast about to see power of big numbers in coming cicada invasion
- Adobe shifts to subscription model for software package, Creative Suite becomes Creative Cloud
- Windows 8, Take 2: Microsoft to spiff up maligned operating system with 'Blue' touch-up job
Ads by Google
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.
Have Your Say
New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.
The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.