Quote of the day: Pete Townshend: iPods, "trouble ahead"

Pete Townshend, 60-year-old guitarist for rock band The Who, said his hearing was irreversibly damaged by years of using studio headphones and has cautioned digital music player listeners, according to The Associated Press.

"I have unwittingly helped to invent and refine a type of music that makes its principal components deaf," he said on his Web site .

"Hearing loss is a terrible thing because it cannot be repaired. If you use an iPod or anything like it, or your child uses one, you MAY be OK...But my intuition tells me there is terrible trouble ahead." Click here for full story.

No, he went deaf from

standing in front of Speaker stacks at 100+ decibles for years. Apparently he's senile now too, not being able to justify this.

[clayhorste]

Book of world records.

Could his deafness possibly be an outcome from being in the "Worlds Loudest Band"? I think Pete and the Who are great, but my logic says that the iPod earbuds aren't dangerous all by themselves.

[Vadersgal]

I thought...

he blew his eardrum during their performance on Ed Sullivan or
something when Keith Moon put fireworks in his bass drum and
Townsend was standing right by it when it blew...

I'm pretty sure it wasn't from studio headphones.

[mrszilch]

There, indeed, is trouble ahead

As the eariler comments indicate, the peception is that hearing loss occurs at loud rock concerts & not with ear pods. Mr. Townshend is to be commended for his warnings. Ear pods concentrate sound waves directly into the ear and can be more damaging than concert attendance. How many hours a day does one attend rock concerts? Hearing damage, like tissue damage by radiation, has 2 factors: intensity AND time. So while the intensity may not be 100+ decibles with the advent of portable audio devices time really becomes a significant factor. People need to look at exposure & risk for hearing loss as we do with health & smoking--in 'pack-years'.

[Nathan Lunn]

While you bring up good points, lets be clear.

Permanent hearing loss can occur from attending one concert whereas smoking one cigarette won't lead to lung cancer. The decible level of some concerts has been equal to, and sometimes greater than, the decilbe level of a jet engine. Airport employees are issued protective equipment. I know musicians who wear earplugs while playing to protect their hearing. I also know life long bagpipe and violin/viola musicians who are deaf in one ear, who now make their children wear an ear plug to protect their hearing.

Yes, the intensity plays a major part in hearing loss. Wearing earphones doesn't cause hearing loss. I sometime wear mine, without playing music, simply because they block out some of the ambient noise. When I do listen to music through earphones, the sound level is low enough that people sitting near me can't hear what I'm listening to and I can still hear others around me.

The message that your iPod will cause hearing loss is foolish and won't do anything to protect the hearing of anyone. Listening to Townsend on your iPod through earphones with the volume level so high that people three feet away from you can hear the music too, that's what the message should be.

[stonemichael]

self deception?

extensive use of ear phones or ear buds over a long period of
time will damage your hearing! please do not try to rationalize
away the danger via reference to peculiarities in Townsends
biography. you only fool and hurt yourself by living in denial.

[Nathan Lunn]

Rationalize this

Townsend is deaf because he spent too many years with the volume turned up to high. Whether by speaker or earphone, the volume was up high.

Sticking earphones in your ears WON"T cause damage to your hearing. Sticking earphones in your ears, turning the volume up too high and using them for several hours WILL cause damage to your hearing. Using earphones, even for extended periods of time, with the volume level at a comfortable and safe level has not been proven to cause hearing loss. Have to add safe because what some people consider comfortable is far from safe.