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Topic: "Swishing" in ears after loud sound (Read 6381 times) previous topic - next topic
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"Swishing" in ears after loud sound

Just after listening to music with the volume turned up fairly high I sometimes momentarily hear and feel a sort of "swishing" in my ears, as if some fluid that's been displaced by the vibration is running back to its resting position. Am I just hearing the fluid in the cochlea settle down, or is something else causing it?

I have a feeling that the sound and feeling might be present during the loud passages as well as just after them, and that I only notice them after they've stopped being masked by the music. Not sure.

Also, might this sensation be an indication that I've turned the volume up too high?
 

"Swishing" in ears after loud sound

Reply #1 –
After a loud sound that's depolarized all the outer hair cells on the basilar membrane, some people hear a "swish" or a "swoop" as they repolarize. It is hypothesized that this is the result of distance between the two membranes (basilar and tectoral) changing slightly.

YOU SHOULD NOT LISTEN THAT LOUD!
-----
J. D. (jj) Johnston

"Swishing" in ears after loud sound

Reply #2 –
I sometimes experience that in my left ear which is slightly damaged from a childhood infection, but my recent test shows no serious problems:

EDIT: er, no problems at all

we was young an' full of beans

"Swishing" in ears after loud sound

Reply #3 –
Quote from: skelly831 on
I sometimes experience that in my left ear which is slightly damaged from a childhood infection, but my recent test shows no serious problems:

EDIT: er, no problems at all



At least from 125 Hz to 8000 Hz, which is the only region that employers care about.  You don't know from this data how the rest of your frequency range has been affected.

"Swishing" in ears after loud sound

Reply #4 –
At least I know theres nothing "medically" wrong with me
we was young an' full of beans

"Swishing" in ears after loud sound

Reply #5 –
Quote from: Woodinville on
YOU SHOULD NOT LISTEN THAT LOUD!

Thanks, I won't. 

Hopefully when I get my canalphones I'll be able to hear details without turning the volume up high.

"Swishing" in ears after loud sound

Reply #6 –
Quote from: grai on
Hopefully when I get my canalphones I'll be able to hear details without turning the volume up high.

With this, you can make things even worse :-)
Suggest you get better speakers as well, there are some which can reproduce details at lower volumes...

"Swishing" in ears after loud sound

Reply #7 –
Quote from: mcbear on
Quote from: grai on

Hopefully when I get my canalphones I'll be able to hear details without turning the volume up high.

With this, you can make things even worse :-)
Suggest you get better speakers as well, there are some which can reproduce details at lower volumes...


I think his problem is environment noise rather than bad headphones.

"Swishing" in ears after loud sound

Reply #8 –
it's better to buy headphones with good noise suppression =)

"Swishing" in ears after loud sound

Reply #9 –
environment noise is mostly a problem when listening to classical music generally played quite silent (chamber music) or with high dynamics (the late romantic era).

To everyone who likes to listen too loud: the hair cells inside the Cochlea will never again regenerate once they are damaged! The sense of hearing is a valuable gift that noone should damage intentionally.

"Swishing" in ears after loud sound

Reply #10 –
Quote from: Sunhillow on
environment noise is mostly a problem when listening to classical music generally played quite silent (chamber music) or with high dynamics (the late romantic era).

To everyone who likes to listen too loud: the hair cells inside the Cochlea will never again regenerate once they are damaged! The sense of hearing is a valuable gift that noone should damage intentionally.



Yes, I wholeheartedly concur with this. I've learnt to turn my MP3 player down a lot since I first got canalphones - and I've begun to appreciate the flaws that cheaper canalphones have (I have the MDR-EX71s, which are good, but are quite dangerously resonant right in the middle of the part of the frequency spectrum which can hurt your ears the most if it's too loud - there's a peak at ~5kHz, and a little further up at about 7.5kHz, for example.) I notch these frequencies down on my MP3 player with its parametric EQ, but not everyone can do this. When I was at a recent trade show, I blind tested all of Shure's offerings (E2Cs, E3Cs, E4Cs, and their other 500 ones which I can't remember the model number of) and I could hear an immediate difference... Less bass, but a much cleaner, clearer and flat response. Guess what I'm buying as my next pair of in-ears when these Sonys die...


You only appreciate just how harmful regular, cheap headphones are after you've gotten used to listening with quality headphones. I only began to fully appreciate just how abysmal normal headphones are (even the 'good' sets, don't even get me started on the iPod headphones) when I got a pair of HD650s for my Uni course (Music Tech), it's like night and day when comparing those headphones to my cheap consumer headphones.





I also fully support the work of the Royal National Institute for the Deaf's "Don't Lose The Music" campaign, check their site at http://www.dontlosethemusic.com/home/ - its aim is to prevent people who aren't deaf from going deaf by educating them of the dangers of overly-loud music listening! The amount of times I go out to a club or a venue, and nobody's wearing earplugs and the music's cranking out at 110dB... The iPod generation is going to become the cochlear implant generation in twenty years' time

You can get Don't Lose The Music T-Shirts off eBay (they sell them auction-style to fundraise), all of the proceeds from their sales go to the RNID to help further their cause so if you're in the UK please go and give some money to them. I don't know about US charities in this area, but I'm sure there are some.


We only get the ability to hear once, if you're like me and hope to eventually make a career out of your ability to critically listen to music you realise all too quickly just how neglectful people are of their hearing
Don't forget International Talk Like A Pirate Day! September the 19th!