<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML style="FONT-SIZE: x-small; FONT-FAMILY: MS Sans Serif"><HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> <TITLE>Message</TITLE> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2873" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <DIV><SPAN class=820334523-10062006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>I in no way meant for this to be a replacement for a real evaluation by a "professional". I just found it interesting and wanted to pass it along as something potentially useful to play with.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=820334523-10062006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=820334523-10062006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>As far as going to a professional, I have found from experience that unless you go to one that understands the difference between testing the hearing of the normal public and the hearing of those who use their ears professional you may not get results that mean much. You need to make sure that both the signal generating equipment is tested and calibrated regularly AND that the headphones are tested for their ability to actually reproduce, (accurately), what that test equipment is sending them, and replaced regularly if deficient. Among other things, this means you need to make sure they test up above 8K. Most don't because the normal public really has no "need" of anything above that. Most of the doctors figure if a person can hear between 125Hz and 8K then they should be able to understand speech and so subsequently their hearing is "fine". Again, I in no way mean that you should not go to a professional. Just pick the right one.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=820334523-10062006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=820334523-10062006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>When I worked as a mastering engineer at A&M Records they tested our hearing yearly. Both A&M and the testing company knew that the tests we were receiving were inadequate to evaluate our trained range of hearing for the job's were doing. The reason for the testing was only to document CHANGES in in the range they COULD test for. Any loss in that area meant that OSHA was going to step in. The assistant engineers were even required to wear SPL monitoring devices that recorded a weeks worth of loudness levels. Those were then turned in and evaluated in order to make sure the rock-n-rollers weren't pushing the limits of the acceptable listening levels in the control rooms, causing possible damage their employees hearing and subsequently be cause for legal action later. Since a studio would not be able to stay in business if they forced artists to curb their monitoring levels, the studio often took corrective action by rotating the assistants during sessions. As a mastering engineer I had complete control of the monitor levels in my control room. Additionally, I kept an SPL meter on the top of my console to make sure that I knew where 80db SPL was. My clients came to me because of my hearing and they almost never questioned my listening levels, which were usually far below what they mixed at.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=820334523-10062006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=820334523-10062006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>I'm 57 so I don't expect my hearing to be the same as it was when I was 20 or 30. And I know I don't have any hearing "damage". But with that squeaky wood splinter I became sadly aware that my hearing is definitely showing it's age. :-(</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=820334523-10062006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=820334523-10062006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>-- Geoff Sykes</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=820334523-10062006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>-- Assoc. Los Angeles</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=820334523-10062006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV></DIV> <DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] <B>On Behalf Of </B>pmc033@earthlink.net<BR><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, June 10, 2006 3:44 PM<BR><B>To:</B> Pianotech List<BR><B>Subject:</B> RE: Follow-up on hearing protection<BR><BR></FONT></DIV> <DIV> <DIV>HI, Geoff:</DIV> <DIV>    You may want to bite the bullet and have a REAL evaluation done by a "professional".  You need to keep track of your progress, so regular visits are recommended over time.  </DIV> <DIV>    I have a hearing loss which begins at around 4000 hz, so any further degradation for me is going to be devastating.  I've known about this since I was in 8th grade (I'm 55 now), and I've had regular checkups over the years.  It hasn't changed much, if at all.  Luckily, I can still tune (Thanks, Dr. Sanderson!).  Anyway, I also have a problem hearing in a crowd, and had a very similar experience diagnosing a splinter between two keys.  I just couldn't hear it, but eventually the lady pointed it out.  </DIV> <DIV>    At least, get SOME kind of protection, so it doesn't get worse.  In my case, no hearing aid is going to help much.  I don't know if they would help you, but you could check into it.</DIV> <DIV>    I'm also interested to "hear" about those Zem plugs.  I like mine, though.  I use Hearos Musician Plugs from Musician'sfriend.com.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>    FWIW, </DIV> <DIV>    Paul McCloud</DIV> <DIV>    San Diego</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt Arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=thetuner@ivories52.com href="mailto:thetuner@ivories52.com">Geoff Sykes</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To: </B><A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech@Ptg. Org</A></DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> 06/10/2006 2:40:41 PM </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Follow-up on hearing protection</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=625141621-10062006>Well, my original question about the Zem ear plugs never even got addressed, but the thread turned into something interesting anyway. Now let's take it a step further. </SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=625141621-10062006></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=625141621-10062006>I had an experience yesterday that suddenly slammed this subject home for me. While prepping a new piano at a store the manager claimed to be hearing a squeak in two adjacent keys. I could hear a slight rubbing, but no squeak. Everyone else in the store, (<STRONG>much</STRONG> younger than me btw), could hear it. Just by chance a fellow tech walked in. This person is a little younger than me but what makes a real difference is that this person is female, and it has been proven that women have much better hearing then men, and keep it longer. She could also hear it fine. She also found the problem and fixed it. Turned out to be a small piece of wood shaving between two of the keys. She blew it out and the squeak was gone. </SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=625141621-10062006></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=625141621-10062006>So, today I decided to check out just how my ears were behaving. Just what COULD I still hear? Surely there must be an online resource that could provide some clue prior to actually paying to see a doctor. Well my friends, there is! A company called Digital Recordings offers a <STRONG><U>free</U></STRONG> "professional" hearing test online. It offers 24 test frequencies from 20 Hz to 20KHz with SPL ranging from 0 - 80 db in 1 db steps. It requires the Java plug in, some VERY good headphones and a VERY quiet room. I could not get it to run in IE but on Firefox it ran perfectly. Check it out.</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=625141621-10062006></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=625141621-10062006><A href="http://www.digital-recordings.com/hearing-test/www-ht-pro/ht_help_p.html">http://www.digital-recordings.com/hearing-test/www-ht-pro/ht_help_p.html</A></SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=625141621-10062006></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=625141621-10062006>Needless to say I was extremely disappointed in my results. But, as an excuse, I have old crappy headphones, live next to a busy street and there is street construction going outside. I plan to find some decent headphones and try it again in a quiet place, but I don't expect significantly different results. (- sigh -) Fortunately the top note on a piano, (C8), is only around 4186 Hz. Well below where my HF degradation started to kick in. (Whew!) Still...</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=625141621-10062006></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=625141621-10062006>Enjoy. I expect reports.</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=625141621-10062006></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=625141621-10062006>-- Geoff Sykes</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=625141621-10062006>-- Assoc. Los Angeles</SPAN></FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>