Best earphones (with regards to hearing)

[sUPERdUCKY]

Hi all,

while I consider an upgrade to some good quality earphones I have a question about the health of our ears... are the phones that are better or worse for your hearing?

i.e. One could argue that canal phones are better than traditiona in-ears because they seal your ear thus having the volume lower - but then again the traditional in-ears could be better as they allow some of the sound to escape thus not 'all' of the sound is going into your ears....

Could anyone give me facts and advice about this ?

after all we can be careful with earphones and take great care of them and if/when they break just buy a new set.... but our biggest part of the hearing experience is the ears - and we only get one chance with them...

[tonyclifton]

I think it is completely dependent on the user and the volume they listen at.

I may well lean towards the canal headphone (with a lower volume) argument, but it would have to be at a lower volume.

As long as you use headphones sensibly your ears should stay healthy regardless of what type you use.

[Code Monkey]

Yeah, too many people go with canal phones and then still crank them up to dangerous levels. Ultimately, it doesn't matter which design you go with, it's purely an issue of how many decibels are reaching your inner ear.

Hypothetically, with in-ear designs you can continue to listen at safe levels in louder environments where earbuds fail without cranking, but that's a matter of self control and knowing where you'll be using your iPod most often. It takes a LOT of ambient noise before I can't use my Yuins satisfactorily without going above safe levels, and for those times I've got a set of $20 JVC marshmallows*

* The only time these get worn is when I'm mowing the lawn if that's any indication of how much I consider the isolation of in-ears a necessity.