New headset

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Originally Posted by Les

To be honest, I would not recommend using headphones if protecting your hearing is an issue. Especially when using them for gaming as there can be some really extreme variations in sound levels, ie. when gunfire and explosions start up. People dealing with those things in real-life can get their hearing damaged as part and parcel of being involved in that, but to do the same thing for what just adds up to entertainment's sake isn't worth it IMO.

If you can predict what the loudest noise you're going to hear is, and set the volume for that, even if it means missing out on some of the quieter sounds, then it shouldn't be a problem. But that's not always easy to do, even with music, let alone computer use, and it's easier to avoid those excessive noise levels using external speakers.

In terms of whether or not different quality headphones provide different listening experiences, yes they do. But once you reach a certain point of clarity in the sound, you start to get into the sort of differences that are akin to wine-tasting or colour-grading etc. At that point you're dealing with sensations that are subtle enough to be influenced by your own moods and feelings and impressions as much as anything that can be pinned down by numbers or words. I've only dabbled with that aspect of it a little bit, due to lack of time and money and other interests, but yeah, it's there.

Listening to rock music (the real stuff from the 70's and early 80's) through head phones is one of the things that damaged my hearing I am told . Hanging out around prop planes without protection probably did not help either. "Can you turn that down?!" is my wife's favorite sentence...I think women have super sensitive hearing though .

I REALLY try to avoid headphones now. I lose a lot by playing with speakers I know and earphones sound infinitely better to me, but I really am cautious when it comes to further hearing loss.

BUT! If I could find ear phones that regulated loud sounds I would be heaven. Sort of bringing everything to a common level of amplification. I use electronic earphones at the range which go quiet on the gun shot but allow speech to be heard clearly (close to clearly for me). If I could find head phones that modulated loud sounds down to an appropriate level and still made normal sounds audible....well, I would be appreciative.

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