Amps and Women

Woman do not intrinsically hear better than me. Men are much more apt to suffer hearing loss because of occupational exposures to noise, exposures to guns,loud music ect, also exposures to lawnmowers, weed eaters, saws and other power equipment. I have performed 20 plus audiograms a week on men and woman for over 25 years and the largest percent of hearing loss is in men. But this is changing, woman are now working in jobs that were traditionally male(factory work for an example) they are doing yard work, shooting guns ect. I am now seeing more hearing loss in woman than before. The number one cause of hearing loss today is ampilfied music(headphones, car, home stereos and live music concerts)This may explain in part why woman are able to tell differences in equipment but as a long time music lover and married, I also believe that woman listen differently to music than men(can't explain that part) Good listening to all and remember to wear ear plugs when exposed to noise.A rule of thumb is that if the noise is loud enough that you have to raise your voice for someone next to you to hear, it's probably loud enough to cause a hearing loss. Also remember that time exposed to noise is a key factor too.

Sorry for the typo, I meant to say that woman don't intrinsically better than MEN,(not me) Thanks

There is no genetic base that woman have better hearing than men. I agree that they may listen differently than men but physiologically we hear the same. Critical listening is a learned process. While I also ask my wife to listen, in the final analysis I trust my ears.

I practice Occupational Medicine at a large metro hospital and provide occupational services to employers. Many of my patients are exposed to noise and have noise induced hearing loss. We always perform baseline audiograms and if they work in an area where the noise exceeds the federal limits(OSHA)yearly audiograms are performed. I also spend a great deal on time performing noise sampling to determine noise levels in particular workplaces. I also have tested school age children for hearing loss. There is no difference between the boys and the girls, we all start out the same unless we have a hearing loss from other conditions. As far as our hobby, I agree we listen differently but there is no innate hearing ability in woman.