Is listening daily at an average of 85db safe?

Dbphd,

What I am saying is the BRAIN only THINKS it hears the mean sound pressure level. The peaks give you NO sensation (until you turn off the music - you go deaf without knowing it!!) . Pick up any pro sound book (and put away the ten dollar words) or numerous Audio Magazines- it is well documented. Why do you think you can goto a Van Halen concert and not come home stone deaf? The quys that set up concerts know this, or else they would be sued for damages. You can listen to 110 db and be okay as long as there are no 150db peaks. High peaks not only waste enery, but they also leave people deaf.

6550C,

As a grad student in the early 60s I worked at a research center set up to study the effects of noise on man. The work was funded by NIH grants. As a post doc I worked on binaural processing. I have not worked in psychoacoustics for more than 50 years, nor have I read the literature (JASA, etc.). Perhaps the auditory system has evolved since then or acoustic tricks have been invented that are beyond my time.

Although I have not claimed expertise in this field for at least 40 years, IIRC the auditory system pretty much responds to the acoustic events incident upon it. There are limits to temporal resolution, but we perceive acoustic events more or less as they occur.

By "ten dollar words" do you mean basilar membrane and hair cell, the mechanical precursors to the neural firings that are transmitted to the auditory cortex and perceived as sound

"Pro sound books" and "Audio magazines" ( assuming we are not referring to peer reviewed audiology journals) are not exactly the type of sources that should be relied upon for auditory health.

As long as the neighbors dont complain let it rip....its like I'm saving my hearing for what a rainy day....lol.

What?