If you click through several of the links in the online conversation below, you'll see some slightly imprecise headlines, like "Study Links Personal Music Players to Hearing Loss" from Slashdot, and a few alarmist headlines, like "MP3 players threaten users' hearing" from CNET. The study in question doesn't have anything specifically to do with MP3 players (it even covers CD players), but rather focuses on the usage of MP3 players. Just as with the original Walkman, your old cassette player (8-track or otherwise), or your CD player, and just like when you go to listen to heavy metal music in the club, listening to music at extremely loud levels for prolongued periods of time damages your hearing. This is nothing new, albeit a good fact to know, spread around, and teach your children. 

Obsessable just wants to make sure that despite the headlines you may be seeing online, nothing specifically about your run of the mill iPod, Zune, or any other MP3 player causes hearing loss. There is nothing about the MP3 technology that causes hearing loss. People making the mistake of listening to music too loud for too long is the only part of this that leads to hearing loss.

[Image: Headphones HDR by sizemore]

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