I have a job where I need some serious hearing protection. The ear plugs and ear muffs that the company provide are not cutting it. I have some residual tinnitus (ringing) in both ears from my wild youth. At night, after a day’s work, I can hear that ringing has been slightly exacerbated. Since I need my hearing equipment to last a few more years I have some questions.
Does anyone have some experience with high-end hearing protection? It looks like ENC and ANCH protection as well as quality passive protection are going to run about $60 - $80. From the research and googling so far it seems that active noise cancellation drops off at higher frequencies. The noise I’m trying to guard against is just up in that range: 12K to 18K hertz.
Anyone have knowledge or experience with active noise cancellation? Maybe I should go with top-of-the-line passive. Do tell.
I’ve only limited second-hand knowledge, but it sounds like what you need is custom-fitted filtering earplugs. Definietly not cheap, but by themselves they filter the most harmful frequencies, which you identified, while still allowing speech and other sounds to be audible. Additionally, you could wear them under exterior muffs, giving a second layer of insulation.
I’m going to guess that the ordinary hearing protection shooters use would be insufficient as they are designed for lower frequency sound.
Do you have any friends in the military or airline industry? I’d bet that the hearing protection worn by ground personnel at airports and military airfields is able to arrest the higher sonic frequencies of jet engines.
You should really go to an audiolgoist about this and your employer should pay for it. I can tell you what I use for shooting but you really need to get an expert opinion. Tinnitus doesn’t go away and lost hearing doesn’t come back so it isn’t worth saving a few bucks.
FWIW I use molded ear plug I got at a gun showl. They work well for moderate gunfire levels but really don’t fit as snugly as foam plugs. The advantage is I can wear a hat and they are comfortable to wear for hours. I also wear Dillon electronic hearing protectors. Note that these aren’t the same as active hearing protection. They have a microphone and speaker arrangement to allow one to hear normal speech while attenuating gunfire. I do not think they are approved for industrial use.
Padeye I was thinking about hitting up my employer for the cost of some or all of this. They are terrific folks and I’ll bet they’ll be more than happy to spring for it.
And don’t I know tinnitus doesn’t go away. I have a pretty low level right now but it’s been with me for the last 15 years. My brother’s an MD and calls it, “The sound of auditory nerves dying.”
MM, are you sure that it’s the noise that’s exacerbating your tinnitus? I have it also and when I wear earplugs for extended periods and then take them out, I notice the sound even more. I belive the reason is that while I’m wearing the earplugs, I can tune it out as it is often the only sound I hear, but then when I take the things out and everything comes back again, I begin to notice it as there are now more sounds.
I suppose the question is how much longer afterwards?
Also, what’s the dB levels that you’re working with? Your earplugs should come with a chart showing the specific attenuation levels. I’ve noticed that the tinnitus is to some degree subjective, this may account for some or all of your problem.
Thanks, Chairman Pow. I’ll take your remarks to heart and pay some attention this week. That said, I wore earplugs 4-5 hours per day at my last job and never had an increase in tinnitus. As for the length of time that I have an increase: I can hear it right now. Usually I have to listen for it when there is some ambient sound, but now I can hear it without trying too hard.
It actually probably isn’t up much, but that it’s up at all has my red flags waving. The sound levels are pretty high. I’m guessing, 'cause I don’t have a way to read noise levels, but I’d say 110 - 115 dB. With the naked ear you shout to be heard from about a foot away. I’m addressing this problem in the next few days, no worries. I appreciate the input, of course.
For those of you thinking, “Earplugs are for wusses,” I’d like to tell you that I’m looking forward to this summer, when the Brood X cicadas are in full song. They’ll drown out the ringing in my ears.
simple earplugs that go for a a few bucks can provide up to about 40 db of protection around your target frequencies.
on the other hand noise cancelling music headphones drop off in attenuation above just 1 khz.
i would imagine active hearing protection will keep working to higher frequencies than 1 khz but there is still a fundamental problem that to have infinite frequency response the microphone and transducer would have to be in exact same location, which is impossible. because there is some offset cancellaton is not possible at higher frequencies as the signals will improperly track phase.
so if ur dealing with screeching type noises, kind of like the wheels of the subway car screeching on the tracks, regular foam earplugs PROPERLY INSERTED i think might be the way to go.
you can get some extra attenuation by wearing both plugs and muffs, but its not going to be twice the attenuation. that is 30db + 30db might only work out to about 40 db because the bones of your head will conduct sound around the plugs and muffs.
i am an audiphile and paranoid about hearing protection. i wear howard leight ear plugs on the subway, etymotic research hi-fi attenuators in the gym, car and on concerts, and howard leight ear muffs when i blend my protein shakes. i would use ear plugs with a vacuum cleaner too, but my mother does all the vacuuming
after you insert your foam ear plugs look in the mirror, the plugs should be all the way in your ear, not hanging out. it even took me some time to learn to insert them well.
Let’s see, despite what MM says, the highest-rated earplugs I’ve seen are 34db. 110-34=76. Loud, but not enough to cause the ringing you’re thinking of…
I used to wear plugs and muffs, but like MM said, the additional reduction wasn’t that great and it felt like the different noices my body made (no, not like that, like my spine grinding when I turned my head, footsteps, ears throbbing with circulation) really got obnoxious.
God, doesn’t it feel like it some times. Like I said, I’m guessing at specific levels. The sound is loudest when me and the guy next to me are both operating our machinery at the same time. You may have guessed I work in a machine shop. My spindle turns at 15K to 20K and the guy next to me turns 12K to 15K, or so. That’s how I had a handle on the frequencies involved.
Again, thanks for all the terrific input. I talked to the GM today and he’s willing to spring for the custom ear plugs of the type Gorilla Man suggested.
in addition to wearing the foam earplug + earmuff combination, is there any way you could partially enclose the machines with sound-absorbent material? you might not be able to do much about your particular machine, but dividers between you and the machines around you might make a big difference.
The vibe table in our building was very loud until they raised it off the floor, put down some rubber pads between the machine feet and the floor, then lowered it back down. Those little rubber pads reduced the noise considerably.
