A New Zealand consumer group are the latest to warn about the dangers of headphone use.

As usual they warn that playing loud music for prolonged periods of time can damage the listeners hearing and they even go so far as to declare it “future epidemic”. They also warn that that it can be a slow process:

“The biggest problem with noise exposure is it is slow and insidious - it doesn’t happen suddenly.”

If you’re worried about hearing damage, one possibility is to convert to noise-isolating earphones. These fit directly into your ear-canal and block out a large percentage of external noise making it possible to hear music clearer at lower volumes. Examples of noise-isolating earphones include the budget Fatman Fatfones and the slightly more expensive Jays d-Jays.

Look after your ears, you only get one pair!

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