Posted By Mike Charleston Help needed!! A son is studying for a degree in Stage Light and Sound plus Event Management. To this end he often takes work installing and/or operating stage sound/light systems for all levels of events. He is obviously learning about sound as he progresses; on top of which he has his old man looking over his shoulder and preaching about the need for proper hearing protection! Here comes the rub - he and I both realise that any sound system in a Night Club these days operates beyond the legal limits as a matter of routine - with very, very few exceptions. No matter what any EHO's might argue to the contrary, he goes out every weekend and attends "gigs" where the stated limits are generously exceeded. Last night he was at a session until 5 am and today is suffering from tinnitus - commenting particularly about the low frequency bass levels. Obviously he needs better hearing protection but I have little day to day experience of specifying or using the types he needs. There is only a little self consciousness in him when he says that in-ear devices are needed, rather than coverall muffs - and they have to provide "pure" sound reproduction if he is to avoid taking them off whenever monitoring the "music". To give an idea of what he is up against, he has quoted Leq of 105 dB last night, with frequencies in the range of 30 Hz to 18KHz and a duration of around 7 hours. I want him to discuss this with University tutors. He says they are very competent but will simply advise him to stay within legal limits. He might be ready to do so, but the customers and managements of these clubs certainly aren't! When he does turn down the volume, he is under almost immediate pressure from them to increase it. What could my learned colleagues on this Forum suggest? What would be the best types of protection for me and him to pursue? I am throwing this out for comment but immediately leaving my desk for 4 days, so will be unable to respond to any questions until Friday. Thanks in anticipation. Mike

Posted By Paul Leadbetter Mike The need for 'pure' sound after attenutation by the hearing protection is often used by sound engineers as a reason for not protecting themselves. As far as I can recall, there is no hearing protector which provides the same attentation at all frequencies. Therefore, the attenuated sound will always sound different from the unattenuated. Your son should choose a hearing protector which offers sufficient protection and then get used to what the required noise sounds like when wearing them. Paul

Posted By Tom Clark Here's a site with some interesting details. http://www.unn.ac.uk/net...oise_conceptsofsound.PDF Tom

Posted By Mike Charleston Thanks very much for the suggestions folks (including one Offline). From these it looks like we'll be pursuing the in-ear moulding and if they are available in the UK for around £120, that seems the right starting point. It is a tricky one but as Mike Herbert put it, my son's ears will indeed be a significant part of his livelihood so he and I will do all we can to help him along. At least he is able to recognise and accept that the risk is real, so it is now only a case(!) of finding a reasonable solution. In the meantime, what about all the so called musical establishments that continue to totally ignore noise limits? Does anyone have any words of comfort regarding how they might be brought into line at a future time? Or are we going to continue like this until a generation of clubbers become deaf/hard of hearing? Mike