Apple iPod can cause hearing damage

malware · Feb 4, 2006

Apple is about to be sued because of the potential hearing damage that might be caused by iPods. A report shows that iPods "can produce sounds of more than 115 decibels, a volume that can damage the hearing of a person exposed to the sound for more than 28 seconds per day" and are "inherently defective in design and are not sufficiently adorned with adequate warnings regarding the likelihood of hearing loss". The report also says that French iPods have been preflashed with new software that limits the sound to 100 decibels, but there's no information about modded iPods in the United States.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

Quake2owns · Feb 4, 2006

Ever heard volume control? ipod has one nobody it was his own choice to play it so loud it deafened him.

Mad Cow · Feb 4, 2006

115 decibals is insaneley loud its almost as loud as a airplane taking off. I think thats Bs you'd blow your eardrums out in a day

http://www.zyra.org.uk/db.htm

Dippyskoodlez · Feb 4, 2006

Its called TURN IT DOWN......

What a dumbass... I hope apple counter-sues his ass for being dumb and causing bad publicity.

Solaris17 · Feb 4, 2006

thats bullshit if those ppl are to retarded to turn down the volume because it hurts their ears than they deserve it...

XooM · Feb 4, 2006

its called social darwinism... if you like your music that loud, deal with the consequences.

Steven B · Feb 4, 2006

thats not social darwinism....... Social darwinism is the belief to let things take shape on their own and succede based on their natural evolution. Basically to let things be how they are.

overcast · Feb 4, 2006

Wow no shit? Loud noise can causing hearing damage?!? Who'd have known. Might as well start suing every amplifier manufacturer while we're at it.

G.T · Feb 4, 2006

Dippyskoodlez said:
Its called TURN IT DOWN......

What a dumbass... I hope apple counter-sues his ass for being dumb and causing bad publicity.

When purchasing something of that nature you take it as a given that it would not be allowed to cause you harm, regardless of how loud you care to play it. If they have it set so that it can play @ a harming level Apple deserve to get sued.

zekrahminator · Feb 4, 2006

by Quake2owns-
"Ever heard volume control? ipod has one nobody it was his own choice to play it so loud it deafened him."

well, if you'd read a little more closely, you'd see that it wasnt a guy WAS deafened, but that a guy COULD be deafened...115 decibles is insanely loud. Makes me glad I never got one of those things...I HATE Ipods! it seems like EVERONE has one of those things....in my opinion, there are several better ways to spend $200. I cant wait until this whole Ipod fad has blown over.

Jimmy 2004 · Feb 4, 2006

G.T said:
When purchasing something of that nature you take it as a given that it would not be allowed to cause you harm, regardless of how loud you care to play it. If they have it set so that it can play @ a harming level Apple deserve to get sued.

They don't DESERVE to be sued... it's your own fault if you decide to listen to your music that loud. Do you want every sheet of paper in the world to say "Warning: Can cause paper cuts!" on it? Or perhaps the sun should have a sign saying "Don't look at me, I can blind you". Everyone should already know listening to loud sounds can cause hearing damage. Besides, a quote from my iPod manual:

Warning Permanent hearing loss may occur if earbuds or headphones are used at
high volume. You can adapt over time to a higher volume of sound, which may sound
normal but can be damaging to your hearing. Set your iPod volume to a safe level
before that happens. If you experience ringing in your ears, reduce the volume or
discontinue use of your iPod.

This is written clearly and even made to stand out by putting a blue box around it.

I think that sort of lets people know...

josechow · Feb 4, 2006

G.T said:
When purchasing something of that nature you take it as a given that it would not be allowed to cause you harm, regardless of how loud you care to play it. If they have it set so that it can play @ a harming level Apple deserve to get sued.

so your saying, if I buy a car and I just so happen to start speeding and crash into a tree, I should sue the car manufacturer? I know that those are different products on the spectrum, in that speeding is illegal and increasing the volume on your Ipod isn't. But how do you draw that line between idiocy and responsibility?

The person who is sueing Apple is an idiot. Its only common sense that the louder you play your mp3 device or your stereo, the more its going to affect your ears. But I guess all idiots must be protected in society from harming themselves since they can't realize what they are doing. Thats about the only reason why I think a suit like this can go through.

Its no excuse, however, for a big company such as Apple to forget minor details to protect their consumers from harming themselves. The guy has pretty good standing on the case I think, even if he is a complete and total idiot.

overcast · Feb 4, 2006

G.T said:
When purchasing something of that nature you take it as a given that it would not be allowed to cause you harm, regardless of how loud you care to play it. If they have it set so that it can play @ a harming level Apple deserve to get sued.

What are you joking, that's like saying they should restrict cars to operate at no more than 1mph because anything over that has a greater chance of fatality when in an accident. Use your head will you.

XooM · Feb 4, 2006

can i sue my parents if i trip? or do i sue "god" (or whatever you would prefer)? 'Cause, y'know, tripping over my own two feet can be very uncomfortable and dangerous.
should i sue the ice rink if i fall on their ice and trash my arm?
should i sue my friends' band because they play loudly? or should i sue the amp manufacturors because they can be set to pretty damn loud?
what if someone fell over a Dell? should they sue Dell because the computer was a object in their path and it made them fall?

this is just stupid. its called common sense, who cares. not that i like Apple, but this is ludicrous.

spectre440 · Feb 4, 2006

XooM said:
this is just stupid. its called common sense, who cares. not that i like Apple, but this is ludicrous.

agreed. absolutly bloody ludicrous.

G.T · Feb 4, 2006

overcast said:
What are you joking, that's like saying they should restrict cars to operate at no more than 1mph because anything over that has a greater chance of fatality when in an accident. Use your head will you.

O.K, seems some of you need this spelling out in slow deliberate easy chunks.

First of all, we now live in that dreaded "United States Sue culture" so yeah, if they stick their collective arses out someone is gonna approach with some KY Jelly and an evil grin.

Secondly, what is the sense of having something that can play at damaging levels? NONE. It should have been restricted to stop this issue before being sold. Every Walkman, personal radio/stereo and MP3 player I have owned sicne the age of about 8 has never blown my eardrums, so if Apple are that retarded they release one that can, they will get what they deserve and rightly so for being so stupid.

Put aside the idiots playing it too loud, how about those who jack in the plugs, hit play and did not realize the volume had some how managed to get on full blast? It's the accidental issues I am banging on about that they deserve to get the KY treatment for. It only takes a moment to blow out the ear drum, then once gone you are screwed.

wazzledoozle · Feb 4, 2006

G.T said:
Secondly, what is the sense of having something that can play at damaging levels? NONE. It should have been restricted to stop this issue before being sold. Every Walkman, personal radio/stereo and MP3 player I have owned sicne the age of about 8 has never blown my eardrums, so if Apple are that retarded they release one that can, they will get what they deserve and rightly so for being so stupid.

I agree wth this. I just got a Zen Micro, and it can go to even higher db levels than an ipod :eek:

I dont see what the point is, you CANT listen to it that loud.

Shadow_Fox · Feb 4, 2006

zekrahminator said:
by Quake2owns-
"Ever heard volume control? ipod has one nobody it was his own choice to play it so loud it deafened him."

well, if you'd read a little more closely, you'd see that it wasnt a guy WAS deafened, but that a guy COULD be deafened...115 decibles is insanely loud. Makes me glad I never got one of those things...I HATE Ipods! it seems like EVERONE has one of those things....in my opinion, there are several better ways to spend $200. I cant wait until this whole Ipod fad has blown over.

Seriously I agree with you. If you want to be an idiot and blow your eardrums out, go ahead. but why sue knowing that playing that favorite backstreet boys song over and over will make you deaf. You deserve to be death. Seriously with $200 dollars I'm Pretty sure you can like go get New Reebok Classics, or take your girl out to dinner.

Shadow_Fox · Feb 4, 2006

spectre440 said:
agreed. absolutly bloody ludicrous.

Goes Double For Me

XooM · Feb 4, 2006

the insanely loud levels could plausibly be (this is from my ass, just trying to make excuses for manufacturers here to prolong a debate) for things like post-amps, filters, etc. where a higher-power input is preferable for some reason. Another reason, in my brother's car, we use the tape deck to play his iPod through the stereo, so he usually puts his ipod on full blast and controls it with the tape deck's controls, resulting in less "lost sound".
yeah, pulled from my ass, i know.
But a real need for that power is to drive high-end headphones. that 115dB is gonna be a lot less than 115 dB when you hook your ipod up to some highend, 300 ohm headphones

Mussels · Feb 5, 2006

as said by others here, for average use 115db is too damn loud. What they did was give it that much power, for high ohmage headphones and things like that. A bad idea, really. they should make it designed to the headphones with it, as most people (myself included) use portable amplifiers anyway with our high-end headphones (mine are only 80ohm or something anyway, and they're quiet on most players)

Velocity · Feb 5, 2006

1.its the damn kids fault if he put the fucker up so high that it would do damage that if he would have taken 3 seconds to read the manual he would have known it would cause.

2.its apples fault for releasing a product that has the ability to cause damage to a market that seus people for the stuipidest shit on the face of the earth.

bottom line is that it was a double fault 1 for the kid being a retard and 2 that apple didnt take certain precautions reguarding volume control. Ill stick with my minidisc player anyday over an ipod anyways.

Jimmy 2004 · Feb 5, 2006

Just realised, the message I quoted earlier from the iPod manual warning users or ear damage actually appears TWICE in the manual. I do agree with the idea of accidently putting the volume too high, but it takes more than just a few seconds at 115db to damage your ears permanently. Besides, who is the one that will be suing Apple... surely everyone who owns an iPod could sue them if one person does when no one has actually suffered hearing loss? My guess is that the only thing that will happen is Apple will release a firmware update that limits the volume.

Darksides · Feb 6, 2006

Jimmy 2004 said:
I do agree with the idea of accidently putting the volume too high, but it takes more than just a few seconds at 115db to damage your ears permanently.

That all depends on what you are listening to if the music starts of with a lot of bass (or with a cannon going off and there are some that do) and the iPod is set at full blast kiss your ears good bye,by the time your brain gets over the shock and tells you to turn it down/take the headphones off the damage is done.

Jimmy 2004 · Feb 6, 2006

Darksides said:
That all depends on what you are listening to if the music starts of with a lot of bass (or with a cannon going off and there are some that do) and the iPod is set at full blast kiss your ears good bye,by the time your brain gets over the shock and tells you to turn it down/take the headphones off the damage is done.

Still, 115db is the most that the iPod can produce, and 115db will not damage your hearing after only a few seconds. Your ears need closer to 180db to be damaged in a few seconds, and even then it's debatable how long it would take to cause permanent damage. Standing 5m away from an accelerating motorbike is around 110db, 120db is how loud a jet taking-off 100m away would be and 140db is how loud a rifle being fired 1m away is.

Processor	Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 VID: 1.2125
Motherboard	GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3P rev.2.0
Cooling	Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme + Noctua NF-S12 Fan
Memory	4x1 GB PQI DDR2 PC2-6400
Video Card(s)	Colorful iGame Radeon HD 4890 1 GB GDDR5
Storage	2x 500 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 32 MB RAID0
Display(s)	BenQ G2400W 24-inch WideScreen LCD
Case	Cooler Master COSMOS RC-1000 (sold), Cooler Master HAF-932 (delivered)
Audio Device(s)	Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic + Logitech Z-5500 Digital THX
Power Supply	Chieftec CFT-1000G-DF 1kW
Software	Laptop: Lenovo 3000 N200 C2DT2310/3GB/120GB/GF7300/15.4"/Razer

Processor	Amd Fx-f7
Motherboard	abit fatal1ty an8 sli
Cooling	cooler master hyper 6+
Memory	2 Gb Crucial Ballistix
Video Card(s)	evga 7800 gtx
Storage	2 x 74gb raptor
Display(s)	crap
Case	Thermaltake Kandalf
Audio Device(s)	soundblaster x-fi
Power Supply	enermax all in one noisetaker 600 watts

System Name	Dell XPS 15 9560
Processor	I7-7700HQ
Memory	32GB DDR4
Video Card(s)	GTX 1050/1080 Ti
Storage	1TB SSD
Display(s)	2x Dell P2715Q/4k Internal
Case	Razer Core
Audio Device(s)	Creative E5/Objective 2 Amp/Senn HD650
Mouse	Logitech Proteus Core
Keyboard	Logitech G910

System Name	Rocinante
Processor	I9 14900KS
Motherboard	MSI MPG Z790I Edge WiFi Gaming
Cooling	be quiet! Pure Loop 240mm
Memory	64GB Gskill Trident Z5 DDR5 6000 @6400
Video Card(s)	MSI SUPRIM Liquid X 4090
Storage	1x 500GB 980 Pro \| 1x 1TB 980 Pro \| 1x 8TB Corsair MP400
Display(s)	Philips Evnia 49M2C8900
Case	LANCOOL 205M MESH Snow
Audio Device(s)	Moondrop S8's on Schiit Hel 2e
Power Supply	ASUS ROG Loki SFX-L 1000W
Mouse	Lamzu Atlantis mini (White)
Keyboard	Monsgeek M3 Lavender, Akko Crystal Blues
VR HMD	Quest 3
Software	Windows 11
Benchmark Scores	I dont have time for that.

Processor	Athlon 64 3800 x2 Windosr @ 2.65 (and rising)
Motherboard	BIOSTAR TForce 550
Cooling	Custom Liquid (WMD20RLZT, Swiftech STORM, 2-302 w/ custom shroud, 2x sanyo denki)
Memory	Patriot PDC22G5300LLK
Video Card(s)	Sapphire x1900GT
Storage	1x maxtor 40gb, 2x hitachi T7K250 160gb drives RAID 0, 1x 160gb Spinpoint
Display(s)	2x 17" CRT (dells; one from 1998, one from 2001) at 1600x1200 each
Case	Aspire X-SuperAlien
Audio Device(s)	integrated
Power Supply	Seasonic S12 600watt
Software	WinXP SP2, Folding@Home, Battlefield2, etc

Processor	AMD Opteron 165 @ 2.7ghz Stock Voltage
Motherboard	ASUS A8N-SLI Premium
Cooling	Stock Opteron
Memory	OCZ PC4000 EB Platinum 2GB
Video Card(s)	ATI X1900XTX
Storage	2 x Western Digital 74gb Raptors
Display(s)	NEC 990B 19"
Case	Antec P150
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Seasonic S12-500
Software	XP 32bit

Processor	3.20E GHz P4 Prescott
Motherboard	Asus P4P800-E Deluxe
Cooling	Zalman (CNPS7000B-CU) Super Flower Cooler + Ultracool II fan controller
Memory	2 Gig Mushkin HP 3200
Video Card(s)	Leadtek A6600GT TDH
Storage	2 x WD 10k 74GB Raptors in RAID 0 (OS), 2 x WD 80GB SATA RAID 0, 1 X Maxtor 250GB ATA (Media, music)
Display(s)	Samsung 19" TFT SyncMaster 913N
Case	Antec Plusview Iii (Modded front) 1000AMG SOHO File Server - 5X Antec UV reactive fans - 2xUV tubes
Audio Device(s)	Creative X-FI Fatal1ty FPS running through Creative Inspire 6.1 6700 speakers
Power Supply	Hiper Type-R 580w Blue with UV cables
Software	XP pro (Legit) & shitloads that isn't >:] /serial Brycer and FraxFlamer :)

Processor	AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Brisbane @ 2.8GHz (224x12.5, 1.425V)
Motherboard	Gigabyte sumthin-or-another, it's got an nForce 430
Cooling	Dual 120mm case fans front/rear, Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro, Zalman VF-900 on GPU
Memory	2GB G.Skill DDR2 800
Video Card(s)	Sapphire X850XT @ 580/600
Storage	WD 160 GB SATA hard drive.
Display(s)	Hanns G 19" widescreen, 5ms response time, 1440x900
Case	Thermaltake Soprano (black with side window).
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster Live! 24 bit (paired with X-530 speakers).
Power Supply	ThermalTake 430W TR2
Software	XP Home SP2, can't wait for Vista SP1.

System Name	Jimmy 2004's PC
Processor	S754 AMD Athlon64 3200+ @ 2640MHz
Motherboard	ASUS K8N
Cooling	AC Freezer 64 Pro + Zalman VF1000 + 5x120mm Antec TriCool Case Fans
Memory	1GB Kingston PC3200 (2x512MB)
Video Card(s)	Saphire 256MB X800 GTO @ 450MHz/560MHz (Core/Memory)
Storage	500GB Western Digital SATA II + 80GB Maxtor DiamondMax SATA
Display(s)	Digimate 17" TFT (1280x1024)
Case	Antec P182
Audio Device(s)	Audigy 4 + Creative Inspire T7900 7.1 Speakers
Power Supply	Corsair HX520W
Software	Windows XP Home

Processor	Athlon 64 x2 4000+ (65nm Brisbane)
Motherboard	Abit AN-M2 (AM2) nForce 630a
Cooling	Stock everything (for the time being), 2x120mm fans (intake & exhaust)
Memory	2GB (2x1024) OCZ Platinum PC2-6400 (4-4-4-15, 2T)
Video Card(s)	PowerColor ATI HD 2600XT 256mb GDDR4 PCI-e
Storage	Hitachi Deskstar 160GB SATA 3.0G/s, External USB2.0 WD 160GB
Display(s)	LG 17' LCD (L1753TR)
Case	HEC-Compucase 6A, black & grey
Audio Device(s)	On-Board 7.1 (realtek)
Power Supply	Spire Zeno 650W
Software	WinXP Pro SP2 (32-bit, for the time being)

Processor	X2 3800+ @ 2.3 GHz
Motherboard	DFI Lanparty SLI-DR
Cooling	Zalman CNPS 9500 LED
Memory	2x1 Gb OCZ Plat. @ 3-3-2-8-1t 460 MHz
Video Card(s)	HIS IceQ 4670 512Mb
Storage	640Gb & 160Gb western digital sata drives
Display(s)	Hanns G 19" widescreen LCD w/ DVI 5ms
Case	Thermaltake Soprano
Audio Device(s)	Audigy 2 softmod@Audigy 4, Logitech X-530 5:1
Power Supply	Coolermaster eXtreme Power Plus 500w
Software	XP Pro

Processor	Intel Pentium 4
Motherboard	Intel SE7520JR2SCSID1 Dual Xeon
Cooling	Koolance HDD Waterblock, Dual - 1/4" Barbs
Memory	PSD1G400
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Radeon X850XT
Storage	Hitachi/IBM 250GB
Display(s)	VE710s
Case	Thermaltake-ARMOR
Audio Device(s)	Creative Labs-CSBL
Power Supply	10500 ANTEC
Software	Photoshop, Macrodedia, Microsoft Office

System Name	Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor	Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard	Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling	Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory	2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage	2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s)	Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) \| Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) \| Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case	Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G560 \| Corsair Void pro RGB \|Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply	Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse	Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD	Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores	Nyooom.

Processor	Amd X2 5200
Motherboard	DFI Lanparty UT
Cooling	Antec Heat Pipe Cooler
Memory	2gb Kingston Hyperx
Video Card(s)	BFG Tech 8800gtx (768mb)
Storage	1 80g raptor, 1 250g western digital, 2 80g maxtor diamond plus
Display(s)	Starlogic 19inch crt, and generic 17inch crt
Case	Coolermaster Centurion 5 (Blue)
Audio Device(s)	Onboard FTW
Power Supply	Antec Neopower
Software	XP Pro

Apple iPod can cause hearing damage

New Member

New Member

New Member

Super Dainty Moderator

New Member

New Member

New Member

McLovin

New Member

New Member

New Member

New Member

New Member

New Member

New Member

New Member

New Member

New Member

Freshwater Moderator

New Member

New Member

New Member

New Member