Peltor X5A's Frequency Range — How Well Do They Protect Hearing?

[Alessa]

Hi!

I've got a practical issue.

Yesterday I was attending a class through Zoom, and, in order to protect myself from exterior noises, I donned the Peltor X5A AND, to be able to still listen to the teacher, I amped up the volume on my phone.

The problem is that any discrepancy in the protection range could let through harmful noise to my damaged ears...

I cast a glance at the X5A sheet, and there seems to be a huge collapse towards the low frequencies (protection halved).

So I'm pretty anxious about it right now. The sound was not unpleasant but sometimes certain noises sounded quite powerful (in contrast to the usual stream). I fear having unwittingly damaged my ears or compromised my healing...

What do you think about it?

Is this amplification 'technique' viable for severe hyperacusis? Do you think I actually did damage again?

Living with hyperacusis makes everything so menacing.

Thanks for your attention.

 

[Stacken77]

Yesterday I was attending a class through Zoom, and, in order to protect myself from exterior noises, I donned the X5A AND, to be able to still listen to the teacher, I amped up the volume on my phone.

I have very bad sensitivity towards high frequency sound and use hearing protection 24/7. Because of my job, I have to participate in Teams-meetings quite often, and for that I basically protect my left ear completely with either ear muffs, foam plugs or both, and use a custom molded -15 or -25 dB high fidelity plug in my right ear so I can hear what is being said. It has worked for me, and I have never suffered a "loudness hyperacusis" setback that way, although I do get short tinnitus spikes very often.

I cast a glance at the X5A sheet, and there seems to be a huge collapse towards the low frequencies (protection halved).

Yes, that's why dB reduction can be a little tricky. Low frequency sound is very hard to protect from and penetrates a lot more easily than high frequency sound.

in order to protect my self from exterior noises

What kind of noises were in the environment?

Is this amplification 'technique' viable for severe hyperacusis?

As long as it doesn't cause discomfort, then I think it is viable. If I have more sounds in my surroundings, I use -25 dB filters and amp up the volume a little to compensate.

Living with hyperacusis makes everything so menacing.

I only have sensitivity in terms of loudness, so my experience do not apply to hyperacusis with pain. Do you experience hyperacusis in terms of pain, or in terms of volume?

If it's the latter, and you don't feel a big difference in your tolerance now, I think it's fine.

Wish you well,
Stacken

 

[Juan]

in order to protect myself from exterior noises

I would rather try to connect to that class from another location where you can have peace and quiet and listen to the conference without earmuffs...

 

[GoatSheep]

Your phone is not outputting those frequencies under 500 Hz at nearly the level it does above 500 Hz where the protection is still in the higher range. Read this article for further reference.

The Reason Why You Can't Hear Your Bass On Small Speakers.

 

[another sean]

I would consider trying to get captions for your Zoom session. Zoom doesn't natively support captions but you can output the audio to another device like a desktop, laptop, tablet or another phone running AVA using a line cable and the correct adapter for total silence or you can run AVA another desktop, laptop, tablet or another phone and just have it caption the audio coming out of the speaker from your phone hosting the Zoom session and using the internal mic on the other device and have it display captions in AVA. AVA captions pretty quickly. This is the kind of scenario it was designed for.

 

[Exit]

All earmuffs do better in high frequencies because it's easier!

Still good enough for construction work so some talk on crappie computer speaker won't hurt you but you'll still hear the crappiness.

 

[Alessa]

and use a custom molded -15 or -25 dB high fidelity plug in my right ear so I can hear what is being said.

This means attenuating everything but the human voice frequencies, right?

Could be very useful but i am very paranoid about the selective purity: there has to be no parasite frequency let loose...

Plus it costs money, and Im shit poor atm.
But the technique is great and I am toying with the idea.

Do you experience hyperacusis in terms of pain, or in terms of volume?

Loudness and pain.

Actually, my ears feel like big wounds that cant handle sounds even when facing low-moderate volume... (for the time being hopefully).

Your phone is not outputting those frequencies under 500 Hz at nearly the level it does above 500 Hz where the protection is still in the higher range. Read this article for further reference.

So if Im getting it right the sound is not filtered as efficiently as it is in the higher frequencies, but the output is less powerful so it makes up for it?

Thanks for the link Ill read it through when I have the time (very soon).

Any piece of information is welcome, thank you.

I would consider trying to get captions for your Zoom session.

Sounds fantastic. The only concern I have is the quality of the subs. I assume that its decent since you recommend it but could you share your experience about it? Anyway decent subs would be like a miracle for me.

Thank everyone for your attention and your replies.

 

[Stacken77]

This means attenuating everything but the human voice frequencies, right?

Could be very useful but i am very paranoid about the selective purity: there has to be no parasite frequency let loose...

Plus it costs money, and Im shit poor atm.
But the technique is great and I am toying with the idea.

My understanding is that custom molded ear plugs with interchangeable filters attenuate pretty equally across all frequencies. That's the reason one hears voices more clearly with them in. The "EQ" is "flat" so to speak, while foam ear plugs or muffs cut higher frequencies more than lower.

 

[Taw]

I would consider trying to get captions for your Zoom session. Zoom doesn't natively support captions but you can output the audio to another device like a desktop, laptop, tablet or another phone running AVA using a line cable and the correct adapter for total silence or you can run AVA another desktop, laptop, tablet or another phone and just have it caption the audio coming out of the speaker from your phone hosting the Zoom session and using the internal mic on the other device and have it display captions in AVA. AVA captions pretty quickly. This is the kind of scenario it was designed for.

Zoom supports live captions, they are not perfect, but if the person speaks clearly, it has like 90% accuracy. I use it all the time with my colleagues.

@Alessa, you can try foam earplugs, they work a lot better than earmuffs for low frequencies. Custom earplugs do not have that level of protection as foam ones.

 

[another sean]

Sounds fantastic. The only concern I have is the quality of the subs. I assume that its decent since you recommend it but could you share your experience about it? Anyway decent subs would be like a miracle for me.

I have had really good experience with AVA. It was a life saver. The quality of the subs greatly depends in the quality of the input audio so if you can do a line in, then that would help create the most accurate subs. It also depends on the speaker speaking clearly. There are also pro subscriptions where subs can be even more accurate, I think a live person monitors them to step in when needed. I've only used the free version. You can download the app and try it on your phone and just speak and see how accurate they are.

 

[another sean]

Zoom supports live captions, they are not perfect, but if the person speaks clearly, it has like 90% accuracy. I use it all the time with my colleagues.

Oh, good. They must have added that feature since last I looked.