Have you been listening to your iPod or MP3 player at its loudest? Do you stay in Europe? If the answer to these two questions are in affirmative, then there is news for you. The European Commission has recently (on Monday) established ‘standards’ in context of ‘default maximum volume’ of iPods and other MP3 players. This is been done to ensure that people do not damage their eardrums while listening to these music players, which generally they tend to do at volume levels which are much higher than those prescribed by doctors and experts.
Reportedly, these MP3 music players have a sound level of around 115 to 125 decibels, which is higher than the newly prescribed 80 decibels. So according to the new norms, iPod and other MP3 manufacturers have to bring down their maximum sound levels to 80 decibels. This has not been an ad hoc process on part of the European Commission, rather they have taken a calibrated approach in regard to this. They have taken the different concerned parties (consumers, experts and industry) into confidence and have gone through this process over a span of long 24 months, before finally declaring these new norms.
Huge number of people access their music through the iPdos or other MP3 players and some sources claim that this number could be as high as 100 million. It is not known though, how the general populace has taken to these new norms, many amongst whom like listening to their music at very high volumes. In this context it should be mentioned that these people can listen to music at higher volumes, only the manufacturers have to explicitly mention in their players that beyond a certain level, it is dangerous and harmful for their ear.
