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Those of you against Amber Alerts, or any other alerts of life threatening issues, or a child in danger or kidnapped are idiots. As for the loudness issue you act like it's 165 db. It's not. It's loud to get your attention DUH!!!! If your kid or loved one was taken you would want every single person on earth to know ASAFP. A 10 sec loud tone to get those peoples attention is worth it. Or have you not been to a funeral of a kid taken by a lunatic? Or seen first hand neighborhood destroyed and people killed because the warning for a F3 tornado never came? Some of you are really sad and only want your life to matter.
 
In other words then, even at the max of 112dB it would take more than 5 seconds of this to do the damage claimed…

Could 112dB cause permanent cochlear hearing loss and tinnitus, yes. Vertigo and TM perforations, highly unlikely.

Per OSHA you’d be permitted to be exposed to 112db for about 8.5min. NIOSH, which is more strict would say about 1min.
 
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To burst an ear drum requires over 165db. I call absolute BS on this story. Parents just trying to make a buck.

The noise intensity to rupture an eardrum would have to be very loud, usually 165 decibels or more. This would correspond to the sound intensity of a gunshot at close range, fireworks or extremely loud music. Although the eardrum will heal, damage to the inner ear is often permeant.

Reference SPL measurements are typically taken at 1 kHz sine at 1 meter. Signals attenuate over distance so:

165 dB at 1 meter is 195 dB at 3 centimeters.

Conversely, 134 dB at 1 meter is 165 dB at 3 centimeters.

That said, the first google result returning "165 dB" is not necessarily the authoritative be-all end-all answer. Any sustained noise over 85 dB can cause some degree of permanent hearing loss. Instant hearing damage can occur at 120 dB SPL (again the reference is 1 meter) which is 150 dB at 3 centimeters.

I work a lot with sound in my studio and while I use high impedance, over the ear headphones for monitoring, I mix with near field monitors and I keep them below 85 dB SPL at listening distance most of the time. I only exceed that level briefly if trying to spot some noise artifacts that need further cleanup. It is entirely plausible that the child suffered permanent hearing damage from these sudden and exceptionally loud alerts, and that in a short and sudden burst the earbuds are capable of generating an SPL louder than the listed maximum sustained output.

Protect your ears. Take frequent breaks from headphones, or listen to open air speakers whenever possible, protect your ears with 15 or 25 dB ear filters at concerts or playing loud instruments.
 
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Reference SPL measurements are typically taken at 1 kHz sine at 1 meter. Signals attenuate over distance so:

165 dB at 1 meter is 195 dB at 3 centimeters.

Conversely, 134 dB at 1 meter is 165 dB at 3 centimeters.

That said, the first google result returning "165 dB" is not necessarily the authoritative be-all end-all answer. Any sustained noise over 85 dB can cause some degree of permanent hearing loss. Instant hearing damage can occur at 120 dB SPL (again the reference is 1 meter) which is 150 dB at 3 centimeters.
Where did you get that BS? Sound at those levels do not lower or increases over such short distances. My truck that I competed with put out 156 db dead center of the cab at 38HZ. 4 feet from the sound chamber. In the sound chamber 156.2db. ( 1 ft from a wall of 8 12's.) With the doors open with mic aimed at truck 20 feet away 151.9.
 
Where did you get that BS? Sound at those levels do not lower or increases over such short distances. My truck that I competed with put out 156 db dead center of the cab at 38HZ. 4 feet from the sound chamber. In the sound chamber 156.2db. ( 1 ft from a wall of 8 12's.) With the doors open with mic aimed at truck 20 feet away 151.9.
A lot is being overlooked in your "I put a sub in a truck" example...

Not only is SPL a function of inverse square law (dB is a logarithmic scale; every +3dB is a doubling of wave power; +10dB is a doubling of perceptible loudness in the A-weighted spectrum), but you're using an example at nearly the bottom of the A-weighted range. The higher the frequency, the greater the wave power. So a reference signal at 1 kHz attenuates differently than a 38 Hz (read: barely perceptible) signal where frequency sensitivity in human hearing really starts to roll off.

If I subjected you to a 1 kHz tone at 156 dB at 1 meter, you hearing would be instantly, permanently damaged.
 
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This is apparently part of the evidence of the incident. According the the lawsuit, this is a picture of B.G. after the incident.

The other thing that I’m not seeing in the lawsuit is where the parents took B.G. to a medical center for diagnosis directly afterwards. In fact there’s nothing to show they did much of anything that day.

In addition, what isB.G. wearing? This looks to my (totally uneducated eyes) that it’s some sort of bike getup - not sure this paints a picture of a boy enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon watching Netflix.

View attachment 2006249
Very intriguing pic..... From MotorBike.....



How loud is a dirt bike decibels?​

According to one study carried in the state of California, the sound produced by a dirt bike should not exceed 96 decibels. This value denotes a sound that is more or less the same as a quiet roar and it is the most comfortable sound that is recommended for every dirt bike. Modified exhausts and engines can raise that sound level to over 130db or louder. A dirt bike can in some cases be as louder if not louder than a Harley Davidson running drag pipes!
 
Every band practice Ive ever had :D
Lol
That’s my point. Somebody has to be an outlier on any standard distribution.

When the individual with the thin ear drums meets a max blast out of an audio device, the pressure threshold to do damage may be significantly below the norm.
Even if so, that's why there is a range.
Can you point me to any official information detailing what volume can be delivered by the AirPods Pro if all the safety limits are overridden?
Apple has let on that there is a limit, what that limit is, it is unknown to me. However, again, to reach high decibel levels to puncture ear drums, the AirPods do not carry enough power to blast.
Doctor is in the house
Apparently someone is just looking for a quick bite.
 
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There is absolutely ZERO reason why the alerts should be at a different volume than the current setting.
This needs to be fixed immediately.

It's at the same level of stupidity as the airlines raising the volume on the "safety announcements", the movie theaters attacking your eardrums with overly loud volume settings, or TV and YouTube higher volume for advertisement.
 
To burst an ear drum requires over 165db. I call absolute BS on this story. Parents just trying to make a buck.

The noise intensity to rupture an eardrum would have to be very loud, usually 165 decibels or more. This would correspond to the sound intensity of a gunshot at close range, fireworks or extremely loud music. Although the eardrum will heal, damage to the inner ear is often permeant.
Unfortunately , you would be culled from the juror pool. But, read some of the comments preceding yours and you'll probably be able to pick out those who the lawyer would be able to state with satisfaction ' We're fine with juror #......'
 
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Unfortunately , you would be culled from the juror pool. But, read some of the comments preceding yours and you'll probably be able to pick out those who the lawyer would be able to state with satisfaction ' We're fine with juror #......'
I think too many people here have seen moves like Scream and Maximum Overdrive where Walkmans and headphone killed people. Got to love Hollywood Physics.
 
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Feel terrible for the child. Hope they get treatment and recovery of any hearing loss.

Clearly these “urgent alerts” have a lot of kinks that need to be worked out. Remember when people in Hawaii got a mass alert that they were about to get hit with a nuclear weapon? Pepperidge Farms remembers.
 
Hope they also include a volume slider or on-off toggle for all the alert sounds in AirPods. The low-battery and transparency activation sounds are ear piercing for me.
Oh man fair point on this one. I freaking hate that downward tone “TUt-Tut-tut”… it’s actually very loud plus the message is bad news (like when jogging or in the middle of a call or a movie).
 
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As someone who is incredibly careful with my hearing because of having tinnitus caused by loud noises, my heart really goes out to that kid. That sucks. Something has got to be done about these amber alerts that override the system volume to play at max. I didn’t even know that the sound played at max through headphones. YIKES. I hope this lawsuit spurs some action before anyone else’s ears are hurt.
 
Fixed in next firmware update. Ha!
Earbuds of any brand are a prime cause of creating impacted earwax that requires a trip to an ENT doctor to pick or suck it out.

If you care about the health of your ear canals and don’t fancy a trip to an otolaryngologist — don’t use earbuds of any brand.

"ENT doctor"

"otolaryngologist"

why were you simple in one sentence, and bombastic in the next
 
The stupid incompetent LA County set off a mistaken evacuation alert for nowhere near us that jolted everyone out of bed. They should have to pay restitution to everyone for abuse of the platform and invading our phones illegally.
 
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