Can bass break headphones? Yes, it can if you play music at an extremely high volume. Read on to know what causes the damage and how to fix it.
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There has been an increase in the demand and popularity of high-quality headphones, and they have become expensive.
Many people ask this question: Can Bass break headphones? If you don’t exceed the acceptable volume, the Bass won’t break your headphone. But if you play at a very loud volume, it will break your headphones for sure.
In this article, we will look at
- How can Bass damage a headphone?
- Do Bass Boost break headphones?
- Can Bass damage your ears?
- Can heavy bass music damage the speaker?
- Factors that damage headphones and how you can prevent it.
How Does A Headphone Work?
Headphones are made of headphone drivers. This driver receives electric sound signals from which you connect your headphones. It converts this signal into sound for you to listen. These headphone drivers are like tiny little speakers.
Headphone Components
Headphone components include the diaphragm, a magnet, and a voice coil.
Different types of headphones are made using different technologies. The voice coil is usually made of metal that moves around the magnetic area, produced by the headphone’s magnet. The diaphragm is like a paper membrane that moves with the coil and mimics the movement of air produced by sound, thus creating sound in your ears.
Electric Current To Sound
The audio signal first reaches the driver as a current. This current then passes through the coil and moves back and forth. This then makes the diaphragm vibrate and push the air. This way, the headphones produce sound waves from an electric signal.
This affects its overall performance and capability of reproducing sounds accurately in different types of headphones.
Excursion Limit
The excursion limit is the limit upto which the headphone driver can move when sound hits on it. When this limit is breached, you will damage the headphone.
How Does Bass Damage the Headphone?
Too much Bass, along with a loud volume of headphones, can damage your headphone and lower their performance.
Nowadays, you will find headphones with low frequency response, usually between 60 to 250 Hz, which works quite well. The hearing frequency of humans is between 20 to 20000 Hz.
As Bass is at a lower end of this human auditory scale, you won’t be able to hear Bass. When you listen to a song, the Bass gets drowned out by other sounds.
The problem arises when the Bass is at a high volume and the driver is already near its excursion limit. When you amplify the Bass at this point, to make it more audible, it may cause the driver to move beyond its maximum limit and this will damage the headphone.
Usually, the Bass is played louder than the other components in the song. You can hear the vibrations in the headphones or your speaker as the drivers have to work extra hard to amplify the bass sound.
You might like to read: Why Do My Headphones Keep Changing Volume
So what happens when the Bass is at high volume?
So when you increase the sound limit, more stress is put on the driver of the headphone. So at a high volume, it needs more power to play the Bass creating more vibration.
When the sound becomes too high, you will start to feel distortion in the audio. This means you should reduce the sound, or else it will break your headphone.
What kind of headphones can handle Bass?
Cheaper headphones get more easily damaged than expensive ones. This is due to the small headphone driver that cannot handle loud music and Bass well. At the same time, some of the expensive headphones have a larger driver and handle loud sounds without any issue.
If you are looking for high-end headphones having multiple drivers, the iMORE triple driver is one of the best choices. It has three drivers, one bass driver, a double-tweeter unit, and two resonant metal cavities. This headphone can handle loud Bass and does not cause any distortion.
Does Bass Boost Break Headphones?
Well, no. Bass boost does not break headphones. It increases the sound of low frequency responses but is not very loud. It will not damage your headphones.
Many headphones can manage bass frequency pretty well. Even many cheap headphones available nowadays have a great low-frequency response. So when you boost the Bass along with the equalizer, it means you want more Bass to be played.
Though the driver will need more power and air to play the Bass and make it sound louder, the volume of the Bass and the equalizer are not too loud to cause damage to the headphone’s driver.
But when the sound is loud and you boost the Bass, it may break the headphone. It would be best to look at the volume while playing any music and lower it down.
You might like to read: Why Do My Headphones Keep Pausing My Music
Can EQ Damage Headphones?
If you are playing sound very close to the excursion limit of your headphone, then using an EQ to boost certain frequencies will add decibels to the sound. This may breach the excursion limit and cause damage to the headphones.
Are Bass Headphones Bad For Ears?
Bass-heavy music at an extremely high volume can damage your ears. Sometimes, it may just be temporary damage (as you may have felt just after leaving a concert). But if you hear loud music regularly, it will damage your ears.
The volume of music plays a bigger role than the frequency when it comes to hearing loss. It means when you listen to any music at a loud volume; the sound hits your eardrums. The frequency is the times the audio waves hit your eardrums.
So a high-pitched sound enters your eardrums at a faster speed than the low-pitched sound. You will have hearing loss if the sound is at a higher pitch. When you listen to music at a high volume, it puts pressure inside the ears. This damages the cells and makes them go flat.
Can Bass Boost Damage Ears?
While Bass is noticed less than other high and mid level frequencies, very loud bass can obviously be equally damaging to your ear nerves.
Hearing damage due to bass boost is less well understood because our ears have lower sensitivity to that spectrum of sound wave frequencies. Because Bass has a higher wavelength, it is a more powerful signal than other frequencies and therefore it may even have a higher effect.
You do not feel a lot of hearing damage due to bass because the ear is not designed to capture those low frequencies anyway, but the damage is most definitely there.
Can Heavy Bass Music Damage the Speaker?
A speaker works similar to any headphone but on a bigger scale. It uses a large diaphragm that moves back and forth and pushes the air. The louder the music, the harder the cone moves. This may cause distortion. This fails to reproduce sound as it used to.
Certain speakers produce Bass at high volume pretty well. These are called Woofers.
Other Factors That Damage Your Headphones
Not just the loud Bass, but other factors damage the headphones. So if by chance your headphone breaks, it can be due to these factors as well. Let’s look at what you are doing wrong and how you can prevent your headphones from breaking.
#1 Exposure to Moisture
Almost all of us use headphones while working out. This makes it exposed to moisture and sweat. Like any other device, a headphone can also be damaged by moisture.
The electronic components present inside the headphone gets in contact with water or moisture and break. It is always better to avoid using headphones in the rain or just after a shower.
Avoid exercising using your headphones, if you can or get a headphone specially designed for sports and exercise. The best sweat-proof headphones to use is the Plantronics backbeat fit. It is a wireless headphone and is perfect to use while working out.
#2 Playing At A Very High Volume
When you play any song at an extremely high volume, it has a very high chance of damaging your headphone. If you find any sound distortion or have pain in your ears while listening, it means the volume is exceptionally high, and you need to lower it down.
This will damage your headphone as well as your ears. You need to pay attention to what volume you listen to any music.
It is always better to set the audio limit on your smartphone. So you will have a lower risk of damaging your ears as well.
Even if you are a music producer or mix music using your headphones, keeping the volume at a specific limit is good to prevent ear damage.
#3 Broken Cords
Most of the headphones break due to their cord. Headphones can break in many ways. It is very easy to break your headphone when you trip over long headphone cords, fold the cord incorrectly, or pull the cord directly instead of plugging it out.
You can easily prevent this issue.
You can keep your headphones and cord in a travel case when you are not using them. Most travel cord cases absorb shocks and protect the cord from damage.
Some cases are hard and circular to hold the cord and keep it properly looped. You can get one case to keep your headphones safe.
#4 Not cleaning Your Headphones Frequently.
An earwax on any of your wireless earbuds does more damage if you don’t clean it properly. However, some wireless headphones are waterproof and highly water-resistant. But if it is lower than the IPX5 rating, it may get damaged easily.
It is easy to clean the headphones with silicone ear tips. You can remove them and clean them with water with ease. Before putting them back up, make sure to dry them thoroughly. To dry them up, you can use a soft cloth. You can also use some earwax cleaning tools.
Can Bass Break Headphones? Yes, But Only If You Play It Too Loud
The Bass plays an essential part when you enjoy any musical performance. Many headphones can playback Bass without damaging it. But if the Bass is at an extremely high volume, it can break the headphones.
Loud Bass makes the headphone driver vibrate faster, which causes distortion and eventually breaks. So it is better to set the volume limit to a certain level.