Most concerts, clubs and festivals play somewhere between 100 and 110 dB near the stage. That feels normal after a few songs, but your ears are working much harder than you think.
The 3 dB rule
Hearing safety guidelines from NIOSH use 85 dB as the limit for an 8 hour day. Every 3 dB above that cuts the safe time in half:
- 85 dB: 8 hours
- 91 dB: 2 hours
- 94 dB: 1 hour
- 97 dB: 30 minutes
- 100 dB: about 15 minutes
So a full set at 100 dB or more goes well past the safe limit long before the encore.
Ringing is a warning
That ringing or dull feeling the morning after a show is a sign your ears were overloaded. It often fades, but repeated exposure adds up and hearing damage does not grow back.
What earplugs change
Lowering the volume by even 15 to 20 dB moves a loud show back into a much safer range. HEARO Chrome and Carbon are rated 17 dB (SNR), and HEARO Original is rated 20 dB, so you can stay for the whole night and still hear the music clearly.
