Quote:
Originally Posted by ggegan 
If you stay in this business long enough, you will get permanent hearing damage. |
This is not neccessarily true. Buy musician's ear plugs for concerts. Use cheap ear plugs for protection against more mundane assaults - lawnmowers and circular saws. Use a decibel meter when you sit down to mix. Read Bob Katz's book "Mastering Audio"; there are a couple of very good reasons why you should never mix/master above 85 Db. I am a little fuzzy on the physics and biology, but as the SPL increases past 85 Db the frequency response of the ear changes - you hear more bass. So, if you mix too loud, you'll end up with bass light mixes, and you will eventually damage your ears. Decibel meters are cheap at radio shack.