How loud is too loud for headphones?
Keep headphones at or below about 80 dB(A) for up to 40 hours a week — the WHO's safe-listening allowance. Most phones can exceed 100 dB at maximum volume, where safe time is minutes. A practical rule: if someone beside you can hear your music, it's too loud.
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The numbers that matter
The WHO and ITU’s safe-listening standard works like a weekly budget: about 80 dB(A) for 40 hours. Go louder and the budget drains fast — at 95–100 dB, typical of maximum volume on many phones with stock earbuds, you can spend a full week’s allowance in well under an hour. The WHO estimates over a billion young people are at risk of hearing loss from unsafe listening habits, mostly headphones and venues.
What your phone already tracks
iPhones log headphone audio levels in the Health app and notify you when your 7-day exposure crosses the safe-listening limit, using reasonably accurate output estimates for Apple and many certified headphones. Android offers volume warnings above regulatory thresholds. These system numbers are more trustworthy than any microphone app for headphone exposure, because the phone knows its own output level — a mic can’t hear inside your ear canal.
Practical rules that hold up
- The 60/60 rule: no more than 60% volume for no more than 60 minutes at a stretch is a reasonable approximation for most phone-and-earbud combos.
- The bystander test: audible to the person next to you means too loud.
- Noise-cancelling helps: cutting background noise lets you listen 10+ dB quieter on transit — often the single biggest exposure win.
- Ringing is damage: muffled hearing or tinnitus after listening means you exceeded your dose. It may recover; the cells don’t fully.
Know your environment too
Headphone dose stacks on top of ambient exposure. Check what your surroundings contribute with the online decibel meter, see what levels are dangerous, or track your daily exposure automatically with Decibel Shield for iOS and Apple Health.