According to French researchers, music with compressed sound can be harmful to our ears and our health. This leads in particular to a weakening of this organ and causes long fatigue. However, although it is synonymous with loss of quality, compressed audio is ubiquitous these days, and has been for years.
Today, compressed audio (MP3 in mind) is everywhere, especially on the radio, in shops, bars, nightclubs, and especiallyat home. inside our helmets and headphones. But what is compressed audio? Audio compression is the process of reducing the size of a digital audio stream for transmission or storage. Thus, this process involves abandoning the data that is considered not necessary for listening , which makes it possible to reduce the flow (diffusion) or the size of the files (storage). This audio processing thus levels loud and soft sounds and removes natural silences.
However, a team of researchers from INSERM and the Faculty of Medicine of Clermont-Ferrand believe that it is not very good for our ears. Scientists explained the reasons for this in an article in France 3 regions on January 29, 2022. They indeed carried out tests on guinea pigs. According to the results, compressed music causes animals to lose 50% of their initial strength . It is mainly a fatigue that can last up to a week. However, when humans are exposed to normal music, 24 to 48 hours is sufficient for recovery.
Researchers exposed the animals to four hours of music, compressed sound continually engaging their ears . According to scientists, there is almost no silence in any frequency band. In addition, the fatigue generated makes you more vulnerable to hearing attacks on a daily basis. The next step in this work will be to understand whether or not this type of sound is the cause of prolonged disturbances . For the moment, the researchers are concentrating on guinea pigs, whose hearing is certainly very close to that of humans, but they plan to focus on the human ear next.
Scientists explain that they want to assess using specific markers if there is a disconnection of neurons and cells of the inner ear organ of hearing. If disconnected, permanent hearing loss due to exposure to compressed sound will no longer be in doubt. Finally, they think everyone should be aware of the need to leave out compressed audio. They thus remind us that there are ways of processing sound that are more respectful of natural pauses usually present.
