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20 February 2025

Headphone limiters - questions & answers

Can earphones really damage your hearing?

Are speech and music different from industrial noise?

What is the law about high sound levels?

How do you measure sound level from earphones?

What are the BBC earphone sound level limiters?

How do you decide on the limiting level?

What about insert earphones?

Customers’ responsibility

Earphone limiters are an aid to achieving safety and to meeting the requirements of health and safety legislation. However, individual customers’ conditions of use are outside our knowledge and control. Therefore Canford Audio cannot guarantee that legal requirements will be met merely by using earphone limiter systems supplied by us.

Tony Woolf MSc MIOA MIBS

About the author

This technical briefing was written specially for Canford by acoustics consultant Tony Woolf, who specialises in design of broadcast and recording studios, and in hearing protection for musicians and the professional audio industry. Between 1985 and 1996 he was Acoustics Engineer, first in BBC Radio, then in BBC Building Design Services. He was closely involved in BBC Radio’s work to meet the requirements of UK noise legislation, and provided the technical back-up for their large-scale introduction of headphones and earphones with limiters.