Default volume limit and personal media players: the effect of background noise on preferred volume using an iPod.

This study aims to determine the practicalities of the latest EU-imposed 85dB personal media player (PMP) volume limit by testing it in a simulated real-life situation to establish the effects of background noise on subjects' preferred volume level. A systematic literature search was carried out using several widely used databases and the information most pertinent to the present study was included in the review. Subjects would listen to a chosen song on a 85dB-volume-limited Apple iPod Touch using stock in-concha Apple iPod earphones. Two types of environmental background noise would be presented separately through a sound-field and gradually increased until subjects indicated they would typically increase their PMP volume above the 85dB volume limit. The study would be a test of how the 85dB default volume limit would perform when put into practice in two typical real-life noisy scenarios. While the default volume limit is a safety measure that may allow for safer music-listening for most PMP users, it can be over-ridden. This study aims to establish the level at which background noise disturbs music-listening of PMP users and potentially leads them to take action to over-ride a default volume limit setting. It does not aim to come to any conclusions regarding the determination of risk of NIHL.