will kill your hearing. No doubt about it. I know my hearing would be a little better if I had not been a recording engineer...even though I was careful with the dbs. Most sound mixers need increasingly higher volumes to mix tracks. Many times the client needs to be wowed. So you pump it up. Met alot of senior engineers who mixed by the #'s and experience because their hearing was shot. Continually high sound pressure will make you progressively...deaf.