As others have already said: take breaks. It’s really easy (speaking from experience) to “get used” to a volume level that’s way too loud, ESPECIALLY if using isolating or noise-cancelling headphones.

Part of how your brain figures determines if something is too loud has to do with contrast with the environment. Yelling at the top of your lungs sounds a lot louder in a quiet library than it does in the middle of a live concert. Taking breaks both recalibrate your sense of loudness and gives your ears a rest.

If you can afford decent “reference” or “studio” headphones, you’ll enjoy the same music at MUCH quieter levels than cheaper or lower-quality headphones. They are designed to be used for long periods of time by professional audio engineers and musicians, who are notoriously protective of their hearing and perfectionistic about even the most subtle of sounds.

Although I was a broke college student and couldn’t afford hardly anything they talked about, I learned a ton scrolling through audiophile forums like Head-Fi ( www.head-fi.org/forums/ ). Now I’m less broke but somehow equipment envy and window-shopping just feels more right than spending way too much money on something I probably don’t have the time to enjoy anymore… Such is life.