A human can hear from very quiet sounds at 0.1 decibels to sounds at 120 decibels, which actually can cause pain. At the high end of the scale, the energy can cause damage to the sensitive membranes in the ear. Danger of loud sound Listening to very loud music can start to permanently damage hearing. Another potential hazard is in using earphones. Although you may not have the volume up too high, inexpensive earphones do not filter out spikes of sound that can damage your hearing.
Younger people can usually have better hearing at the lower volumes than older people do.
For example, when I was 15 years old, I noticed that our blinking Christmas lights made a slight buzzing sound before they blinked. This is because such lights usually have a tiny micro-switch, which turns the electricity on an off. It would buzz during the switching process. I could hear with the lights switched on or off across the room, with my back facing the lights. Meanwhile, adults would have trouble hearing the sound with their ear up close to the lights.