Comment by maybewhenthesun

Interesting about that OSHA curve. I also read some (dutch) research once where they had a slightly different conclusion (though I now can't find it anywhere): People tended to underestimate the volume/sound pressure of bass , and coupled with the fact that bass is much harder to block with earplugs the loud bass at concerts was a major contributing factor to hearing damage for concert goers.

Now this does not contradict what you say, of course. It's very well possible that the human ear is less sensitive to bass and that people are underestimating the volume of bass.