How loud do you normally listen?
- Thread starter RoA
- Start date
George J
Herefordshire member
"I have an ESL, which is more or less the idea speaker to derive the best from a low power high quality amplifier, given my aversion to loud replay. I tend to listen rather near field [sitting on my haunches - not a chair - about four or five feet away] and more or less use the speaker like a huge earphone rather than attempt to fill the room with concert or gig levels of sound pressure. The method really means you listen "into" the music, rather be presented with a big objective to listen to from afar."
Posted elsewhere today.
I do not need a dB meter to know that I listen at quieter levels. Indeed I shut the front room windows to reduce ambient noise while listening as it can drown the music without too much difficulty. A tractor rumbling by with a trailer of silage would be much louder than I ever play music!
Best wishes from George
Posted elsewhere today.
I do not need a dB meter to know that I listen at quieter levels. Indeed I shut the front room windows to reduce ambient noise while listening as it can drown the music without too much difficulty. A tractor rumbling by with a trailer of silage would be much louder than I ever play music!
Best wishes from George
MUTTY1
Waste of bandwidth
How do you check out levels for headphones? Ive been using them a lot recently. I’m no headbanger but it’s difficult to set a level if your listening to stuff with a lot of dynamic range. I’ve recently had the option of using a remote, but I don’t like the distraction of it after the first flush of novelty.
martin clark
pinko bodger
For open-back headphones - there's a nice free sanity check that is very conservative, that I've posted before: rub your dry thumb and forefinger together just above top of your ear while listening -if you can just make that out much of the time on music, then no issues whatsoever indefinitely. It's about right. Don't worry about it being inaudible for some of the time for pleasure on the one album - it's total exposure that matters.
NB try it without headphones on first..!
I use IEMs quite a bit now, but no issues either - I can just imagine how loud that racket would have to be in my room, and who would be complaining... and set vol accordingly. ( I also have the gear to check iem voltage sensitivity spec vs. AC mV out of my headphone amplifier as a sanity check. Hitting/sustaining 95-100dB peak on a fave album or a film soundtrack isn't going damage me, given that's maybe 5 mins a time, now and then)
(+1 to 'I've long worn hearing protection to gigs.')
NB try it without headphones on first..!
I use IEMs quite a bit now, but no issues either - I can just imagine how loud that racket would have to be in my room, and who would be complaining... and set vol accordingly. ( I also have the gear to check iem voltage sensitivity spec vs. AC mV out of my headphone amplifier as a sanity check. Hitting/sustaining 95-100dB peak on a fave album or a film soundtrack isn't going damage me, given that's maybe 5 mins a time, now and then)
(+1 to 'I've long worn hearing protection to gigs.')
westsea
Retirement present
Just measured some old favorites
Ella Fitzgerald Preamp _-34 Min 75 Max 85 a bit too loud
Beethoven's Fifth Preamp up to -31 (too 'flat' otherwise) Min 40 Max 89 average 80 Loved it Inky Blackness 20db
Benny Goodman Live in Copenhagen Pre -31 Min 81 Max 88 av. 78.4 Sweet
Very surprised at the very low level of track change at 20db, it is a quiet place, Sunday evening in the country, pigeons had gone to bed!
Classical music certainly has more 'life' . Bear in mind I'm old and a bit deaf, also listening without hearing aids!!
Anyway thanks to the OP I have had a joyful hour or so
An hour later, Julie London and 65 - 75 Db sooo relaxing. I guess it is horses for courses
Ella Fitzgerald Preamp _-34 Min 75 Max 85 a bit too loud
Beethoven's Fifth Preamp up to -31 (too 'flat' otherwise) Min 40 Max 89 average 80 Loved it Inky Blackness 20db
Benny Goodman Live in Copenhagen Pre -31 Min 81 Max 88 av. 78.4 Sweet
Very surprised at the very low level of track change at 20db, it is a quiet place, Sunday evening in the country, pigeons had gone to bed!
Classical music certainly has more 'life' . Bear in mind I'm old and a bit deaf, also listening without hearing aids!!
Anyway thanks to the OP I have had a joyful hour or so
An hour later, Julie London and 65 - 75 Db sooo relaxing. I guess it is horses for courses
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TheManWhoBuiltTheMoon
pfm Member
About 70db although a bit more if the neighbours are away.
chris turner
pfm Member
on a Sunday morning with the family still waking up around 60db, 70db with the rest of the family around and considerably higher if I can get away with it if they're out.......
mikechadwick
pfm Member
No idea how loud I was playing an LP yesterday but got told by my better half, in no uncertain terms, to "turn it down" 
JoeJoe
pfm Member
As I get older, too loud, hearing has deteriorated!….Lol!!
One ironic observation I’ve had about this hobby is this; by the time you are able to afford some really decent Hifi, you’re too old too experience it in all its full sounding glory!!
….there must be an equation, or something, that represents this conundrum?
Honestly, if Einstein had spent his time working out the above, we’d all have saved a lot of money and there’d be no nuclear weapons!
One ironic observation I’ve had about this hobby is this; by the time you are able to afford some really decent Hifi, you’re too old too experience it in all its full sounding glory!!
….there must be an equation, or something, that represents this conundrum?
Honestly, if Einstein had spent his time working out the above, we’d all have saved a lot of money and there’d be no nuclear weapons!
Big Tabs
looking backwards, going forwards
It amuses me that he talks about ‘Adult Music.’
I didn’t really understand what he is talking about, but more volume and particularly bass sounds splendid, if that is the message. Graphs, they leave me cold.
Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
About 5 years ago I was in the local Weatherspoons (yeah, yeah), it was heaving, everyone was trying to shout louder than everyone else to be heard.... I had to shout within a foot of the ear of the person next to me to be heard. I remembered I'd put a decibel meter app on my Android phone and couldn't resist... 107dB! Obvs a cheap Android phone and app ain't a Bruel & Kjaer SPL meter.... But I could just about believe it was pretty close.
Tony L
Administrator
Whilst I’d obviously never go to a Wetherspoons I have regularly stuck my earplugs in pub/bar environments. Reducing level increases intelligibility, I guess it localises the sound so I can concentrate on the people I’m actually trying talk to rather than having to factor in so much background. It works surprisingly well. Less is definitely more. I never go out without them now as modern bars, pubs etc can be stupidly loud. I wish I’d sussed this out 40 years ago. I quickly realised rock gigs were ear-wreckers so took some precautions from fairly early days (not early enough), but pubs and bars are too for sure.
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
I couldn’t agree more. Over the last few years I’ve noticed that I’ve shied away from busy pubs as I find the noise in them literally painful, especially high pitched laughter. It never occurred to me to use earplugs.
MUTTY1
Waste of bandwidth
Wetherspoons? Perish the thought! Dreadful man!
From an early age I hated parties as I just couldn’t make out what people were saying. Everyone looked like they were enjoying themselves so it was obviously something wrong with me. Maybe it was, but I always had a problem separating competing audio streams. I also can’t easily separate words from music in a song. If I think it’s worth it I have to ignore the music and learn the words as a separate thing
Just noticed Martins idea of rubbing your thumb/finger together. Anyone tried this? I’ll give it a go tomorrow.
My first Planar headphones are toe-tapping addictive and I’m finding I like headphones for the first time, rather than just tolerating them. The astonishing percussion can lead to the high notes feeling a little close to the edge I have to say.
I noticed Miles slipping off centre stage the other night. My left ear is getting too much wax buildup and it was literally a case of taking the phones off and ‘popping’ the ear to get him back in the middle! I kid you not
From an early age I hated parties as I just couldn’t make out what people were saying. Everyone looked like they were enjoying themselves so it was obviously something wrong with me. Maybe it was, but I always had a problem separating competing audio streams. I also can’t easily separate words from music in a song. If I think it’s worth it I have to ignore the music and learn the words as a separate thing
Just noticed Martins idea of rubbing your thumb/finger together. Anyone tried this? I’ll give it a go tomorrow.
My first Planar headphones are toe-tapping addictive and I’m finding I like headphones for the first time, rather than just tolerating them. The astonishing percussion can lead to the high notes feeling a little close to the edge I have to say.
I noticed Miles slipping off centre stage the other night. My left ear is getting too much wax buildup and it was literally a case of taking the phones off and ‘popping’ the ear to get him back in the middle! I kid you not