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How loud is 'Loud' ?

P

paskinn

pfm Member
These days, quite a few people have spl meters of one sort or another. Out of interest, what is the general view on what decibel level is 'loud.?
Highly subjective of course, but still interesting. For me, it's somewhere around 90db.
 
I think you're right, about 90-92/3db is good for me, out of consideration for neighbours really and then pretty rarely.
 
It was quite loud at My Bloody Valentine gigs. I've see a lot of noisy bands, but I'm glad that MBV gave out earplugs when they played at The Roundhouse a couple of years ago.

I've never heard a hi-fi get anywhere close to that kind of volume. I do have an SPL meter somewhere. Must get it out.

Jack
 
For me it does rather depend on the system as level is, to a degree, subjective.

In a good low distortion system it's easy to peaking at well over 100db without really realizing it.
 
Clean and undistorted music peaking at 100dB will sound subjectively less loud than 95dB of noise littered with even harmonics. So, what was the question again?
 
Indeed... I heard some big in-wall Genelec's at 120db a few years ago and it wasn't loud in the traditional sense or uncomfortable - they just took it in their stride.
 
I have a calibrated Radio Shack SPL meter buried in a box somewhere, but for now, according to my iPad's uncalibrated SPL meter app, with its C-weighting setting, I need to keep peaks under 90db, or listener fatigue will set in pretty quickly.

A sustained volume level of 80-85db lets me hear everything in a mix quite clearly, so I see no good reason to go louder and risk hearing damage.

Hook
 
The high frequencies are not the problem, it's the pile driving beat that rocks the house,which cause problems. I don't think there's an SPL weighting for that.
 
ssimon said:
The high frequencies are not the problem, it's the pile driving beat that rocks the house,which cause problems. I don't think there's an SPL weighting for that.
Click to expand...
Interestingly, putting your ear next to the woofer (at any reasonably loud level) always sounds less painful than listening in the nearfield to a tweeter. Go figure ...
 
ssimon said:
The high frequencies are not the problem, it's the pile driving beat that rocks the house,which cause problems. I don't think there's an SPL weighting for that.
Click to expand...

I disagree, it's the 1.5K to 5K range that will really do some permanent damage.
 
James said:
Interestingly, putting your ear next to the woofer (at any reasonably loud level) always sounds less painful than listening in the nearfield to a tweeter. Go figure ...
Click to expand...
Because the woofer is much larger than your ear and is a distributed source. Up close your ear will be intercepting less than 1% of the output of a 12 inch. The tweeter is comparable to your ear
 
davidsrsb said:
Because the woofer is much larger than your ear and is a distributed source. Up close your ear will be intercepting less than 1% of the output of a 12 inch. The tweeter is comparable to your ear
Click to expand...
Really?!! My SPL meter and calibrated microphone would disagree vehemently with you.
 
The partial deafness or dulling of sound which remained for a day after a loud John Martyn gig years ago was a warning.

I attended a hifi evening demonstration event once and for something to say during an interval,I asked someone if he’d ever used valve equipment - I thought I’d be thrown out and at least hung, drawn and quartered. He then said he played music 'loud and I mean LOUD’. I thought his views were a shade moronic.

I doubt that I play music at anything like ‘realistic’ levels most of the time. The loud music player is either deaf, daft or wishes to induce deafness in others.
:)
 
The illusion of "being there" , for me , is only engendered if the level I am listening at is comparable to "there"
I have tuned my system to sound best at lifelike and realistic levels - with exceptions of course (like rock concerts and so on)
 
My normal listening levels measured at about 9 ft from the speakers is around 60dB, what I call loud is around 75dB. I don't like going anything above 75dB as I know it will be disturbing the neighbours.
 
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