Music too loud ?

[VanDaRo]

In a recent conversation with a fellow audio-junkie, the issue of how loud we listen to music came up. Most audiophiles have systems that are seriously over powered (dynamic headroom, right ?) and capable of driving most speaker to very high levels. Granted, Martin Logans are not Cerwin-Vegas or Infinitys and therefore not capable of VanHalen-concert-level SPLs...

But I, like many others, turn up my favorite tunes enough that I can "feel" the performance. Curiosity got the better of me the other day and I broke out my Radio Shack digital meter, and set the volume knob at the normal 12 o'clock position..... Listening to Bob James Restless-Animal Dreams the meter indicated between 92 and 97 dB ( 94dB average ) at my sitting position !! Fairly loud. Not enough to cause hearing loss or ringing -- but according to hearing conservation charts, not recommended for long-term exposure.

My question to you fine folk is if I'm just a rocker at heart, or is this level of music listening normal ??

Post your thoughts and normal listening dBs. I'd be really interested to know.

~VDR

 

[raanan]

Supposedly,my CLSs at 85-86 db sensitivity play 93 db loudest.
My old ESL 57s at around 86 db and 15 watts would easily hit 100 db.
Neighbors would complain much more when I listened to the 57s.

 

[risabet]

In a recent conversation with a fellow audio-junkie, the issue of how loud we listen to music came up. Most audiophiles have systems that are seriously over powered (dynamic headroom, right ?) and capable of driving most speaker to very high levels. Granted, Martin Logans are not Cerwin-Vegas or Infinitys and therefore not capable of VanHalen-concert-level SPLs...

But I, like many others, turn up my favorite tunes enough that I can "feel" the performance. Curiosity got the better of me the other day and I broke out my Radio Shack digital meter, and set the volume knob at the normal 12 o'clock position..... Listening to Bob James Restless-Animal Dreams the meter indicated between 92 and 97 dB ( 94dB average ) at my sitting position !! Fairly loud. Not enough to cause hearing loss or ringing -- but according to hearing conservation charts, not recommended for long-term exposure.

My question to you fine folk is if I'm just a rocker at heart, or is this level of music listening normal ??

Post your thoughts and normal listening dBs. I'd be really interested to know.

~VDR

Too loud IMO Click Here. I can get 95 dB peaks at the LP from my Clarity's and that is on orchestral music. Average levels are closer to 80 to 85 dBs but it is dependent on the recording. I find most recordings have a preferred volume level at which they sound best. I have reached 100 dBs but only as a very brief test.

 

[Rich]

I generally listen somewhere between 80 and 90 db (when the baby's not sleeping). Over 90 db gets too loud for me with most music.

I have a heavily acoustically-treated room, which helps cut down on db increases and lowered resolution caused by reflections, so what I am hearing at that level is the direct wave from the speakers.

 

[Joey_V]

I top out at about 90-95db. Most of the time, I listen at about 85db. According to the Ratshack db meter...

 

[VanDaRo]

I re-did the SPL test just now under the same conditions but this time I collected all of the data. The previous data was collected during a 30 second "height of the song", so this time I looked at the whole piece. All figures are C-weighted and sampling was done in "fast" mode.

The opening piano bars are ~77dB. The maximum for the entire piece was 98dB during the climax and the song averaged 88dB. Nevertheless, the 98dB was loud, but not enough to intrude on the music or make me want to get up and turn it down. But that's about where I like my music levels. We'll call it 88dB +/- 10dB.

Still think I play it too loud ??

~VDR

 

[Joey_V]

I re-did the SPL test just now under the same conditions but this time I collected all of the data. All figures are C-weighted and sampling was done in "fast" mode.

The opening piano bars are ~77dB. The maximum for the entire piece was 98dB during the climax and the song averaged 88dB. Nevertheless, the 98dB was loud, but not enough to intrude on the music or make me want to get up and turn it down. But that's about where I like my music levels. We'll call it 88dB +/- 10dB.

Still think I play it too loud ??

~VDR

That's probably 3db too hot for me.

 

[amey01]

I too, find most recordings have an optimum level, particularly for the generation of a realistic sound stage. A lot of listening is done at about 80-85dB (peak), with some recordings sounding better in the 90-95dB (peak) range.

I've reached 100dB+ in testing - just for fun when I moved from a townhouse to a freestanding house - no neighbours, so it was a case of "let's see what this baby can do"!

 

[DTB300]

Normal listening levels for me is high 70's to low 80's.

 

[JonFo]

Been listening to Porcupine Tree’s “Stupid Dream” as I read this, so I check the SPL meter, and it’s all below 85dB.

I can do 105dB on this system, so headroom is there, but most sessions where I’m doing something else (like surfing) are at 85 or less.

When really ‘listening’, I go into the mid 90”s avg. Which of course means peaks into the 100’s. I do that for only an hour or so at a time.

Acoustic treatments are a must to reduce room ringing. The bass with 25+ absorbers in the room is actually stunningly good. That IB woofer can really shine.

Untreated rooms ring too much and fatigue the ear rather quickly. I know my room pre-treatments did so. In which case I had to listen at lower volumes.

 

[Cosmos]

One of the interesting aspects of Electrostats is their extremely low levels of distortion. This lack of distortion makes them comfortable at Sound Pressure Levels that would be uncomfortable on other speakers. In my opinion, it is also the reason that there is low listener fatigue with electrostatics.

Just for the fun of it.. get up and walk out of the room and around the house.. You will find that the sound carries quite well, which confirms that it is, in fact, loud.

 

[amey01]

Just for the fun of it.. get up and walk out of the room and around the house.. You will find that the sound carries quite well, which confirms that it is, in fact, loud.

Yes, I've certainly noticed that, since obtaining electrostatics, my wife will be telling (YELLING) me to turn it down with much more regularity!

 

[Beakman]

85 dB is the usual compliance standard for non time averaged hearing protection, or in other words, earplugs must be worn at all times in an environment of 85 dB or above. If you're listening level is above this, you are doing damage to yourself, eventually.

 

[JohnA]

ooops, I must be doing something wrong then (or excessive!)

I've checked peak levels at my listening position, and I get 110+ easily when playing loud rock.
I've hit 126db (I think where the dbmeter maxes out) a few times, but that was playing SACDs abnormally loud. Painfully almost.:music:

 

[Bernard]

I've hit 126db (I think where the dbmeter maxes out) a few times, but that was playing SACDs abnormally loud. Painfully almost.:music:

Turn down that volume control if you value your hearing !!! That level translates into insanity !! I have a friend who spent her youth hanging around discos, and her ears used to ring after each visit, then stop ringing after a day or so. Then after one of her visits the ringing did not stop, and has not yet stopped. It took her a year to get used to it. She does, of course, also have hearing loss. Some people need psychiatric help to deal with it.

 

[JohnA]

Turn down that volume control if you value your hearing !!! That level translates into insanity !!.

You're right of course.
My better half can't stand it even when she is upstairs, she is adamant that I really am deaf (not just selectively hearing what suits me, lol...)

She does, of course, also have hearing loss. Some people need psychiatric help to deal with it.

Ah the ringing. It can last for hours sometimes, silly eh...
As for the 'psychiatric' bit, well loud music is just the tip of the iceberg (allegedly)

The MLs do not distort at full blast, that is very true.
Of course you also need lots of watts, subs and room treatments, but in the right setting the panels can play very loud without distortion and that is a fact!

 

[kcl]

One of the interesting aspects of Electrostats is their extremely low levels of distortion. This lack of distortion makes them comfortable at Sound Pressure Levels that would be uncomfortable on other speakers. In my opinion, it is also the reason that there is low listener fatigue with electrostatics.

Just for the fun of it.. get up and walk out of the room and around the house.. You will find that the sound carries quite well, which confirms that it is, in fact, loud.

Not necessarily loud. Another interesting aspect of Electrostats is that their volume drops off much less over distance than cone speakers. (See 'line source' vs 'point source' in many other threads.) I've found that the sound from my MLs carries 'effortlessly' throughout the house, much better than cone speakers.

 

[risabet]

Not necessarily loud. Another interesting aspect of Electrostats is that their volume drops off much less over distance than cone speakers. (See 'line source' vs 'point source' in many other threads.) I've found that the sound from my MLs carries 'effortlessly' throughout the house, much better than cone speakers.

Line sources drop off at 3dB with a doubling of distance, point sources drop off at 6dB with a doubling of distance. Keep in mind that this is frequency dependent with a dipole speaker due to LF cancellation effects.

 

[Adamo]

I'm at 83-92db depending on the source and peaks in the track. My infinity IL 60s can play very loud, but you know you are playing the music loud. The MLs tame loud SPLs so well, you don't really notice you've cranked the volume into dangerous territory. You can just sit back and listen even when the sound waves are splashing across your ears like a tsunami!

 

[VanDaRo]

Y'know... I'm really tempted to hoist the BS flag on those that claim to listen at levels under 90 dB. Why, you say ??

I have been an audio-junkie for almost 3 decades, a salesman of HiFi in my 20's, and have auditioned more systems than I care to remember. With VERY, VERY rare exception has someone demo'd their system for me at low levels. And when I spent my time with customers showing off systems, I tried to stay cool and not "blast" the system in their faces...but was asked to turn it up almost 100% of the time.

With a$$-kickingly loud speakers or powerful amps I would estimate that many of these demos exceeded 100dB by a significant margin.

So this morning I got home from work, lit up the system and played Steve Winwood's "Valerie" because I like the timpani rolls and reverb on his voice in that song.... Result: SPLs between 88dB and 98dB. If I were to demo that particular song for anyone today, it would be at that level because it sounds absolutely sick and extremely involving right there.

Okay...I've convinced myself and am now, officially, hoisting the colors.....



~VDR