The first time I did I was pretty surprised at how low the numbers turned out to be.
I typically listen at around 70 dB, and rarely - if ever - see peaks much higher than 90 dB. I don't have a setup to let me measure the acoustic levels, so I just use a scope and assume the phone specs are close enough to get me in the right ballpark. No claim of precision here.
With my 32 Ohm, 100 dB/mW phones the raw measurements show only a handful of mV RMS with peaks below 100 mV (and usually below 50 mV).
Do you ever measure your listening level? If so, what do you find?
Just curious
jason
I typically listen at around 70 dB, and rarely - if ever - see peaks much higher than 90 dB. I don't have a setup to let me measure the acoustic levels, so I just use a scope and assume the phone specs are close enough to get me in the right ballpark. No claim of precision here.
With my 32 Ohm, 100 dB/mW phones the raw measurements show only a handful of mV RMS with peaks below 100 mV (and usually below 50 mV).
Do you ever measure your listening level? If so, what do you find?
Just curious
jason
I had a very similar experience. I thought I was listening way too loud, but was pleasantly surprised after crunching the numbers.
Same here. Around 70dB average spl is pretty normal for me for casual listening, in a quiet environment. In my case, I have noticed that turning the volume up doesn't change my perception of the music. With my current system, turning up the volume sounds exactly the same as at lower levels, except it makes my ears hurt!
In the past I have had low quality speakers, and I remember feeling that they sounded better when they were louder. Kind of like how guitar players like to over-drive their tube amps. In retrospect I think I was compensating for the speaker's lack of low frequency extension and lack of clarity. Well, I say "clarity", but I guess I'm actually talking about transient response.
In the past I have had low quality speakers, and I remember feeling that they sounded better when they were louder. Kind of like how guitar players like to over-drive their tube amps. In retrospect I think I was compensating for the speaker's lack of low frequency extension and lack of clarity. Well, I say "clarity", but I guess I'm actually talking about transient response.
What's funny how the perception of sound and SPL is that it is so variable. It's a sliding scale. I think the important point is how loud something is compared to the ambient noise.
When we drive a modern car, that's a sustained ~80dB+, but it we don't perceive it as being loud. I heard an interview with Earl Geddes describing how older cars would often be 100dB or louder inside, but nobody seemed to notice or care.
My house typically has ambient noise of 35-40dB, and listening to music at ~70dB feels loud. But something as small as crinkling a plastic bag then masks the audio, and suddenly I feel that the music is too quiet; I can barely hear it! But when that noise is gone, I feel my music is loud!
I first noticed the phenomenon of speakers seeming to sound 'loud' (i.e. clear/ detailed) when playing at a relatively low SPL when I traded a nice surround sound system for a pair of Genelec studio monitors.
Sure,
I have a couple of handheld SPL meters I use to measure "how loud" the music is.
Set on the dBA scale the meter in my lap rarely goes over 80ish dBA.
Some people will swear at you and tell you that loudness is not a single number. They start talking about octave bands and stuff like that.
Thanks DT
I have a couple of handheld SPL meters I use to measure "how loud" the music is.
Set on the dBA scale the meter in my lap rarely goes over 80ish dBA.
Some people will swear at you and tell you that loudness is not a single number. They start talking about octave bands and stuff like that.
Thanks DT
Interesting to see the low measurements and it motivates me to measure my own setup and preference. What I realised since I swapped in a new pre and power amp in my system that seems to maintain the dynamic range, balance, and details of the music played even at very low spl levels, I prefer listening and enjoying most music at low levels - provided there are no other background noises.
Just wondering why this thread is under the Headphone Systems section?
Just wondering why this thread is under the Headphone Systems section?
My el cheapo radio shack meter
showed 72 to 76 dB when at my computer
speakers.
78 to 84 dB in living room on TV/Movies.
Crazy party house nights 92 to 97
with way way to many people in my house.
good times.
2x15 with horn PA tower speakers.
Hysterical when I told the kids
likely not more than 3 or 5 watts.
Didn't believe me.
Had pioneer 3 way monkey coffins with
12" woofers. Cruised about 94 dB
before tweeters got harsh
showed 72 to 76 dB when at my computer
speakers.
78 to 84 dB in living room on TV/Movies.
Crazy party house nights 92 to 97
with way way to many people in my house.
good times.
2x15 with horn PA tower speakers.
Hysterical when I told the kids
likely not more than 3 or 5 watts.
Didn't believe me.
Had pioneer 3 way monkey coffins with
12" woofers. Cruised about 94 dB
before tweeters got harsh
I use a free app called DecibelX, and when I checked my headphone levels, I made a simple adapter from cardboard.
Live music is much more of a concern for me; the musicians I will go see perform no doubt have greatly diminished hearing, and their performances are usually way too loud.
Live music is much more of a concern for me; the musicians I will go see perform no doubt have greatly diminished hearing, and their performances are usually way too loud.
I do the same thing all the time. I like to blame it on my age, but in reality I have been this way forever. Cheers!I did exactly the same (capturing with scope) and apparently was the only one to read and comprehend the entire original post. Seems like the lacking attention span is becoming an issue here too
Way too loud live performances?...I thought so...perhaps my hearing is "refining" itself in my advancing years...but virtually all live events, the amplification is always dialed up too high, unnecessarily high. Of course the distortion levels from the poor systems rears its ugly head & it sounds truly awful.
An event we saw of our relative Nahuel Santoro, an aspiring singer, had this awful too high amplification level...when you hear the event six downtown blocks away, somethings up.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Rick...
Never measured it. But I find it interesting that loudness is so relative. I normally start my day with the amp at 10 (*). And then it gradually creeps up during the day to 25-30. Also sometimes I turn it up in between because there is something I like on the radio. And when I turn it back to what it was before it seems so quiet. Perception also changes with volume. The relative importance of instruments does change for me with loudness.
(*) that is what the volume settings says on the display.
(*) that is what the volume settings says on the display.
