How loud do you listen?

[Zen Traveler]

Last night I did some extended music listening and pulled out the old Rat Shack meter. On average I listen 65-75 db with peaks. I checked this on the fast and slow settings. I can't listen to music long much above this level without it seeming to loud. I guess if I turn things up to 80 db, that will be really blasting the system, lol.

What kind of music were you listening to? Fwiw, I always listen to multichannel music alone but my wife appreciates it down the hall in another room where it surprisingly sounds good. Anyway, Rock in the various venues sound better LOUD to me as I contemplate my thoughts while experiencing it along with the aforementioned ales...

Last night I pulled out ZZ top "Live from Texas," and played it at -8 to -10 on the MV, which gave me peaks at approx. 96 dB but thought the crowd noise was too loud for the most part. I then put in ELO's "Zoom Tour live" and it sounded great at -10 on the MV and had similar 96 dB peaks without the annoying crowd...I guess I took for granted most rockers like it loud. and I prefer it to the point before it gets uncomfortable. I started this thread for several reasons including being curious how loud people listen to music. That said, Movies are a completely different thing and was curious how close to Reference Level folks experience DTS and Dolby Digital material.

I normally don't listen to 2 channel but did put in Matchbox20 CD and found it sounded great at -10 in both Direct Mode and PLZ multichannel which gave me 85 to 90 dB averages with peaks to 94 dB or so. {Note: When I say averages I am speaking about where the needle in my Rat shack meter seems to hang, C weighted. I also realize that some of the lower-end peaks could be slightly higher given the SPL meters limitations.}

Edited February 23, 2014 by tkdamerica

[derrickdj1]

Mostly lounge type jazz . Sometime when the wife is around she will tell me to turn it up a little. I listen to some mild rock, pop, R&B, and very little Hip Hop or rock.

[Kain]

I hit 120-122 dB peaks during bass-heavy scenes in movies. Otherwise, with music, I tend to be around 90-95 dB.

[derrickdj1]

Kain, I take it you are very pleased with the Seaton Sound SubMersive for HT and music duty! One day I would love to hear one.

[jason str]

I gave 16" Table Tuba long style loaded with an 8" driver a good workout yesterday, wow this thing can bump.

Wish my room was bigger, the LaScala's sounded much better in my old living room, the midrange can really beam at higher volumes.

Maybe its time to do some experimenting with crossover & horn mods or build some DR's mated to a pair of Tuba's.

[muel]

I gave 16" Table Tuba long style loaded with an 8" driver a good workout yesterday, wow this thing can bump.

Wish my room was bigger, the LaScala's sounded much better in my old living room, the midrange can really beam at higher volumes.

Maybe its time to do some experimenting with crossover & horn mods or build some DR's mated to a pair of Tuba's.

You might have some other problems with your room if it sounded better in your old room. LaScalas are a bit "beamy". Personally, I think beamy can be a good thing because it can take the room out of the equation a little more than speakers with better dispersion. It does mean that you have to work a little harder to get them set right. A 1/8" change in the toe-in or movement in your chair can have a big effect.

I find the louder I listen the more problems become evident. I don't get to listen over 80db much although around 85 is where I prefer most music. Any louder than that is only for 5 minutes or so durations.

[jason str]

I gave 16" Table Tuba long style loaded with an 8" driver a good workout yesterday, wow this thing can bump.

Wish my room was bigger, the LaScala's sounded much better in my old living room, the midrange can really beam at higher volumes.

Maybe its time to do some experimenting with crossover & horn mods or build some DR's mated to a pair of Tuba's.

You might have some other problems with your room if it sounded better in your old room. LaScalas are a bit "beamy". Personally, I think beamy can be a good thing because it can take the room out of the equation a little more than speakers with better dispersion. It does mean that you have to work a little harder to get them set right. A 1/8" change in the toe-in or movement in your chair can have a big effect.

I find the louder I listen the more problems become evident. I don't get to listen over 80db much although around 85 is where I prefer most music. Any louder than that is only for 5 minutes or so durations.

The room is just too small, my ears are only 7 ft from the speakers. My old living room was 18' x 20 and much better suited for a big set of loudspeakers.

At low volumes the speakers sound great, i adjusted the toe in for the best soundstage.

I may build a set of ported DR 250's for the workshop and see how they sound, they are full horns but made for pro sound and probably need EQ adjustments to run in a smaller area but i do prefer horns so its just a matter of finding the right ones.

Once things pick up i would like to get a better midrange horn for the LaScala set and go from there.

[minermark]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbyAZQ45uww

@31 watts, I like nancy ......

[ssh]

Most often 75-80 DB.

Sometimes my fingers slip and it's 100.

SSH

[garyrc]

I hope people who report the peaks they measure with the Radio ("Rat") Shack meter use "C," "Fast" .... otherwise, you are getting something nearer to the average for a loud passage, IMO. The difference between "C," "Fast" and "A," "Slow" would be smaller for "lounge jazz" or "dinner jazz," than for highly dynamic orchestral music from classical through contemporary, or movies, for that matter.

PWK used to say you need 115 dB peaks at your ears to reproduce the "blood stirring" levels of a live symphony orchestra, and his (Don Keele's) chart in Dope From Hope reports the top of average for "Very Loud" at 110 dB, with peaks 10 dB higher. His next (average) level up he characterizes as "Too Damn Loud," but note that his "Very Loud" level accomodates peaks of (110 average + 10 for the peaks) 120 dB

If I were to guess at my usual peak levels, with the Rat Shack meter @ "C," "Fast," for serious listening, with orchestral music, given that the selection has loud passages, they would be between 95 and 110 dB, with needle balistics -- even at "Fast" -- preventing reading of very brief peaks.

As to hearing loss with classical orchestra members, it probably depends on the section of the orchestra one is seated in. If you are sitting right in front of the trumpets, you would be subjected to much higher SPLs (from time to time) than any that have been reported here. In other sections, it's not so bad. I played in 5 orchestras, if you count school, and my hearing is good. (I know, this is an N of one.) On the few occasions I took a meter in to a rehersal and measured from audience position (during my rests) the values were, indeed, something like 115 dB at Fast, C (e.g. during The Great Gate of Kiev). Someone else, in an audio magazine piece, used "Slow," "A" (as you know, a bad idea, IMO) and got 102 dB for whatever piece he was in the audience for.

Edited February 24, 2014 by Garyrc

[dtel]

PWK used to say you need 115 dB peaks at your ears to reproduce the "blood stirring" levels of a live symphony orchestra, and his (Don Keele's) chart in Dope From Hope reports the top of average for "Very Loud" at 110 dB, with peaks 10 dB higher. His next (average) level up he characterizes as "Too Damn Loud," but note that his "Very Loud" level accomodates peaks of (110 average + 10 for the peaks) 120 dB

So what your saying is most here couldn't hang with PWK according to what everyone is saying is there average listening levels.

Not surprising, have never met anyone that could fill his hat anyway.

[picky]

I too, have viewed the "ZZ TOP: Live From Texas" Blu-Ray with some disgust over the mixing of this concert. Whomever did it, missed the mark on the vocals. Just as tdkamerica stated, there way too much crowd and not enough of Dusty, Billy and their guitars! To add to this, over the years that I've had my theater, since 2004, one of my biggest pet peeves with program resources has become the issue of non-standard reference levels. To explain, I am talking about the fact that it appears that no two CDs, DVDs or Blu-Rays sound like they were recorded at the same reference volume level. Many of my DVDs sound perfect at -10db on my Pioneer Elite flagship receiver and Klipsch RF7 reference system. However, at that same level, many of my CDs sounds wimpy, and some of my Blu-Rays are way too loud. And this issue exists on both movies and concerts. The industry attempts to standardize everything else, so why not the reference volume level, too?

Relative to the original question of this thread, although I do not constantly monitor my room's volume in C-weighted db levels, I have on occasion, taken measurements and I can tell you that while watching the "Behind Enemy Lines" movie DVD at a -10 db volume setting, the room levels hit a peak during the fighter plane/missile chase scene of 121 db at 10 feet from the front array. The peak was mostly low end from my RSW15 reference sub. The rest of the sound and dialog was much lower and closer to 98-100 db. The cannon on "Master And Commander" during the "Attack" sequence are equally impressive! -Glenn

[garyrc]

PWK used to say you need 115 dB peaks at your ears to reproduce the "blood stirring" levels of a live symphony orchestra, and his (Don Keele's) chart in Dope From Hope reports the top of average for "Very Loud" at 110 dB, with peaks 10 dB higher. His next (average) level up he characterizes as "Too Damn Loud," but note that his "Very Loud" level accomodates peaks of (110 average + 10 for the peaks) 120 dB

So what your saying is most here couldn't hang with PWK according to what everyone is saying is there average listening levels ...

And couldn't listen to the live symphony orchestra (from fairly close seats) PWK cites. Actually, so much goes into our measuring of SPL, that it's hard to say (see my earlier post). As you probably know, PWK recorded symphony orchestras many times, and I'll bet he had a SPL meter with him, along with his multiple wrist watches.

[garyrc]

The industry attempts to standardize everything else, so why not the reference volume level, too?

DVD may be an exception, so I'll come back to that. The following applies to Blu-ray:

The movie people now standardize their PEAK level. This is more complicated than it sounds, though. The control room maximum is 105 dB at the mixer's seat for most of the range, and 115 dB for the LFE they assign to the subwoofer channel. If your home system is accurately calibrated by something like Audyssey, you should get these SPLs on the loudest peaks if your main volume control is set on 0 dB. BUT, nothing stops the movie mixers from throwing a limiter into the line, and crowding the louder sounds up against the top (105 or 115 dB, depending whether it's the main channels or the sub channel). So, a film like Quartet may have a lot of musical content, during loud passages, in the 90s, with very rare dynamic peaks at the limits of 105/115). A film like Star Trek Into Darkness (which about blew us out of our HT, and which we finally turned down) might place -- cram -- the loud passages right up against the loudness ceiling. So, Star Trek could sound a lot louder than Quartet with exactly the same peak level, i.e. movie reference level peak, but in one case the peaks might be a fraction of a second long, and in the other there might be prolonged high SPL at, or near, max.

Our DVDs (mostly old) are as much as 10 dB lower in level than our Blu-rays. I don't know whether this is because the movie industry didn't standardize their maximum levels until about the time Blu-ray came out, or if the manufacturers simply duplicate the DVDs at an intentionally lower level.

CDs are not now, nor will they ever be, at a standardized reference level. The music industry is too stupid too venal ... I can't think of just the right way to say it.

Edited February 24, 2014 by Garyrc

[Boxx]

Often times louder than I should.......

[dtel]

Often times louder than I should.......

BOX THE VOLUME DOES NOT HAVE TO STAY ON 11

[Marvel]

Often times louder than I should.......

BOX THE VOLUME DOES NOT HAVE TO STAY ON 11

Must be a set of 4311s... (or Century L100s)...

[Islander]

I've found that DVDs are pretty consistent in their volume levels. A setting of -25 dB (on my system, anyway) gives appropriate volume for movie listening with nearly every DVD, while CDs will be set anywhere from -38 to -20, depending on the material, my mood, and the time of day.

For TV watching, -30 to -38 is good, while LPs vary from -6 (pretty loud) to -18 dB (soft enough to converse over).

[Boxx]

Often times louder than I should.......

BOX THE VOLUME DOES NOT HAVE TO STAY ON 11

Well... I suppose you are right...

[dtel]

Well... I suppose you are right...

That's the funniest thing I have seen in a while.