How loud do you listen?

[dtel]

I listen with atleast 180 db

Well let me be the first to say Welcome..............and bullshit.

You may have a record, someone calling bullshit on your first post., well done you should fit in just fine.

[Mallette]

Nice, Eldon...

I really didn't go back through to see if I'd weighed in, but here is my bottom line:

Listening at less than whatever is a realistic level for the original source is by definition not "high fidelity."

Stuff created in a mixing room, of course. doesn't apply. Only acoustic sources.

Dave

[dtel]

I really didn't go back through to see if I'd weighed in, but here is my bottom line: Listening at less than whatever is a realistic level for the original source is by definition not "high fidelity." Stuff created in a mixing room, of course. doesn't apply. Only acoustic sources. Dave

Good point

I don't think I answered the original question either. It depends first on who is home, normal listening probably a measly 50 db, when it's just my wife and I and she is sewing in the back room probably 95-100 db on a good night which is rare nowadays.

After the storm when there were 9 of us here for a couple of years and I cooked for everyone every night, as I cooked I listened at about 80 90db and most were in there rooms or in and out. When I was done cooking I would turn it off, everyone knew it was time to eat, it was kind of a routine.

My mother would come walking slowly in with her walker and stop in the middle of the room and dance a little before moving on, it was funny and the kids loved it. During the day I would put on a satellite station that had all the old music she loved, she would listen for hours trying to remember who sang each song.

We did our best to make her last few years better, I think the music helped, she really seemed to enjoy whatever was playing.

[garyrc]

Listening at less than whatever is a realistic level for the original source is by definition not "high fidelity."

Totally agree!

[beeker]

I listen with atleast 180 db

Well let me be the first to say Welcome..............and bullshit.

You may have a record, someone calling bullshit on your first post., well done you should fit in just fine.

If he was hearing it at 180db then he would not be the only one(likely the whole neighborhood etc) lol In my firebird with 4 soundstream 15's each on 400 watt mono blocks 2 electronic crossovers in the back and in dash eq i could get up to 151-3ish on the radio shack meter...The record is standing today in car audio at 178 i believe. May be more although thats the last i remember. 180db is near atomic pressure...You will definitely want some closed ear guards while you listen to that 180 db lol seriously cause you wont hear for id say more than 2 minutes...seriously. Home audio...good luck reading over 135db's...iv been in the low 120's and clean although not hardly a listening level.

[minermark]

It's becoming obvious to me after im done with my current speaker road trip, iv been thinking about doubling up an my tuber and go mono block.

[beeker]

Your gonna try it regardless...gotta say...you can only listen to one system at a time...I like to make 1 in particular as good as possible...then just use it...several setup becomes a waste..unless its the workshop in your case then the cave etc..and wifes room of course.

[minermark]

Once she dials in on her fav speaker, and I deal with what is left for the cave, then sell what I don't need, it's Amp time, first amps will be hers,

Her mono blocks were fine up to this point, but she was running the Chorus set up, and with 45 Wpc that was a good match.

80 to 100 Wpc should fix her just fine for a few years.

I already know what is coming so I might as well state it here first, amps and speakers will be listed here first, out with the old in with the new.

[Zen Traveler]

Hmmm...I downloaded a smartphone app which registers about 7 dB lower than my Rat Shack meter.

[Chris A]

What scale does each device use? Flat, "A", or "C"?

[ClaudeJ1]

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).

It's all "relative gain" and I'm amazed at the range that must be emplyoyed when trying to keep everything metered at 85 db at the sweet spot.

[Zen Traveler]

I use "C" and slow on the rat meter but am unsure of the smartphone app...I guess I will do some more research. {EDIT: Given the running graph on the app it appears not to be registering the peaks like the needle on my analog meter.}

Edited July 4, 2014 by tkdamerica

[Chris A]

Sometimes it can be related to the "A" or "C" scale use with a directional microphone at higher frequencies. Try using some band-passed pink noise files vs. frequency using both meters.

EDIT: It also can be related to the exact "fast" or "slow" filter characteristics in each, as you mentioned. Recommend using band-passed pink noise test files to further the understanding of what's happening.

Edited July 4, 2014 by Chris A

[jorjen]

What? Huh?

[garyrc]

What scale does each device use? Flat, "A", or "C"?

.... and if the source is music, is it set on "fast" or "slow" ...?

[BigStewMan]

i consider turning it down about 34 minutes after my ears start bleeding. actually, was at the Queen concert last night, and i was able to take out my hearing aids and hear the music just fine. i like my music very loud.

[Guest Steven1963]

Haha! This post is perfect timing. I'm just about to make a post entitled "tonight's db reading attributed to..."

Watch for it. I plan on making it a regular post.

[Zen Traveler]

Haha! This post is perfect timing. I'm just about to make a post entitled "tonight's db reading attributed to..."

Watch for it. I plan on making it a regular post.

I posted in your thread but noticed you didn't tell us how loud you listened to "Bad" and what source it was coming from?

EDIT: It didn't hit me until I logged off to click on your pic and then I saw you were hitting peaks at 112 dB--Cool.

Edited July 5, 2014 by tkdamerica

[Ski Bum]

Assuming this omnimic thingie is properly calibrated and accurate, here is a random sample with random music taken from a spot that I didn't have to move my lazy butt to set up the mic, i.e. the sweet spot: avg: (C, slow) ~80db, max: ~91db, peak 104db. I'm not sure if the "peak" is a measured or calculated value with the omnimic, or what specifically the "max" is as opposed to the "peak". Simply a matter of duration?

The fan in my computer raises the noise floor 10db, good grief. Get this thing outta here!