How loud do you listen?

[Youthman]

Tonight, my son and I watched Transformers: Age of Extinction.  Amazing movie.  The LaScalas sounded absolutely fantastic.  Dialogue was clear and gunshots sounded real.  The Dual RSW-15's are plenty for my setup.  I wanted to pose a question about volume to the community.  How loud do you typically watch a movie?

 

My receiver was set at -25db.  Most dialogue and non-action sequences were around 85db.  During explosions (which there were plenty in this movie), the meter hit 115db quite often.  Honestly, this is the first time I finished a movie and wondered if I had it too loud. 

 

It's difficult to say how long those peaks lasted but I'm sure the action scenes were around 100db continuous which can't be good for my hearing.  The last thing I want to do is to damage my ears to where I can no longer enjoy movies or music.

Just looking for some feedback.

 

[Paducah Home Theater]

Tonight, my son and I watched Transformers: Age of Extinction.  Amazing movie.  The LaScalas sounded absolutely fantastic.  Dialogue was clear and gunshots sounded real.  The Dual RSW-15's are plenty for my setup.  I wanted to pose a question about volume to the community.  How loud do you typically watch a movie?

 

My receiver was set at -25db.  

 

Mine is always on -25 db, that's what I have it start up on on everything and I typically leave it alone.  If I get real crazy and want to be excited or if it is a boring movie with low levels of monotonous audio, I'll crank it up to -20.  If I'm showing off I will crank it up to -10 db.  That's as loud as I have had it for any length of time.  I typically wear earplugs for anything past -20 db.  I hit reference level once, with earplugs on, for a short time.  That's a stupid loud level.  

Edited December 27, 2014 by MetropolisLakeOutfitters

[Youthman]

I hit reference level once, with earplugs on, for a short time. That's a stupid loud level.

What do you consider "reference level"?  I thought Reference is what you are "supposed" to watch movies at?  I've always been confused at the whole "Reference Level" concept.

[Ceptorman]

Depending on the movie, the source, usually around -24db to -30db, then the wife will give me a smirk!

[Youthman]

Quick Google.....from the THX website...

 

What is Reference Level?

Manufacturing receivers and speakers that can achieve THX Reference Level is no simple task. It requires a tremendous amount of power to drive an audio system effortlessly without clipping or distorting. To ensure the audio products can reach this peak performance, THX developed a set of standards as part of its THX Ultra2, THX Select2 and I/S Plus certifications.

• Experience Studio Clarity: THX Certified Receivers reproduce studio Reference Level, 85dB SPL with 20dB of headroom.

[Paducah Home Theater]

 

I hit reference level once, with earplugs on, for a short time. That's a stupid loud level.

What do you consider "reference level"?  I thought Reference is what you are "supposed" to watch movies at?  I've always been confused at the whole "Reference Level" concept.

 

 

Reference level is technically 85 db with 20 db of headroom, and 0 db on your receiver ought to be representative of this.  115 db as you mentioned is 10 db higher than the peaks of this so either I'm all confused or something ain't right.  -25 db shouldn't be really loud and uncomfortable.  

[minermark]

Tonight, my son and I watched Transformers: Age of Extinction.  Amazing movie.  The LaScalas sounded absolutely fantastic.  Dialogue was clear and gunshots sounded real.  The Dual RSW-15's are plenty for my setup.  I wanted to pose a question about volume to the community.  How loud do you typically watch a movie?

 

My receiver was set at -25db.  Most dialogue and non-action sequences were around 85db.  During explosions (which there were plenty in this movie), the meter hit 115db quite often.  Honestly, this is the first time I finished a movie and wondered if I had it too loud. 

 

It's difficult to say how long those peaks lasted but I'm sure the action scenes were around 100db continuous which can't be good for my hearing.  The last thing I want to do is to damage my ears to where I can no longer enjoy movies or music.

Just looking for some feedback.

 

"My receiver was set at -25db." then you say  "the meter hit 115db quite often"

Minis 25db? is that what this means? = -25db...WTF?

[derrickdj1]

Honestly, this is the first time I finished a movie and wondered if I had it too loud.

 

That movie is on the loud side.  That was my impression the first time I saw it.  I can't say I have a set avr/preamp level.  Some movies are louder than others.  For example, War Of The World the dialogue is OK at -10 and other movies like Olympus Has Fallen -20 is a better setting.  I have watched some movies at reference but rarely.  I also keep ear plugs with the audio system.

[Paducah Home Theater]

 

Minis 25db? is that what this means? = -25db...WTF?

 

 

25 db below reference, which is 85 db normally and 105 db on the peaks.  

[Youthman]

From what I heard, the LaScalas sounded great, it was the bass that got really loud.  I'm wondering if the subs are too hot?  Based on the whole 85db with 20db headroom, if I started out at 85db - 90db, I should be hitting around 100db - 105db peak?

[Paducah Home Theater]

That movie is on the loud side.

It definitely has super strong bass. One of the best subwoofer mixes out there. If you set your sub level by ear on other movies, this movie will have them maxing out. The rumbly stuff when the spaceship flies by on the intro is insane.

Edited December 27, 2014 by MetropolisLakeOutfitters

[minermark]

 

 

Minis 25db? is that what this means? = -25db...WTF?

 

 

25 db below reference, which is 85 db normally and 105 db on the peaks.  

 

oh, ok, got that now, that is aprox my listen level.

[Youthman]

The dual RSW-15's had no problem handling the bass.....just not sure I can say so for my ears.  LOL

[Youthman]

There is absolutely no way on earth I could have even come close to turning my setup anywhere near 0db. 

[Paducah Home Theater]

There is absolutely no way on earth I could have even come close to turning my setup anywhere near 0db.

Have you ran Audessey? If you haven't, reference level could be 10 db or more higher than it should be. Audessey killed my RF-7ii's about 8 db. Scrappy's was killed about 12 db. Even if you have, I agree, reference is stupid loud. If not, your -25 db could be more like -13 db or something and that's getting pretty loud for an entire movie.

Edited December 27, 2014 by MetropolisLakeOutfitters

[derrickdj1]

Reference level is 105 db for speakers and 115 db max for sub/s.  Speakers set to small will redirect bass to the sub (6-7db) which may be ask to peak at 121 or 122 db.  Off the top of my head reference level for a sub depends on what frequency?  That range is around 31-63 Hz with no more that a 6 db drop down to the mid twenty Hz level.  This is not exact but very close.

[Quiet_Hollow]

We've got DTS-HD to thank for this mess. I can throw in any of my old Dolby-mixed DVD's at -0 dB REF and listen just fine. It's loud, just like the theater, but not over-the-top.

 

With the latest Blu-rays..."festive" for my rig is now -18 dB REF because the soundtracks are so compressed dynamically. Just this non-stop energy.

 

...and yes, using reference -0 dB FS tones, "reference level" is ~85 dB SPL at my listening position.

 

It's not the levels. It's DTS labs compressing the piss out of every BR that bears their stamp. 

[Youthman]

This article suggests that subwoofers should be capable of hitting 115db peaks.

 

What does ‘Reference Level’ mean for home theater design?

Reference level means two things for home theater design:

 

1. Speakers and amplifiers must be capable of 105dB peaks

If the playback chain is calibrated to produce 85dB for a -20dB signal  at the listening position then the speakers and amplifiers could be asked to produce 105dB for a 0dB signal. It is a challenging proposition for an audio system to reproduce this level cleanly, without dynamic compression and to be able to do so reliably.  Most standard consumer technologies such as soft dome tweeters are not up to scratch in any reasonably sized room. Speakers should have high sensitivity and high power handling, such as the Procella Audio speakers we recommend and use.

 

2. Subwoofers must be capable of 115dB peaks

The low frequency effects channel is handled slightly differently and has a 10dB boost relative to the other channels. The maximum SPL that subwoofers could be asked to reproduce from the low frequency effects track is therefore 115dB at the listening position. In reality the situation is nearly always worse because the subwoofer must additionally reproduce bass managed* content from other channels. These challenges mean that multiple large subwoofers are typically needed to be able to properly reproduce the soundtrack as the director intended.

* Bass managed content is that from other speaker channels that has been diverted to the subwoofer. In home audio video receivers (AVRs) and pre-processors this is done by setting the speakers to small in the bass management menu and specifying a crossover frequency. With surround speakers, for example, an 80Hz crossover is typically used. This means that any content in the surround channels under 80Hz is essentially diverted to the subwoofer. For 5 bass managed speakers an additional 6dB and for 7 bass managed speakers an additional 8dB of output may be required from the subwoofer channel.

[Paducah Home Theater]

This article suggests that subwoofers should be capable of hitting 115db peaks.

I probably do that but I didn't think it was totally correct. I'm a big old school bass head and admittedly have it pretty hot. That may be perfectly normal though. I just know its well beyond what you'd hear at a professional cinema. It's not the super low stuff at 115 db that kills your ears though, its the higher stuff. I used to be able to hit 132 db in my car and I maxed it out all the time.

Edited December 27, 2014 by MetropolisLakeOutfitters

[Youthman]

Have you ran Audessey?

Harman Kardon has their own proprietary auto calibration....but yes, I have run it and I have calibrated each speaker to the same level with my SPL meter

 

Quiet, it does seem that the HD audio blurays seem much louder than what I remember standard Dolby Digital and DTS to be.  But since those days, I have moved to dual RSW-15's and LaScala Trio so a lot has changed in my setup.