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Loudness Table


edwinr

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Loudness Table

dbSPL Example

0 Threshold of hearing

10 Normal breathing

20 Whisper at 2.5 yards

30 Soft whisper

40 Quiet residential area

50 Rainfall

60 Normal conversation

70 Highway traffic

85 Noisy restaurant

90 Shouted conversation

100 School dance

110 Disco

110 Shouting in ear

112 MP3 player (highest volume)

115 Rock concert

120 Car sound system

130 Car race

150 Firecracker (1 yard)

157 Balloon pop (1 foot)

Note: This subjective measure is easier for me to work out how loud I actually listen to music at home. So based on this table I listen mostly around 85 to 90dbSPL.

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I can't believe that balloon pop at 12 inches - 157dbSPL! [:o]

According to Australian OH&S guidelines, noise levels exceeding 105dBA can damage hearing if the listener is exposed for more than 15 minutes. At 110dBA maximum safe exposure is only 90 seconds. But even at a relatively sane 85dBA (noisy restaurant levels), maximum safe exposure is only 8 hours before permanent hearing damage can occur. Scary stuff!

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Note: This subjective measure is easier for me to work out how loud I actually listen to music at home. So based on this table I listen mostly around 85 to 90dbSPL.

Edwinr,

An excellent post I am at about the same levels probably a little louder at 90 to 95db once in awhile to a 100db at my chair in my system this puts the speaker at 110db when at 100db at my chair.

With 10 watt amps I might add! And still room to spare!

SET12

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"I can't believe that balloon pop at 12 inches - 157dbSPL!"

I dont believe this whatsoever, this is more like a 'magnum 44' at 3 ft!!!! There 'd be a lot of kids with the possibility of permanent hearing losses if this figure is accurate!!

It's also not a sustained level, but an instantaneous one. Still seems a bit high to me.

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I think I am mostly about 80, with moments/songs at 100. I question the ballon. The stats I would like to see are on jet engines. I have done a lot of flying, been in and crawled around all kind of airplanes, and nothing, I mean nothing, has ever sounded louder then a jet engine.

Travis

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I have attended EAA in Oshkosh,WI here and have certainly been on the flight line enough the SPL's of a jet is listed at 130db + in my Radio Shack sound level meter book I believe and I think that is on the idle side of a jet engine I know its painful to be sure!

SET12

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The chart is from "Modern Recording Techniques" by Robert Runstein / Howard W. Sams & Company /First Edition - Seventh Printing 1979.

I know there are newer ones out there than this one, but I've had this one since it was published. If this isn't clear enough, I'll scan it again.

Bruce

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According to Australian OH&S guidelines, noise levels exceeding 105dBA can damage hearing if the listener is exposed for more than 15 minutes. At 110dBA maximum safe exposure is only 90 seconds. But even at a relatively sane 85dBA (noisy restaurant levels), maximum safe exposure is only 8 hours before permanent hearing damage can occur. Scary stuff!

I think those numbers are a bit extreme for permanent damage. Could it be talking about temporary threshold shifts?

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here's some intresting info..according to this "klipsch" provided chart...the range of human hearing ends at 120db...think this has happended to me once or twice...music gets so loud..you hear fuzz or a water falls type of sound...ears start flapping...nose running...etc.

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But, according to this "klipsch" provided chart...your heritage line speakers would crap out by 115 db's.

Now kids. before you try this at home, remember, this came out of a 1998 klipsch catolog, significance of that is the the test speaker had the 3rd generation xovers in them (AK-3, AB-3, AL-3) rather than the first generation xovers in them (AA), the later being a steeper slope, with more goodies to protect your drivers from damage, if you have an AA xover, you probally will reach the failure threashold a little sooner than the suggested 115 db's.

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You still should proceed down audio lane with your safties on, because according to this "klipsch" provided chart, there's a thing called "living room" watts, which, upon the heritage line receiving 8 of them, you can approach the 115db. They must be counting echo's and vibrations, wife slaming the door once you crank up your tunes, kids countering with their stereo's, cops knocking to investigate, etc.

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