[D_Tinnitus]

Just stood 10' behind someone today waiting for a bus. He had ipod-ish earbuds, and could CLEARLY hear the music he was playing. That's too loud.

 

[TMM]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoomzDayz /img/forum/go_quote.gif with closed phones, how much of a difference does it make to have the dB meter up to the driver open as opposed to having a seal?

Testing with A900, using a piece of cardboard as the baffle.

250hz
open - 60.8 dB
closed - 68.4 dB

1khz
open - 79.4 dB
closed - 83.8 dB

4khz
open - 84.1 dB
closed - 83.3 dB

 

[ninjapixie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMM /img/forum/go_quote.gif Testing with A900, using a piece of cardboard as the baffle. 250hz open - 60.8 dB closed - 68.4 dB 1khz open - 79.4 dB closed - 83.8 dB 4khz open - 84.1 dB closed - 83.3 dB

Damn that's a huge difference in the low frequencies. My spl meter can't measure at particular frequencies but using them on my HD580's showed little to no difference with or without the cardboard. I just stick the meter right on the driver when I want to test how loud it is.

 

[AnGeLiCbOrIs]

I know that people's hearing naturally gets worse over time but I recently gave my father some canalphones and iems to try. I listen to my Rockboxed H120 at about -30 to -25. He could hardly hear it and turned it to about a -10! Twenty + years in the audio business really did do damage to his hearing. I never took his warnings about treasuring my hearing seriously till then.

Also, a decent DAP and/or amp can really help save your hearing since music can be enjoyable at lower volumes.

 

[Illidan]

Right now my ue11 gives me much better sound at much lower volumes than the previous iem's.
My way of controlling the volume is that pausing the music you listen to and wait a second, then if you find the sound is too loud to hear when resume the music, that's the time to turn it down.

 

[arteom]

if you are in quiet environment for a bit before you listen to music you shouldnt have to turn the volume up much. Try and be somewhere relatively quiet before listening to music, that way you wont need to turn the volume up much. Its all relative!

Not hearing details because headphones are not properly driven is another thing, and in that case I would recommend spending some money on an amp or something. I love loud music, but I love my ears being able to hear quiet sounds more.

 

[Redo]

Too loud is when you notice it's too loud. Don't mess with the flow.

 

[grommal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rav /img/forum/go_quote.gif Also, Grados are pretty good at resolving details at quite low volumes, so you shouldn't need to turn it up too much. Try turning it down a notch each time a song finishes, you won't notice it as much then, and as long as your suroundings are fairly quiet you'll probably find that you can listen at lower volumes than you thought.

This is good advice, trying to back off between songs if you're already at a higher level. Also, when adjusting volume during a song, try to sneak up on your desired level from below, rather than turning it up too far and then backing down. Since the ear and brain will prefer loud over soft, all else being equal, you'll end up at a higher volume if you overshoot and then back off.

I've also leveled all my albums against each other using mp3gain for my portable, and that helps avoid accidental "volume creep". If you have some music that's just louder than others, your ear will adapt to that volume level, and then you'll find yourself turning it up when lower gain music comes around.

 

[philodox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by D_Tinnitus /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just stood 10' behind someone today waiting for a bus. He had ipod-ish earbuds, and could CLEARLY hear the music he was playing. That's too loud.

Agreed. That kind of listening always scares me a bit.

 

[Elluzion]

you should be able to know how much can "damage" your ears. If the volume is uncomfortable for one and it isn't very enjoyable. also put it where it is comfortable, and then turn it down a bit because usually where it is comfortable it is probably still too loud

 

[kuzzz]

my school sounds like white noise with all the ibuds cranked up till max

"ssssshshshsssssssshhshs" all day long...crazy

 

[aureus]

I was listening too loud and I even didn’t realize it. A tinnitus since saturday (which is almost gone, happily, might go completely when my cold goes) brought me back down to earth. Now even 50% on an iPod is enough volume for a Sennheiser HD565, 60% max (30-40% on a MacBook Pro). Please guys, if you listen to your headphones all-day, consider and double-check your volumes.

 

[ph0rk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jinx20001 /img/forum/go_quote.gif i like this idea but how can it be accurate when you cant be sure of your isolation? i mean i can only just hear my clicks after sticking se530 in with black foam tips

It works fine for no isolation, and with isolation - the more isolation you have, the softer the clicks and softer the music.

The weighting of the dB scale is important for measurements too. I can fit the sensor for my db meter right into the earpad hole of my HD25's, and (like you'd expect) switching from c-weight (captures low end) to a-weight (mostly midrange) results in significant drops in dB levels.

A-weighting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Reticuli2]

I would recommend a sound pressure meter and use a pair of speakers to learn what 85dB sounds like. And try to keep it limited to that. That is the standard peak volume sound engineers use when doing live mixes...or at least what they've been taught to use historically. I know some cure albums didn't adhere to this, and certainly most EDM doesn't. I have my doubts about sound damage being duration + sound level, as if it's a threshold. I think it's sound level, period, and duration is limiting their ability to detect the damage incurred during double-blind tests with audiology equipment. I think anything that's too loud damages your hearing no matter what. The less you listen at those levels, the less hearing loss you will get. Period.

 

[4ki]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kuzzz /img/forum/go_quote.gif my school sounds like white noise with all the ibuds cranked up till max "ssssshshshsssssssshhshs" all day long...crazy

Put the gun away. It's not worth it