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You're probably listening too loud

After many years of being a professional musician and spending hundreds of hours in the recording studios on both sides of the glass, I believe that most listeners undermine the pleasure of the listening experience by listening too loud and deadening their ears.

As a resident of NYC, there are a million things here that make the ears shut down, just the way pupils close up in bright light. People screaming, trucks, subways, city noise. Your ears keep closing up. Then you go home and try to listen on the hifi, but your ears are still f'kd up to get to the point. Try this experiment.

Hopefully, you can all have some degree of quiet when you can sit down and listen. Start with a record or CD of acoustic music with some inner detail and tonality. I like to use the Naim CD with Forcione and Hayden, or the piano/bass CD with Taylor/Hayden. Just simple, relaxing music. Real instruments doin' real things.

Start by sitting back and leaving the volume just a little lower than you find comfortable. Just like you want to turn it up a bit, but leave it down. Sit back and relax. I would bet that in 7-10 minutes, that "too low" volume is going to sound much louder. That's because you're ears have opened up. Now, without changing anything, that same volume is going to sound right. Step out of the room for a second, but don't talk with anybody. Just go get a glass of water and come back - now, that same volume is going to sound louder than you thought.

Sit back down and listen for a minute or two - now, just the slightest nudge of the volume control upwards will make the sound come alive - the bass will be fuller and the rest of the spectrum will be more detailed and vibrant.

Try it - every professional recording engineer knows that loud listening destroys the subtleties in your hearing. Plus, lower volumes mean no or less amplifier clipping, drivers driven within their limits and ears that are open to receive what the music has to offer.

Most of all - have fun.
chayro

Showing 5 responses by mrtennis

mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
when i listen at sound pressure levels approaching 85 db, my wife complains that the music is too loud. she is 20 feet away from the speakers and not in the listening room.

while one may miss certain detail at, say 80 db, hopefully, the brain will fill in some of the "empty spaces". one cannot always indulge in one's passions, unchecked.

in addition, one person's "realistic level", may exceed another person's threshold of pain.
mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
what's more important than realistic sound pressure levels is the comfort level of the listener. if someone prefers listening at spls, never exceeding 80 db, it matter's not what is realistic or not.

the hobby is about entertainment and the only precept that matters is : enjoy yourself.
mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
hi bob:

what else mattters besides enjoyment of the experience of listening to music ?

the equipment is subservient to the pleasure of listening.
mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
sound pressure level is a measure of stimulus intensity.

there is support in the journals for an optimal level of stimulus intensity and complexity. the optimal level for an individual is related to personality factors and the physiology of one's nervous system.

thus, it should be no surprise that the population of music listeners will contain varying comfort levels for maximum spls.

it has nothing to do with realistic levels and everything to do with personal taste.

i find anything above 85 db as unpleasant, regardless of the performance of a stereo system. when i go to audio meetings, i usually tell the host to lower the volume.

comfort before realism makes sense.
mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
the problem isn't sound pressure level, per se. i had the experience of being in a room with two violinists playing bach's d double violin concerto. it was not especially loud, but the sound of the violin was unpleasant. i could listen to a flute at 85 db , or a french horn at 90 db and i would not mind.

thus the issue is quality of sound and timbre not necessarily loudness.
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