Deafness, tinnitus and the invisible toll of loud music

sumitkpandit said:
How do you guys measure the loudness of your content? How do you measure when playing through speakers and how do you measure when playing through headphones?

I live beside the outer ring road and have to boost my system to 75% sometimes to be able to hear dialogues. I would love to assess how loud things are around me.

And what is the safe level to be in? I found this https://service.shure.com/s/article/maximum-spl-listening-levels-and-time-limits?language=en_US
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There are quite a few apps available for measuring sound levels. I use 'Sound Meter' on Android. Obviously, this works for ambient sound measurement (speakers, environment). Anything below 90dB is "safe".

If you are experiencing noise pollution in your surrounding environment, one suggestion is to use sound blocking sheets. This is usually marketed for professional use meant for sound recording studios.
 
sumitkpandit said:
How do you guys measure the loudness of your content? How do you measure when playing through speakers and how do you measure when playing through headphones?
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A simple rule of thumb:
If folks around you have to speak over the music to be heard, then you are playing too loud.
In case if headphones, IEMs by design block out ambient noise. Same with closed back HPs.
Open back HPs allow for some feedback, if not anything your family members will tell you its loud.

On a lighter note (or serious one), 2 beers makes me want to turn up the volume.
Does not happen with whiskey though. So be aware of the context when listening to music.

I have mild to moderate loss from 500Hz and above. It is more pronounced in the human voice region.
And the loss is in canal and nerve too. Nerve loss is irreversible.
If you perceive hearing loss (or your family complains), get yourself tested and consult with an ENT.

Cheers,
Raghu
 
keith_correa said:
130db is the equivalent of a military jet aircraft take-off from an aircraft carrier with afterburner at 50 feet.
You're telling us you listen (occasionally?) at these levels? Right!
Do you have any neighbours left? In the stadium neighbouring yours? :p
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You can read various things online about what level correlates to what but we don't know for sure. I do listen at these levels but of course your free to believe it or not. I do have neighbours.

prateekatasniya said:
I think you must recalibrate your mic. Or use a calibrated microphone.
First of all 130dB capability is difficult.
And 130dB is insane. It will blow your ears in a few seconds I guess.
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Why would you assume that my mic needs to be recalibrated? Or that I am not using a calibrated microphone? 130db is not difficult if you have the right equipment. Actually 130db sounds rather clean to me and it has not blown my ears yet, I wouldn't call it insane.
 
I stay next to the Indian airforce. From my flats terrace you can see the fighter planes and helicopters. From morning to evening there will be drills and shooting practice. From my terrace it will be around 500 meters. During take off and landing it’s insane. Many times the helicopters fly above my terrace and the SPL is insane.Feels like the entire flats is hit by a giant subwoofer.Also when the fighter jets starts the engine and takes off it’s crazy loud and i can feel the pressure from the terrace. I wonder how on earth they manage sitting inside. Tinnitus is very common trauma for airforce, military etc.
 
Decadent_Spectre said:
You can read various things online about what level correlates to what but we don't know for sure. I do listen at these levels but of course your free to believe it or not. I do have neighbours.
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Please, please take care of your hearing! I say this because I know first hand of what it is like to have a hearing problem. Lucky for me it was temporary. At that time, I realized how much I'd been taking things for granted. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy - not that I have any, but just saying!
 
Thanks to the OP for starting such a thoughtful thread.
How de we measure the loudness of the IEM's or HP? (To be precise can we know at what levels are we listening in our iems or HP) .
I can measure my loudspeakers with ambient sound measuring apps like sound meter or tother apps mentioned in above threads.
Any app or links for the same will be appreciated.
It is very important to take care of our health and hearing to enjoy the goodness of music.
 
@Decadent_Spectre
Live Music or DJ's usually have a SPL per speaker between 100-130dB, but not 130db consistently.
If your system can peak that level without distortion, then that is indeed an amazing setup.
I presume you have a properly dedicated room to obtain clarity at such spl levels.

It would be great if you can list your gear.
 
It's a big issue if the speakers amplifiers are playing lots of distortion mostly 3rd order distortion and there are huge phase shifts in frequency response. These cause peaks / dipa in response with high and low Q points causing listening fatigue.

As I have now relatively settled with my speakers/ amplifier my obvious next step was to make the set up as natural and accurate sounding as possible. I recently discovered that PVC / plastic adds to harshness in the sound. I am systematically eliminating PVC from my setup to reduce harshness in HF replacing with Teflon and Cotton as applicable. Earlier my power chord was enclosed in a PVC tube and now they are wrapped around thick cotton cloth. This helped me to reduce # from the power line. Hope it's not placebo. Too early for me to conclude as this discovery happened last weekend.
 
keith_correa said:
Please, please take care of your hearing! I say this because I know first hand of what it is like to have a hearing problem. Lucky for me it was temporary. At that time, I realized how much I'd been taking things for granted. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy - not that I have any, but just saying!
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I do take care of my hearing but I need to use it to enjoy it.

Kannan said:
@Decadent_Spectre
Live Music or DJ's usually have a SPL per speaker between 100-130dB, but not 130db consistently.
If your system can peak that level without distortion, then that is indeed an amazing setup.
I presume you have a properly dedicated room to obtain clarity at such spl levels.

It would be great if you can list your gear.
Click to expand...

My gear is pro audio based, that's all I will mention, I'd rather keep my equipment anonymous. I do have a dedicated room.
 
Black_Hawk said:
I generally avoid heavy bass oriented tracks and usually my music listening is at low volume levels, near-field. If I listen at raised volume levels I'm left with a dreadful headache which doesn't go away unless I sleep at night.
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After i recently bought a apair of FS i get a headache with just one aong around 55db is what i listen to. Visited an ENT and says probably early sinusitis. Taking meds for that.
 
Love4sound said:
I stay next to the Indian airforce. From my flats terrace you can see the fighter planes and helicopters. From morning to evening there will be drills and shooting practice. From my terrace it will be around 500 meters. During take off and landing it’s insane. Many times the helicopters fly above my terrace and the SPL is insane.Feels like the entire flats is hit by a giant subwoofer.Also when the fighter jets starts the engine and takes off it’s crazy loud and i can feel the pressure from the terrace. I wonder how on earth they manage sitting inside. Tinnitus is very common trauma for airforce, military etc.
Click to expand...
So all the time you can have realtime Atmos experience due to airforce.
 
Decadent_Spectre said:
I do take care of my hearing but I need to use it to enjoy it.



My gear is pro audio based, that's all I will mention, I'd rather keep my equipment anonymous. I do have a dedicated room.
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Please do not take it otherwise but what is the problem with disclosing your equipment? That is pretty much the whole idea of being in the forum, to have a discussion with fellow members. Again, I am only trying to understand your reservation. You do not have to divulge information on your equipment, I am just curious.
You may listen to at 130db levels, I have no comment on that. It is your preference and if you are fine with that, then it is perfectly alright.
 
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