spl listening levels...

[gonefishin]

We have discussed what listening levels we normally listen to...but I was wondering something just a bit different.

What spl is your normal soft listening level?

What spl is your normal listening level?

What spl is your moderately loud listening level?

And last...what spl is your loud listening level?



and are these levels the sustained music readings or peak readings?


thanks!

[Deang]

The guy on the back of that boat is going to hurt himself.

[gyusher]

What spl is your normal soft listening level?
60-70db
What spl is your normal listening level?
70-75db
What spl is your moderately loud listening level?
75-85db
And last...what spl is your loud listening level?

90+db

and are these levels the sustained music readings or peak readings?

On loud passages like explosions peaks will be 100-110db
Thats my opinion. . .I dont know referance but mine are pretty much in these areas. . .

[THOR]

I don't have a Db meter but standing in the living room it's about as loud as an airplane taking off. I will have to get one someday it would be fun to see what it really is.

[WildWest]

I hope by next weekend I can break out my Rat Shack analog SPL meter and answer this.

[NOSValves]

Soft 75 dB
Normal 85 dB
Semi loud 95 dB
Rock the house !! 110 + dB (the joy of Horns and 60 watts of tube bliss !!)



Dean great post !!

[Dave918]

Quickly measured from my favorite chair on my new system (source: John Mayall 'Southside Story'):

Soft level? 65dB

Normal level? 79dB

Moderate level? 87dB

Loud level? 95+dB

Measured on my Radio Shack sound level meter set to fast response, C weighting.

-Dave

[Deang]

O.K., I'll be serious.

Soft level = 85 db

Normal level = 90 dB

Moderate level = 95 dB

Loud level = 100 db

These are all with C weighted setting in peaks.

[gonefishin]

All measurements were taken with a corrected Radio Shack analog spl meter at the listening position apporox 12' away...which is where I sit ;)

(This set of measurements was taken using music and use an averaged db reading...leaving the quiet passages lower and the peaks still higher)







--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

68db (soft listening)

82db (medium loud listening)

96db (Moderate loud listening)

>100db (Maynard Ferguson in the room level)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

most of the time I'm probably 70-85 sustained area.

[MikE]

All measurements were taken with a Radio Shack digital spl meter at the listening position apporox 10'.

55-63db [soft]

64-78db [medium]

79-88db [moderate]

89-96db [loud]

MikE

[gonefishin]

Originally posted by Deang
The guy on the back of that boat is going to hurt himself.


lol...yeah...the retrieve is a bit fast :p:

[Haoleb]

I wish i had an SPL meter for this.. Id be intersted to see how loud i listen to when its at the levels i usually listen at.

Compared to the concert i went to a couple weeks ago, not hardly as loud. But id say im approaching the 95+ db range. i really cant say. 50 bucks for a meter just to see how loud i listen seems a bit steep :(

[gonefishin]

Thor...Haoleb...would you guys (or anyone else) be interested in borrowing my spl meter? I could send it along with an audio/video set up disk...and a couple audio "test cd's" with tones and such. You guys pick up the shipping costs...keep it for two weeks...then send it back.

let me know>>>>

[THOR]

Yah that would be cool!!! I was thinking of buying one doing the measurements then returning it to the store :rolleyes: so your way is much more ethical and could spare me some time in hell when I die ;)

[Rob]

Originally posted by THOR
I don't have a Db meter but standing in the living room it's about as loud as an airplane taking off. I will have to get one someday it would be fun to see what it really is.

Thor,

Just take a thermometer and stick the bulb part into a wad of cotton batton. Measure the temperature rise of the cotton wad.

This actually does work for truly loud SPL's but I doubt your system is loud enough. :D

If I were to visit, I'd probably be sticking the cotton batton in my ears! ;)

[Wireworm5]

soft- 77 to 82db
average- 85 to 90
loud- 90 to 95
ex. loud- 95 to 100 , when I really want to rock.
When I use headphones, its as loud as my ears can handle. I am guessing around 100 db +.

[Jack G]

While it is music/genre specific, here are my basics-this is sustained levels:

soft: 60-70 db.
normal: 70-75 db
moderate: 75-85db
loud: 90+ db
I *rarely* play loud. I tend to break out in a sweat at hi volumes.

Jack

[bully]

Interesting thread. I have long considered getting an SPL meter. Typical music levels here are probably at normal conversation level, or a bit above.
All four stereos currently set up are capable of serious pressure.
I suspect the JBL L100 are the least efficient pair of speaker systems I have up, and they are what? about 91-92dB/w/m, and I have the 150 wpc Yamaha R-2000 on them.

[Jack G]

Bully,
See if you can borrow one. I bought my SPL meter, about 5-6 years ago, and haven't used it in so long that I don't know where it is. Out side of checking your levels for curiosity, it isn't a very usefull devise. You cannot use it(at least Radio Shack's) accurately for setting up a sub, since it is not linear for all frequencies. Especially bass.
Jack

[gonefishin]

Bully...if you don't mind paying for shipping each way...you can borrow mine (with a few test cd's)...so far Thor and possibly Haleob are going to borrow it.

JackG...that is true...that the rat shack meter isn't perfectly linear...but they are all fairly consistant...meaning each meter is non-linear in the same manner as the rest of the rat shack meters.

Rives has a test CD out (which I'll send out with the meter) which has two sets of test tones. The first set is recorded flat across the whole range...and the second set of test tones is recorded with compensation for the analog rat shack meter. So there is no need to use the "adjustment tables" or a spreadsheet to adjust for the reading you get. Just play the corrected test tones...and take the reading.

[THOR]

PM me GF and we can work out the details. And thanks for the oppurtunity!

[Deang]

Use this:


http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/general/messages/49147.html

[Haoleb]

Thanks for the offer GF. But no thanks. i dont want to find out that bad.

Anyhow... thanks anyway man.

[rgrjit8]

Originally posted by THOR
Yah that would be cool!!! I was thinking of buying one doing the measurements then returning it to the store :rolleyes: so your way is much more ethical and could spare me some time in hell when I die ;)

Thor, you made me flash on something. There was this doctor who had an argument with his wife and strangled her. He went to a department store and bought a food processor. He liquified her internal organs and poured them down the sink. He buried her gutted cadaver in a hole in the basement.
Then he took the food prcessor back for a refund without thoroughly cleaning it. They were able to type blood from it for the trial.
After he was sent to prison, the two sons (early twenties) threw a party. They sunk the beer keg full of ice in the hole their mother had been buried in.
They used to come into the old psych hospital I worked at to get tune ups.

Sorry for being off topic, but it's Thor's fault for making me think of this.

I'll do my db meaurements tomorrow. It's 0230 now and wouldn't be cool.

[THOR]

Holy crap is that a true story!??!?!?!?! :eek:

[rgrjit8]

Yes, true story. I looked for a link but couldn't find one.
Dr. SantaMaria (one word or two?) of Galesburg, Illinois.

He was nearing retirement and he wanted to go back to Mexico to live, but his wife wanted to stay in the US.
I don't know why he didn't just go by himself instead of killing her. She probably threatened to divorce and take everything he had.

He worked for the Dept. of Mental Health like me. But he was at a facility about 50 miles away.
In Illinois, back in the bad old days, the state would hire doctors who had failed their medical boards. They could practice medecine only at state facilities. Most of these guys failed due to poor English.
But on the other hand, a lot of the stories you hear about the derelicts working at the bughouses is also true. At least in the old days.

[Deang]

Why are murderers so retarded? Don't they watch CSI?:D

[gyusher]

There is a way to use your meter to get timed averages. . .Shows the highs and lows and average level. . .
OSHA says you need ear plugs or hearing protection above 85db continiuous(sp) for 8 hours. . . All my levels did not take peaks into consideration. . .I was giving average SPLs. . .At 80 db average and a dynamic range of 90db gets mighty loud. . . .Easily over 110 peaks. . . . .

[rgrjit8]

Okay.
Rat Shack digital SLM
C weighted slow response.

normal soft: not measured.
normal : 77
moderately loud : not measured
loud : 98
nuts* : 108

* nuts is defined as turning it up as loud as you think your system can handle for a short burst of drum or guitar solo.

I would bet real money that Thor's measurements will be close to mine.