The sound of AKG K1000 headphones is not impressive at low volumes, but is spectacular at high volumes. Because I worried about hearing damage at high volume, I looked up the levels at which hearing damage can occur. Several references provide OSHA data which states that hearing damage can occur after 8 hours exposure to 90 db. I then bought a Radio Shack digital Sound Level Meter (part number 33-2055) and stuck the sensor directly against each ear piece of the K1000, while playing music at what I consider very loud volume. The readings averaged around 86 db, and when I made the measurement at the normal distance of my ears from the ear pieces, the readings averaged around 84 db. These measurements suggest to me that playing the K1000 at what I consider a very loud volume, at which it sounds magnificent, will not damage my hearing if I listen for 3 - 5 hours a day. But I am not sure that my method of measuring the volume of the K1000 is the correct way to do it. I would therefore really appreciate some authoritative advice from knowledgeable Head-Fi members regarding the adequacy of my method. BTW, the references state that the volume of amplified rock music is 110 - 130 db, and that hearing damage can occur after 3 3/4 - 30 minutes exposure to it; also, that the volume of dance club music is 110 db, with OSHA recommending a maximum exposure of 1/2 hour.

BTW, please see related thread at -

http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showt...711#post241711

Doesn't it matter at what scale the sound is weighted at or the frequency?


I don't know if 90dB @ 10kHz is more damaging than 100Hz @ 90dB.

I think the K1000 sounds better when it's not loud. It could be me but I can still here a whole bunch of stuff at my listening levels of around ~75db (on the same meter). What do you think is lacking at the lower volume levels?

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I don't think either is more DAMAGING, but the 10kHZ signal would definitely be more unpleasant.

How do you set the sound level? I tend to turn it up until the whole spectrum is obvious and has detail. We will exclude the cases when alcohol is involved. Interestingly (to me, anyway) I have found that the last thing to show up is the deep bass region. With the K1000, it will never show up! When I added the sub I was happy to back the volume down considerably. I haven't checked the levels yet. It is on the list...


gerG

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The term used in the data that saw is "dbA" rather than "db", and I don't know what the "A" stands for. Also, I think that I saw something about higher frequencies being more damaging. And, I think that it was mentioned that distant speakers expose ears to less high frequency energy than headphones. Obviously, I'm rather confused about this whole area, and that's why I'm hoping for some knowledgeable advice.

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Using terms provided in a note by head-fi member Vertigo-1, at higher volume the K1000 sounds more forward, more analytical, has better tonal balance, and is smoother. At least to my ears, at 80 - 85 db, the sound is much more full, rich and broad (my terms).

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I don't know if it's my equipment, or what, but I get great base from the K1000. I used to use my powered subwoofer with it, but lately I find that I really don't need it. Of course, the big improvement is from using 80-85 db. I still use the subwoofer for watching movies in DVD.

Mikeg,

Make sure you are using the "A" weighting on the Radioshack SLM and set it to FAST Response. The "A" weighting approximates human hearing and is considered to be industry standard. Although you cannot obtain absolute values with just a cheap SLM(and without even a simple acoustic coupling device), you should be able to get some relative sound levels vs other headphones using the same procedure. The accurate method is to use a professional dummy head like Neumann's which has embedded microphones in the artificial head at about the proper anatomical distance and ear shape.

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Thanks. I set the unit for "A" weighing, and Fast response. Although I realize that measurements are not optimal, are they essentially correct? If the average is 82 db, how much off can it be? BTW, the "A" weighed measurements seemed to be a bit lower than the "C" ones.