Head-Fi.org › Forums › Misc.-Category Forums › Music › Safe volume to listen to music???
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Safe volume to listen to music???

post #1 of 23
12/3/12 at 3:18pm
Thread Starter 
Hi I'm an eighteen year old male and was wondering what are safe volumes to listen to. I currently use a windows laptop and usually listen to classical pieces including symphonies, quartets, sonatas, and etc. I use my akg k240 MKII headphones and on the laptop I always have the volume at 25. Is that too high or should I go lower. Cause sometimes I do feel sharp bits of pain in my ears after an hour. After I take off the headphone for a second it goes away instantly.
Reply

Head-Fi's Best Sellers

post #2 of 23
12/3/12 at 3:24pm

The volume bar on your laptop is not an accurate measurement of volume, however if you feel pain then it is definitely too loud.

Reply
post #3 of 23
12/3/12 at 4:10pm
Thread Starter 
What is an accurate measurement of volume and how do I find that?
Reply
post #4 of 23
12/3/12 at 4:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Saleri View Post

What is an accurate measurement of volume and how do I find that?


Try a SPL meter.

Reply
post #5 of 23
12/3/12 at 5:20pm
Thread Starter 
Do I have to buy one, or is there one that I can download from my laptop?
Reply
post #6 of 23
12/3/12 at 5:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Saleri View Post

Do I have to buy one, or is there one that I can download from my laptop?


You have to buy one. They're about $40 for a cheap one. Downloaded software have no guarantee on their accuracy


Edited by Parall3l - 12/4/12 at 7:00am
Reply
post #7 of 23
12/4/12 at 2:12am

Readings on an SPL meter will vary widely depending on exactly where you position it, and since you're not going to position it inside your ear, the results will be meaningless. Generally short climaxes in classical music will be less harmful than the relentless banging of young folks' music, but I would agree that 'so loud it hurts' is unlikely to be wise.
 

Reply
post #8 of 23
12/4/12 at 6:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Parall3l View Post


You have to buy one. They're about $40 for a cheap one. Downloaded software have guarantee on their accuracy

because of the makeshift way to test the listening volume on your headphones (cutting out a piece of cardboard and all that), i knew i wasnt gonna get a very accurate measurement, but still, this is going to far:


yea, i got one of those cheap 40$ spl meters and its terrible. not even worth the money. according to the meter i got, i listen to music at 110 db, which is roughly the same volume as a chainsaw... it also measured my dads voice at 75 db, and he wasnt talking loudly at all. 

 

so i thought, ok, this is a cheapy meter, cant expect it to be that good, ill just try and be sensible about the volumes i listen to, but at least i can volume match my gear to see the differences between them. so i turn on sinegen in order to produce a single note without volume veriations and the meter just goes about measuring different levels with like, 15db differences.

i tried none the less to quickly estimate an average and try to volume match my e11 and my cmoy but i just couldnt do it. i tried several times and the volumes are always noticeably different.

 

if your getting an spl meter, get a good one. and if you still want to try out a cheap one, stay away from this one:

http://www.amazon.com/SCOSCHE-SPL1000F-DECIBLE-READER-VOLT-CAR/dp/B004TOILOA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1354630488&sr=8-2&keywords=scosche+spl+meter

Reply
post #9 of 23
12/4/12 at 7:23am
Thread Starter 
I'm just really confused about all this. I never thought I listened to music very loud. And all my friends think that i listen to my music really quietly. So why would my ears have sharp bits of pain then?
Reply
post #10 of 23
12/4/12 at 7:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Saleri View Post

I'm just really confused about all this. I never thought I listened to music very loud. And all my friends think that i listen to my music really quietly. So why would my ears have sharp bits of pain then?


What headphones are you using? Some headphones have a large amount of treble which can cause pain.

Reply
post #11 of 23
12/4/12 at 6:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Saleri View Post

I'm just really confused about all this. I never thought I listened to music very loud. And all my friends think that i listen to my music really quietly. So why would my ears have sharp bits of pain then?

 

Your friends are probably deaf redface.gif

Reply
post #12 of 23
12/4/12 at 6:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by adamlr View Post

because of the makeshift way to test the listening volume on your headphones (cutting out a piece of cardboard and all that), i knew i wasnt gonna get a very accurate measurement, but still, this is going to far:


yea, i got one of those cheap 40$ spl meters and its terrible. not even worth the money. according to the meter i got, i listen to music at 110 db, which is roughly the same volume as a chainsaw... it also measured my dads voice at 75 db, and he wasnt talking loudly at all. 

 

so i thought, ok, this is a cheapy meter, cant expect it to be that good, ill just try and be sensible about the volumes i listen to, but at least i can volume match my gear to see the differences between them. so i turn on sinegen in order to produce a single note without volume veriations and the meter just goes about measuring different levels with like, 15db differences.

i tried none the less to quickly estimate an average and try to volume match my e11 and my cmoy but i just couldnt do it. i tried several times and the volumes are always noticeably different.

 

if your getting an spl meter, get a good one. and if you still want to try out a cheap one, stay away from this one:

http://www.amazon.com/SCOSCHE-SPL1000F-DECIBLE-READER-VOLT-CAR/dp/B004TOILOA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1354630488&sr=8-2&keywords=scosche+spl+meter

 

 

Remember that the decibel scale is a log scale.  Human voice is around 70 decibels. Over 110 decibels can be physically painful.

 

http://www.kodachrome.org/salt/sunderst.htm

Reply
post #13 of 23
12/4/12 at 7:38pm
Thread Starter 
Hi so I use AKG K240 MKII to listen to classical Muisc. I don't know why I get pain. I normally never listen for longer than an hour before I take an half-hour break. The headphones has a resistance of 55ohms. and thecourier most of my friends played in orchestra and choir with me..... so they probably aren't deaf.
Reply
post #14 of 23
12/4/12 at 7:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Saleri View Post

Hi so I use AKG K240 MKII to listen to classical Muisc. I don't know why I get pain. I normally never listen for longer than an hour before I take an half-hour break. The headphones has a resistance of 55ohms. and thecourier most of my friends played in orchestra and choir with me..... so they probably aren't deaf.

 

I was kidding obviously tongue.gif

 

the K240 MKII are known to be bright and fatiguing headphones, thats probably a reason why you have pain? 

Reply
post #15 of 23
12/4/12 at 8:48pm
Okay, I'm just worried that I'll lose a significant amount of hearing listening to this.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Music

Head-Fi's Best Sellers

Head-Fi.org › Forums › Misc.-Category Forums › Music › Safe volume to listen to music???