[flargosa]

I have read that listening at loud volumes can permanently numb your hearing, I have also read that sound above a certain decibel can damage your hearing, but how can a person tell what is safe and what is not?

 

[smsmasters]

If your ears start hurting or use a SPL meter.

 

[oqvist]

SPL meter. You can have bad hearing already and listen to loud because of that.

 

[jagathon]

With open headphones I snap my fingers, if I can hear them then I know I'm not too loud.

 

[yrh0413]

ask someone to talk to you when you're on your headphones. If you can't hear him/her, better tune down your listening volume.

 

[GravY]

with my Zune & E500's it never goes past 9 and at 9 is for a very short period, one song that gets things pumping.. I listen 95% of the day at 6 out of 20..

I listen at work which is an Auto Factory and I can hear if someone comes up to get my attention.. I cannot carry on a conversation mind you, cant hear them well enough to make out most words..

 

[65535]

You may not be able to ehar someone if you have highly isolating headphonel like shure's or ety's with triple flanges, but if your ear bleed maybe your listening too loud. Honestly right about between where you can just hear the noise and where it's slightly disturbing since it's soo loud.

 

[kramer5150]

If I can't hear my kids waking up from their afternoon nap down the hall, through 2 closed doors or the phone ringing downstairs its too loud.

from that point I attenuate the volume even further. I usually end up listening very quiet levels, with my IEMs its just barely above the channel imbalance point on the volume knob.

 

[oicdn]

Kinda sucky if you have IEMs...cause the only way you can tell if it's too loud, is if you have to second guess "is this too loud?"

 

[nin3th]

When using closed or isolated headphones, use open headphones as a reference to find the to loud point, then don't go past the "too loud" point with your other headphones.

 

[DSlayerZX]

I don't really know. with my current set up, I turn the knob to 9 o'clock with high gain on the amp. Also, from computer, is full volume out put while in foobar, the volume nob is only half way across the chart.

I can here knocking on the door while playing music, so I guess it not too loud

 

[JSTpt1022]

Get the digital SPL meter from Radioshack. Its relatively cheap and IMO wil pay for itself a thousand times over. It's a great investment in your future hearing because you are probably listening louder than you think. When you get it, make a cardboard cutout about the size of the headphone pad, then cut a hole just big enough for the mic end of the meter to stick through.

 

[Tantra]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jagathon /img/forum/go_quote.gif With open headphones I snap my fingers, if I can hear them then I know I'm not too loud.

With closed headphones I snap my fingers, if I can hear them then I know I'm not too loud.

 

[lmilhan]

The only way to know for sure beyond a shadow of a doubt, is to use an SPL meter. When I purchased my SPL meter, I was surprised to learn that 75dbs (which is where I keep my volume at or below) really isn't all that 'loud'. I was also surprised to learn that 90-95DBs (which is where hearing damage begins) really isn't all that 'loud' either.

Being able to hear finger snaps is not a surefire way to determine what a safe listening level is. I am willing to bet that a finger snap is a whole lot louder (as measured in DBs) than what a safe listening level is considered. I can check for sure how loud a finger snap is when I get home tonight. An SPL meter is the only quantitative way to determine accurate listening levels.

I think an SPL meter should be a mandatory purchase for anyone who considers them self an audio geek (or audiophile, or whatever name that is bandied about these days with regard to people who enjoy all things audio related).

For me, it was $40 well spent.

 

[fatcat28037]

If your ears start to bleed you need to decrease the volume.