Acceptable Volume Levels / Monitoring Volume Levels

Jul 14, 2006 at 5:17 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 6

volcomjerk

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Hey guys, I was born with slight tittinus (I think that's how you spell it). I only get it when I go to sleep at night.

I was reading about damaging your ears with headphones and I want to make sure i'm listening to at acceptable levels so I don't suffer permanent damage. However, I can't tell what's acceptable and what's not because I can listen to loud volumes and not feel fatigued.

Is there anyway I can monitor how loud my amp is outputting? For example I have a BitHead and I turn the knob all the way down and then fully turn it twice which I'm guessing is 50%.

Any help with this please?
 
Jul 14, 2006 at 2:22 PM Post #3 of 6
i've measured the output of my HD650's with a radioshack meter. The recommendation is about 8 hours total daily exposure for 80db nad rapidly less after that.

In my experience listening to music with 80db peaks (ave 75db) in a quiet room sounded like the music fully wrapped my head. turning it down to 70db peaks sounded like the singer was six inches tall or around 100 feet away. i know its a bad rule of thumb, but without meters, its really hard to gauge loudness since the ears adjust constantly.

i also have ringing in my head in quiet places. It's a very complicated thing though. i used my meter to check volume levels regularly and i never went past 80db. however, i noticed the ringing in places where i didnt before, faintly but there. Now i dont know if its just me trying to hear the ringing harder, me getting better at hearing stuff in general because of more critical listening to music, or if it really is getting louder...

In any case, i dont want to gamble, i've set a 1 week vacation from all loud noises. the ringing is better, but again i dont know if it's just psychological.

in your case, i would say it's a good idea to invest in a sound meter since you can tolerate loud sounds without getting tired. they're not that expensive anyway. after you get it, make sure you observe the limits conservatively. ringing in ears sucks in quiet places. sucks even more in not quiet places.

you don't want to go through the torture of "is the ringing louder now?", "can i hear the ringing while driving? in the gym? etc". it'll drive you nuts!
 
Jul 14, 2006 at 2:42 PM Post #4 of 6
You really need an SPL meter. Really. It's the only way to be sure you aren't damaging your hearing. Measure, set a safe level, and then you don;t have to worry.
 
Jul 14, 2006 at 6:16 PM Post #6 of 6
Quote:

Originally Posted by volcomjerk
Okay, I'll go look for an SPL meter. Radio shack you say has one? Where's the cheapest place.


I use the RatShack, but I hear rumor's it's discontinued. Maybe get on EBay.
 

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