[balou]

Hi,
I'm wondering if I listen to loud. With my iPod 5.5G, I'm listening through the lineout with a cmoy, and my headphones are the Grado SR80. The SPL of these headphones is 98db/mV. I'm mostly listening slightly below unity gain (tested by connecting the cmoy to the headphone out and setting the volume on the cmoy such that volume with or without the cmoy in the signal path is indistinguishable to my ears. that leads to a slightly to high volume through the line out). So.. my question is, is it somehow possible from this to calculate the dB level I'm listening at?

One thing that's needed would be surely the output voltage of the ipod line out. Does anybody know that value/is able to measure it? Btw, I'm mostly listening to decently mastered albums - there is some stuff I have to turn down massively, mostly mainstream stuff, but near-unity-gain is with non-clipped stuff

 

[Duggeh]

Do your ears ring, or do you get headaches? Have you noticed any type of hearing loss at all? If so, turn it down and see if there's a difference. If not, probably not.

 

[ericj]

Best way to test VPP out of the ipod is with test tones and an oscilliscope.

*might be able to do it with a sine-wave test tone and a good DMM, but, i wouldn't bet on it.

You need an SPL meter and some sort of jig to figure out how loud you're listening.

 

[balou]

duggeh: No, I don't feel anything. I'm just afraid of long-time hearing loss caused by slightly to loud music.

ericj: problem is, I don't have an oscilloscope, and my dmm only measures ac voltage in 0.5v steps.
I thought about buying a SPL, but I already spent way to much on parts for my next diy amp

is there an ipod/grado owner who already made such measurements?

 

[HFat]

SPL meters needn't be expensive. Well, probably the good ones are... but you only want a rough estimate, right?

 

[balou]

cheapest I could find is 50$ shipped. depends on what you think is expensive. but I somehow must stop spending money like this - I have to save a few months after I purchased my pimeta. already spent to much money on it...

 

[brokensound]

Go to radio shack and "rent" one for a week?

 

[F107plus5]

This is gonna sound silly, but it's kinda what I do.

Turn it down, then down some more till it's getting hard to hear.....then, turn it back up a little! After a while it'll start to sound "right"!

If it doesn't sound "right" that low....turn it up a little bit more!

I try to listen to it at about the same level we hear when we watch a movie on TV in surround sound.

 

[balou]

brokensound, I'm not in the us and I don't know a single place where I could 'rent' one for a week. Also, switzerland doesn't have a general 14 day return policy like germany for example.

f107plus5: problem is, I have to turn it up quite a bit so that it starts to sound really good. and of course this doesn't give me an exact dB level

 

[F107plus5]

About the only suggestion I could give then would be to turn it to where it sounds good but doesn't cause ringing and stuff, but limit the times you listen to reasonable amounts of time until you can find a way to actually measure it.

 

[fordgtlover]

Bad original advice removed- use an SPL meter.

 

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

Nice post, fordgtlover. I wonder how loud is a ford gt.

 

[HFat]

Nice post? It's dangerous advice, assuming anyone takes it seriously: I don't know what was meant by "near a roadway" but, if you sit besides a road with open 'phones, you will need listen a LOT louder than 80db to drown out traffic noise... especially if you're not listening to over-compressed pop.

balou, you can get a SPL meter for less than 50$. But if you really can't afford your own, shoot me a PM.

 

[balou]

Well, if a truck passes by, I sometimes rip my grados off to cover my ears... Same thing when a train with screechy brakes enters the railway station. I don't think I really listen that loud... but the problem is, I'm not really sure of it.

fordgtlover: thanks, that gives at least some sort of comparison data.
HFat: I think that the value lies more in the fact that you somehow know how loud it's near a roadway, and that you can recall this loudness information when you listen to headphones

And where do I get a SPL meter for less than 50$? will send you a PM

 

[fordgtlover]

Bad original advice removed- use an SPL meter.