[beowulf]

I think I might have a slight case too. I've noticed I can't really "hear" absolutely black silence. No matter what, I always hear a very faint hiss... it sounds almost as bad amp whitenoise, but slight.

Might have something to do with walkman in high volume during long (and noisy) car trips when I was a teenager.

I agree, it is worth to be careful with all our precision mechanisms... ears and eyes concern me a lot.

 

[redshifter]

beowulf,
that "hiss" is the sound of air particles hitting your eardrum.

i was just listening to brian eno's "thursday afternoon", perhaps the most sedate music ever recorded. i was using some etymotic er6 plugs, and my left ear (the trouble ear) started to ring. the volume was very low, too. after i took the plugs out the ringing went away in a minute. sometimes when i remove my etys there is a strange stuffed feeling in my ears for a minute or two. has anyone else experienced this using etys? also, i just got over a bout of TMJ (jaw joint pain) that cause an earache in my left ear, which could also be the cause of the ringing.

oh yeah, i'm taking my wife dancing tonight at a club. i'm expecting VERY loud techno music so i have to remember to buy earplugs.

on the subject of listening at loud levels, when i first got my sony cd-1700 headphones i found myself turning the volume higher and higher... i wanted MORE of what i was hearing and even at very high levels they didn't hurt my ears at all. now i'm careful when i use them not to do that.

 

[gaineso]

Quote:

Originally posted by bpm2000 i have a spl meter, (Ratshack) but how exactly do you position it in your cans to get a correct reading?

I don't really know. What I do is set the volume where I want it then take the 'phones off. I position the meters mike in the center of the driver, a little in from the edge of the pads. (HD600) Then I can adjust it down if it reads too high.

I don't know how accurate it is, but as long as I do it the same way each time, I figure I've got good reference for whatever changes I make.

I do notice that slight in/out movement makes a big difference in measured levels.

Haven't tried the KSC35s yet.

Anyone have better ideas????

 

[discoman]

I got RS SPL last month for $30 ($50cdn). I just position the meter to give me the max value, sometime between two drivers, sometime on top of just one driver, depends on which headphones. I found myself listen at max 80-85db most of the time, for 2-3 hours. Or sometime up to max 110db for 1 or 2 songs. And sometime only 50-60db for 12 hours. It is all depands on my mood and which headphones I am using.
My setting is Weighting 'C', Max, Response Slow.

If you want the 'correct' way, ckeck out
http://www.digital-recordings.com/
-> product range -> Calibrators & Couplers

 

[Vertigo-1]

Thanks for the heads up Nick. I had wanted one of these for the longest time, but never could get around to getting one...which might've been fatal for my ears. I went out today and picked up the digital one, which costed $80...pretty hefty and almost another pair of headphones, but as you say, a very good investment for a very long time. Hoping to fool around some more later tonight...

BTW, where could I get a list of the exposure level comparisons again? This decibel equals a jet engine, this equals a whisper, etc...

 

[pigmode]

Here are a few interesting links. A google search will bring up what you want. There is a wide range of accepted standards as to what constitutes safe max sound level exposure.

http://www.coolmath.com/decibels1.htm

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/spe...ges/69353.html

http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/spl-meter_e.html

 

[gaineso]

I don't know for sure where they came up with the numbers, something related to OSHA, but the AlliedSignal Aerospace plant where I worked had an 85db limit to require hearing protection.

That was 85db for ANY exposure, including just walking through the area. Average in the plant was around 75db, and all persons who spent the day on the shop floor were required to use hearing protection of some kind. They also had annual hearing tests of all employees, with y/y tracking.

Unfortunately, it only went to 10KHz so I don't know where my HF roll-off is now. Age 60 it's got to be down significantly, but there's more to the highs than "hearing" them. I can quickly tell if something's rolled off much 'cause it won't "feel" right.

Anyway, I don't work there now. Vacant building. Ross's "Giant Sucking Sound". Plant closed and moved product lines to Mexico. Actually, to get around some NAFTA requirements, California first and then Mexico.

Oh well, more time to fish.

 

[pigmode]

Osha's numbers are very liberal. They allow you to be exposed to 110dB for one hour. Ouch.

 

[beowulf]

Quote:

Originally posted by redshifter beowulf, that "hiss" is the sound of air particles hitting your eardrum.

Air particles? It's really an obvious hiss... light, but still, very easy to "hear" when I'm in a really quiet room.
I have been asking people about it, and most say they can't really notice any hiss in absolutely quiet places... that they hear just black silence.

That's how I started getting suspicious. Hmm... maybe I can try to listen in a vacuum, but that might kill me after some time.

Seriously... maybe the best choice is simply have a hearing test at the doc. Can't beat that.

 

[Nick Dangerous]

OSHA's numbers ARE too high! Don't go by that!

 

[pigmode]

When we went to see LOTR the vol. was so high I almost had to walk out after 3 min. I ended up stuffing napkins into my ears. I was pissed!

 

[cajunchrist]

Quote:

When we went to see LOTR the vol. was so high I almost had to walk out after 3 min. I ended up stuffing napkins into my ears. I was pissed!

I SO totally agree. That movie is just too loud. The ringwraiths screeching felt like jackhammers in my ears.

 

[kelly]

Er uh, the movie can't be too loud. There's a volume knob next to the project just like there is on your amps at home. Maybe you meant to say that the Lord of the Rings was too dynamic--that is, it had whispers and for the whispers to be easily audbile, the noises that were intentionally loud were uncomfortably loud.

More likely, though is this --

When other action movies are playing in theaters next door (like for instance, other prints of Lord of the Rings), they set the volume a ltitle higher. If ANY one person complains in a theater that its too quiet, the volume gets set a little higher. More complaints are generated that it's too quiet than that it's too loud. (The same reasoning is why theaters are so cold in the summer in Texas--you can't please everyone and erring on the side of too cold results in less whiney customers.)

I bet I sound like an ex-projectionist. Fancy that.

I prefer my movies and television to be equal to a real life experience in volume. I like talking to sound like talking and gunshots to be as loud as gunshots. For action movies, this results in people watching in my home theater complaining that it's too loud. With TV shows, people complain even more. It's just expectations. The average person doesn't turn their TV up loud because it sounds like crap, but they've gotten used to "THX" loudness. (The audience is now deaf.)

IMHO, the trend of making movies too loud began due to the THX installations. As you all know, if you increase the volume slightly in an AB test with a quality amplifier, most listeners will tell you that the louder one sounds "better" (no duh, you can hear more detail - it's louder). Thus when they went to see movies in theaters that were advertised to be in (Dolby Surround, Dolby SR, THX Dolby Surround, DTS, Dolby Digital, etc etc) the volume bumps kept coming. So now the expectation seems to be louder than real life.

Ironic, since the same people turn their TVs so low that I can't hear the characters speaking clearly from the other side of the room. But that's how it goes.

And then Golem and the evil one crept up and ran away with her.

Kelly

 

[Audio-Me]

Exactly, I like real world volume levels. My biggest complaint of the theaters is that it's always WAY too loud, and sounds like a dying car due to the muddiness.

 

[gaineso]

We quit going to movies 10 years ago because of the volume. Loud and getting louder and almost painful. Plus the hassle, expense, rude audiences, and on and on and on. And we wait till the DVD comes out.

Got a pretty decent home system and it's a hell of a lot more fun to watch at home. And I control the volume.