[An00bis]

Thanks for your help, but there's no need to be so passive aggressive. I didn't insult you and nobody forced you to write a reply to me.

 

[Seifer01]

I currently use a Marantz CD 5004, with Senn HD 429 plugged into it's jack. (it's passable until I get a good amp for my DT 990 pro's).
 
The cd player is 2.25 V rms - Channel Separation 110 dB - Headphone out 18 mW/32 ohms. Headphone SPL 110 dB 32 ohms.
 
The little volume dial is your typical 7 o'clock to 5 o'clock. So my question to anyone who might know is this... at what point on the volume dial would I be approaching dangerous decibel levels? The general rule of thumb is above 85 dB is dangerous. I've read between 65 to 75 dB is "safest".
 
The entire thing is confusing to the layman.
 
I just want to enjoy music without making myself eventually deaf, I already have some tinnitus! 
 
Instead of volume pots going from 0 to 10, etc, they should go up in decibels... a digital readout that detects the headphone specs and goes up and down in decibels would be pretty cool... "What do you have your volume on?" 
"10 o'clock"
"I have mine on 78.37 dB" Lol. Maybe that readout already exists and I should get out from under my rock.

 

[castleofargh]

  I currently use a Marantz CD 5004, with Senn HD 429 plugged into it's jack. (it's passable until I get a good amp for my DT 990 pro's).
 
The cd player is 2.25 V rms - Channel Separation 110 dB - Headphone out 18 mW/32 ohms. Headphone SPL 110 dB 32 ohms.
 
The little volume dial is your typical 7 o'clock to 5 o'clock. So my question to anyone who might know is this... at what point on the volume dial would I be approaching dangerous decibel levels? The general rule of thumb is above 85 dB is dangerous. I've read between 65 to 75 dB is "safest".
 
The entire thing is confusing to the layman.
 
I just want to enjoy music without making myself eventually deaf, I already have some tinnitus! 
 
Instead of volume pots going from 0 to 10, etc, they should go up in decibels... a digital readout that detects the headphone specs and goes up and down in decibels would be pretty cool... "What do you have your volume on?" 
"10 o'clock"
"I have mine on 78.37 dB" Lol. Maybe that readout already exists and I should get out from under my rock.

you can't tell just like that because we don't know how your volume control works(at least I don't). is 50% on the knob half as loud? -10db.  or -40db or -50???? most likely you don't know that.  
also no source can write a loudness as volume. the actual loudness you will hear depends on the headphone you plug into it. if you have a multimeter you can find out the voltage and then estimate the loudness from your headphone's specs. I don't think other solutions will give meaningful results.
if you're concerned with your hearing go visit an audiologist, it's good to know where we're at from time to time. and if you don't have any massive damage then just listen to your body. if you feel like it's loud, don't listen for long, and if you plan to listen for more than an hour, then always turn it slightly lower than what you would use otherwise. we usually know what isn't good for us, all we need is listen

.

 

[BerryVos]

How come that my HD-800 (300 Ohm) sound best with the volume at 9 o 'clock and with my K-701 (60 Ohm) the volume must be positioned around 12 o 'clock. Considering the Ohm-values of both headphones I'd expect the opposite...

 

[RRod]

  How come that my HD-800 (300 Ohm) sound best with the volume at 9 o 'clock and with my K-701 (60 Ohm) the volume must be positioned around 12 o 'clock. Considering the Ohm-values of both headphones I'd expect the opposite...

 
The K-701 has a lower sensitivity.

 

[castleofargh]

  How come that my HD-800 (300 Ohm) sound best with the volume at 9 o 'clock and with my K-701 (60 Ohm) the volume must be positioned around 12 o 'clock. Considering the Ohm-values of both headphones I'd expect the opposite...

 you need to look at sensitivity(or efficiency). ohm are actually a small part of what defining the loudness.

 

[Seifer01]

 
you can't tell just like that because we don't know how your volume control works(at least I don't). is 50% on the knob half as loud? -10db.  or -40db or -50???? most likely you don't know that.  
also no source can write a loudness as volume. the actual loudness you will hear depends on the headphone you plug into it. if you have a multimeter you can find out the voltage and then estimate the loudness from your headphone's specs. I don't think other solutions will give meaningful results.
if you're concerned with your hearing go visit an audiologist, it's good to know where we're at from time to time. and if you don't have any massive damage then just listen to your body. if you feel like it's loud, don't listen for long, and if you plan to listen for more than an hour, then always turn it slightly lower than what you would use otherwise. we usually know what isn't good for us, all we need is listen

.

I'll go and get a hearing test, out of curiosity mainly. I think the tinnitus in my right ear has got a bit worse recently, it's kind of masking high frequencies, kind of sitting in front of them. I'll listen at a moderate to low level, maybe my lugholes just need a bit of a rest. The trouble is the music only seems to come in and shine at a certain volume, that's probably down to the quality of my current setup, which is merely passable. I blame loudness war CD's, it's a wonder my volume pot hasn't worn out with having to constantly change the level for different discs!

 

[An00bis]

edit: I removed what I said in this post, something was wrong with my devices.
I'll write the formula again so this post does more than just take up space. I hope I got this right:
A - (B + 20*log10(2/C) ) = D
A=target dB
B=any number of decibels
C=voltage that your headphones need for B decibels
D=gain needed for your headphones to reach A decibels