[ojnihs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreatDane Are you serious?

I don't understand your question. Do you mean "Are you serious, 80db isn't loud at all?" or "Is 80db really that loud?" To my ears, 80db is louder than I'd want to listen to music for an extended period of time, so yes I am serious, 80db is scary loud to my ears (cause my ears start to hurt after about 4 songs if it's too loud and to me, that's scary). It's all subjective.

 

[GreatDane]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ojnihs I don't understand your question. Do you mean "Are you serious, 80db isn't loud at all?" or "Is 80db really that loud?" To my ears, 80db is louder than I'd want to listen to music for an extended period of time, so yes I am serious, 80db is scary loud to my ears (cause my ears start to hurt after about 4 songs if it's too loud and to me, that's scary). It's all subjective.

"Are you serious, 80db isn't loud at all?" is what I meant.

When I mention listening at 80,85 dB I mean peaks , not a constant level from some crappy compressed sounding pop music.

I guess I listen louder than most people from what I gather here at this forum lately.

 

[omedon]

I am pretty sure that radioshack stopped selling the SPL meter.

Anyone care to prove me wrong? I hope you do because I want one.

 

[robertburchell]

Im pretty sure your right, I work at Radioshack and I havnt seen one of those in my store for months and months now, and to be honest, they werent incredibly accurate

i think they where acurate to like 4-5 db's (even though it claims +/- 2db (which is at very low volumes)). we sold 2 different models. Im sure most of you know this already too, but sound pressure doubles at 3dbs and the ears percieve 6-10dbs to be twise as loud (depends on frequency) so to be 5db's off is almost 4x +/- true spl. Hehe a little info about ratshack SPL meters for ya

 

[ojnihs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreatDane "Are you serious, 80db isn't loud at all?" is what I meant. When I mention listening at 80,85 dB I mean peaks , not a constant level from some crappy compressed sounding pop music. I guess I listen louder than most people from what I gather here at this forum lately.

Well most of my listening consists of metal and progressive rock compressed at 320 kbps AAC, so I understand the whole mention about peaks. I like to keep my listening down, cause I've got an extremely mild cause of tinnitus that I'm trying to get rid of. It doesn't bother me really, only when I'm up late, which is usually all the time cause I'm studying for exams and whatnot. I keep my listening levels down so that the peaks don't bother me too much.

Like I said, it's all subjective and personal preference. You listen to your music louder than 80db, then that's how you do it. I listen to it at lower decibels especially cause I have closed cans, which I feel are a big plus in helping me block out the girls screaming in my dorm without requiring me to crank it up.

Don't you think crappy compressed pop music would be more damaging to your ears? I mean with some of the bass they put in there today, I'm surprised kids aren't blowing their eardrums open.

 

[Skylab]

That's too bad about the RatShack meter.


As for it's inaccuracies, the analog one was more accurate than the digital one. And the analog one's deviations from accurate varied by frequency, and are well documented - a quick google search will yield the exact amount that it deviates.

 

[GreatDane]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ojnihs Well considering most of my listening consists of metal and progressive rock compressed at 320 kbps AAC, not some crappy compressed sounding pop music, I understand the whole mention about peaks. I like to keep my listening down, cause I've got an extremely mild cause of tinnitus that I'm trying to get rid of. It doesn't bother me really, only when I'm up late, which is usually all the time cause I'm studying for exams and whatnot. I keep my listening levels down so that the peaks don't bother me too much. Like I said, it's all subjective and personal preference. You listen to your music louder than 80db, then that's how you do it. I listen to it at lower decibels especially cause I have closed cans, which I feel are a big plus in helping me block out the girls screaming in my dorm without requiring me to crank it up.

I've been listening to mostly rock for 25 years and I'm glad that my hearing is still what it is...still very good. I've never suffered from tinnitus, but it must suck, I'd be more cautious too if I developed any obvious problems.

My wife who doesn't listen to loud music at all tends to turn the TV up way too loud...I ask 'what are you deaf?" Despite the fact that I listen to music at high levels, odd noises and bad SQ in music is very offending to me...strange.

 

[ojnihs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreatDane I've been listening to mostly rock for 25 years and I'm glad that my hearing is still what it is...still very good. I've never suffered from tinnitus, but it must suck, I'd be more cautious too if I developed any obvious problems. My wife who doesn't listen to loud music at all tends to turn the TV up way too loud...I ask 'what are you deaf?" Despite the fact that I listen to music at high levels, odd noises and bad SQ in music is very offending to me...strange.

It does suck, even at extremely mild cases like mine. I hate it when I'm sitting at my desk studying for some exam and then I hear this faint ringing sound which completely distracts me from studying. I can't focus on anything else!!!

I actually went two weeks without listening to any music, but being in Evanston and Chicago, it's impossible not to be exposed to high levels of noise, so I gave it up. I think it's inevitable for me...

Haha. I actually get the opposite effect with my girlfriend. She listens to her music and watches tv at insanely low volumes, so I call her Superwoman before turning it up a bit. I thought I listened to it at low volumes, christ, I can barely make out some of the stuff they're saying at levels she listens to.

I think the whole odd noises and bad SQ in music being offensive came more to me when I joined head-fi a few years back. I used to listen to my music at 192 back then but reading the forums here really made me start listening closer, and then I found all my music to sound a bit odd. I totally agree though, it's much easier to hear those things when the music is louder, so when I'm A/Bing equipment or seeing which bitrates I find comfortable for listening, I turn it up a bit more.

 

[GreatDane]

...well women do have better hearing than us, so I've been told.

yeah baby!!

 

[ojnihs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreatDane ...well women do have better hearing than us, so I've been told.

You know what, I totally agree with that statement. My girlfriend can hear way more artifacts than I can in recordings and is spot on always on which recording is better than another. So it's been proven... *cry* I thought I was the audiophile...

 

[omedon]

Dude, for me, the ringing you get when you are alone studying is way less disturbing to than the ringing heard over top of the lecturers voice.

I found Kevin Hogan's web site to be a great help to me in dealing with the problem. Not much information or help out there for tinnitus sufferers other than the sentiment "accept it you are screwed for life" which only makes things worse.

If anyone ever wants to talk tinnitus feel free to PM me.

 

[IHaveNoSpaceBar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ojnihs Don't you think crappy compressed pop music would be more damaging to your ears? I mean with some of the bass they put in there today, I'm surprised kids aren't blowing their eardrums open.

hmmm I didn't know bass in particular is harmful...

 

[ojnihs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by omedon Dude, for me, the ringing you get when you are alone studying is way less disturbing to than the ringing heard over top of the lecturers voice.

Woah, you got it bad. I don't hear any ringing during the day when I'm out and about going to class and listening to lectures, or just hanging out with friends. I normally get it just when I'm really, really tired. I also get it when I clench my teeth too, which apparently is how some people get it in the first place...

Quote:

Originally Posted by IHaveNoSpaceBar hmmm I didn't know bass in particular is harmful...

Yeah I really doubt it is, was just a little joke. Hehe.

 

[IHaveNoSpaceBar]

I think i am losing hearing in my right ear...it like has internal popping noises sometimes and its too sensitive to loud sounds or voices..such as half of my teachers.. and now it feels like its shutting off completely or something..hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Maybe i will see a doctor when I graduate from school.

 

[J3mo]

thanks for the inputs. the comment about the sensitivity bit cleared it up a lot for me.

does anyone here own an ipod mini and an e3 btw?

just wondering where the volume setting would be for 80 dbs