How can I tell if I am listening to something at a level that is unhealthy?

[Dawood]

 

[castleofargh]

If you're wondering, it's fair to say it's too loud ^_^.
You could get a cheap SPL meter, and jury-rig something with cardboard around the mic's opening to achieve a seal on your headphone. It's not the most precise(less so if the meter is too cheap to be true), but you'll get the order of magnitude at least.

With IEMs, you could probably try the same thing with some very short tube between the mic and the nozzle(the seal quality is even more important than with headphones). But the result won't be all that reliable(the meter was made for open field measurements).
I have a coupler(to do measurements graphs) and I struggled quite a bit to get enough references to use for calibration of the SPL level, so without the right(and somewhat expensive) equipment, that road might actually be the hardest. I made adapters so I could measure the voltage while the headphone or IEM was plugged into the amp, and things like that, because I didn't trust the super cheap SPL meter.

Some use an app on their phone instead of an actual SPL meter. That could work on some phones and some app(maybe iPhone and iPhone exclusive app will already be calibrated for a given model? IDK), but usually those apps also need to be calibrated first to get a meaningful result, and we usually don't have anything for that.

I guess you could always go see an audiologist(a shop selling hearing aids should work) and ask for a reference listen just to give you some idea, or maybe go with your DIY headphone meter and ask to check the discrepancy against calibrated tones out of their headphone.

In general, if you have spent maybe half an hour in a quiet place without sound or people talking, and you put on some music, you'll know if you were listening too loud last time. Ideally you'd always listen as quietly as possible, avoid long listening sessions, and if there is a lot of noise around you(traffic, people, TV in the background), you should seriously consider not listening to music as you surely will turn the volume up to cover those noises, if only to properly hear the music over it.

 

[2leftears]

Ideally you should measure it, but assuming no access to measuring tools:

Keep turning the volume down in very small stages, every two minutes or so, and let your hearing adjust for a couple of minutes, until finally it feels too low a volume no matter how long you let your hearing adjust.

In essence: if you can turn the volume down and after a couple of minutes it still sounds good, then do so.

 

[Dawood]

If you're wondering, it's fair to say it's too loud ^_^.
You could get a cheap SPL meter, and jury-rig something with cardboard around the mic's opening to achieve a seal on your headphone. It's not the most precise(less so if the meter is too cheap to be true), but you'll get the order of magnitude at least.

With IEMs, you could probably try the same thing with some very short tube between the mic and the nozzle(the seal quality is even more important than with headphones). But the result won't be all that reliable(the meter was made for open field measurements).
I have a coupler(to do measurements graphs) and I struggled quite a bit to get enough references to use for calibration of the SPL level, so without the right(and somewhat expensive) equipment, that road might actually be the hardest. I made adapters so I could measure the voltage while the headphone or IEM was plugged into the amp, and things like that, because I didn't trust the super cheap SPL meter.

Some use an app on their phone instead of an actual SPL meter. That could work on some phones and some app(maybe iPhone and iPhone exclusive app will already be calibrated for a given model? IDK), but usually those apps also need to be calibrated first to get a meaningful result, and we usually don't have anything for that.

I guess you could always go see an audiologist(a shop selling hearing aids should work) and ask for a reference listen just to give you some idea, or maybe go with your DIY headphone meter and ask to check the discrepancy against calibrated tones out of their headphone.

In general, if you have spent maybe half an hour in a quiet place without sound of people talking, and you put on your some music, you'll know if you were listening too loud last time. Ideally you'd always listen as quietly as possible, avoid long listening sessions, and if there is a lot of noise around you(traffic, people, TV in the background), you should seriously consider not listening to music as you surely will turn the volume up to cover those noises, if only to properly hear the music over it.

Ideally you should measure it, but assuming no access to measuring tools:

Keep turning the volume down in very small stages, every two minutes or so, and let your hearing adjust for a couple of minutes, until finally it feels too low a volume no matter how long you let your hearing adjust.

In essence: if you can turn the volume down and after a couple of minutes it still sounds good, then do so.

Thanks, I think I'll just be a low volume listener to be safe. There isn't much fun in high volume until you get to speakers anyway, at least imo.

 

[ricksome]

The following is unhealthy: Marilyn Manson

 

[firelinkcausality]

I second the suggestion of getting a cheap sound meter. While they might not be super accurate, they'll still give you a good sense of the general level you're listening at. You can also use them to test how loud, is too loud. For example, turn up your headphones until the meter is reading 80dB~, that way you'll know what the absolute max volume you ever should be listening at sounds like. I personally find anything above 55 - 60dB to be painful, but your perception will almost certainly be different than mine.