Quote:
Originally Posted by jinx20001 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
i ask this question because i pulled my psp earphones out of the box today and there was a tag on them saying 90db max, i plugged them into my 5.5g ipod and couldnt hear a thing, so i turned the volume all the way up and i was astonished at how quiet these earphones were.
im used to listening mainly to shures se530 and ultimate ears 10 pro's and they are obviously no contest for those high end iem's but can anybody confirm the psp earphones are topping out at 90db and that volume is 90db because i am absolutely amazed at the low volume they produce and infact its scary because the other iem's i use would appear twice as loud at half the volume used.
or is it the fact i used an ipod to test them with?? i have not yet tried my psp because i dont use it for music or anything really
thanks all for any responses, i think it is important for people to realise exactly how loud 90db is, if the psp earphones are indeed topping at 90db i should be deaf by now
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A few thing to keep in mind:
Normally something that makes a noise is measured to have a certain sound pressure at a certain distance. For example, a speaker may produce 88 dB one meter (3 feet or so) from the speaker front, with some given electrical input.
For headphones the only figure that makes sense is the sound pressure at the ear, so that's slightly different to how other sound sources are measured.
Different speakers and headphones produce different sound pressure levels ("dB") even with identical electrical input signals. That's why your headphones don't sound loud. The will only reach 90 dB given a strong enough amplifier.
Finally (for this short version), the perceived loudness depends on the average sound level, not the peaks. So some music sound louder because dynamic compression has been used to increase the average level.
Your ear, researchers say, takes damage from the average level. So if it sounds loud, it is loud to your ears! The ear can adjust amazingly to high sound pressure, but that doesn't mean they won't be damaged, so use more sense than I did and protect them during concerts! (Just something general on the end, not meant to imply that you don't!)