[vvanrij]

Well the title pretty much says it all. Instead of what most people do by turning the volume more up when listening, I start at a volume level that every person that I'v met yet thinks is too soft, and when listenin and focusing everything gets louder and louder.

I keep turning the volume down, and still hear everything on a normal level, but you can guess it, when I take off the headphones, the real world is loud! Its like even the noise of my footsteps get twice as loud as before listening :|. I guess its safe for hearing, but nevertheless it is strange, anyone else out there with this experience?

 

[tintin47]

If your phones isolate at all, that is understandable. Your ears work in much the same way as your eyes. That is to say, if you are outside on a sunny day, you come inside and it is dark. You need to let your eyes get used to the light. If you are in total blackness, though, any light is bright. Your ears work the same way. They "shut down" to a certain extent to protect themselves from loud noises, and "open up" more the quieter it is.

The one thing I would say is that phones don't sound very good below ~70dB. I don't know exactly why, but you just lose a lot, so I usu listen in the 70-75 dB range.

 

[vvanrij]

Hmm I need to get a db meter then, because I have no idea how loud I normally listen. About the isolation, I even have it with the Stax SR-404, which have like zero isolation.

 

[Assorted]

I thought good audiophiles already listen to music like that, and only the noobs are the one's who progressively turn up the volume

It is much easier to do it on expensive headphones, I should add.

 

[cegras]

When I spoon my lunch into my thermos in the morning, the clink of the spoon on the corning ware is so loud it hurts my ears.

Volume on windows is 100%, total bithead 66%, PA2V2 25%.

 

[Bullseye]

vvanrij, don't worry, you are not the only one out there. It happens the same to me. When i am listening without any background sound, concentrated on the music i keep pulling the volume down. Happens both with IEMs and with full size 'phones.

It has its pros, as my player consumes less battery at lower levels

Oh but it also happens when I am traveling on bus... Not necessarily on a quiet environment

 

[Charles_1985]

I never listen at a level I would call 'loud' or even close to it; my volume is at a level where I can adequately hear all the details and get enough bass. I don't change the volume while listening to music (I normalize all my MP3s to 89.0db).
My new D2000s provide some isolation from outside noise, so now I don't have to modify the volume level when something is going on around me.

With good headphones, you should not have to crank the volume to bring them to life.

 

[krmathis]

I most often keep it to a low level as well!
Using the K1000 I can hear my finger tapping on the MacBook Pro keyboard as I type on it.

 

[vvanrij]

Hmm thank you for all the responses, its good to know I'm not the only one

To comment on a few.

Different headphones work on different volumes, not all headphones sound good on lower levels, while others require lower levels or else they'l 'scream'. My stax, grado and ultrasone's do this fine, but the AKG's don't.

If I concentrate enough, I wil actually about 'match' the volume to the background noise, I most definetly don't turn the volume up to 'overcome' it. Just like Kai I can clearly hear my typing on a keyboard while listening. Should keep the tinnitus away so thats a definete pro!

 

[apatN]

With the DT880s I find myself turning up the volume rather than turning down. It's all a bit slow on low volume. A bit higher volume gives more punch as well. I guess it depends on the headphones as well.