Oh my goodness. Listening to the samples in the itunes store on my ipod touch, I can't even comfortably get the volume over 75%. I personally would consider 50% loud but a good volume, 40% a more comfortable "average" volume. Some people might listen to them quietly but reasonably at 30% volume if they don't like it louder. Obviously tastes vary. I'd probably listen to it around 40% volume or less.
So I would tell you a few things. First, if you're listening to music at volumes like that (75% or more on those songs) you are absolutely 100% going to get hearing damage over time. That is easily past the 85db range and probably somewhere in the 90's easy.
Second, if you are listening to these songs and they aren't loud at all, then you probably have a problem with your earphones or devices.
Otherwise, you already have hearing damage, and therefore they don't seem loud to you, or you listening to these songs in a loud environment, like a subway or something, and you're trying to turn the song up so you can hear it over the ambient noise. In that case you are in extremely dangerous hearing loss territory.
Do any of those seem likely? Are you in a loud area? Do you have any existing hearing loss? Also, these are the MH1 model correct?
One more thing.. The fact that you said the mh1 maxed is about 70% of your other earphones makes me thing you listen to your other earphones louder. That is very very loud. Just a warning. Unless of course something is wrong with something in the chain of devices...
haha! my ears a in good condition, i just did a test a mont ago
Do this test. Turn the volume to 20% on your ipod and listen to the song for a few seconds. Stop the song and turn the volume up to full volume (assuming you listen at this volume or higher). Wait 30 seconds. Press play again where you left off at. You should realize how loud it is. Doing this with an average volume might sound abrupt, but louder volumes will startle you.
Well, loud volume is a personal preference. As I said the Mh1/C is not the easiest to drive and that's why I stopped recommending it to people who just want to use it with their phones coz different phones have different power and also some people like their music loud, especially the younger guys. A friend of mine testing mh1 on his Samsung phone had the volume at 100% and said it was very quite, so I gave him my BH amp and he literally maxed it out on high-gain until he was happy with the loudness LOL
There is nothing unusual about the mh1 volume sensitivity. I agree volume is a preference, but most people wouldn't want hearing loss. It isn't immediate, so you might think "oh, i'll be fine". But at the volumes he is listening to these two songs, if this is his general listening level, he will have gradual hearing loss. Life will suck when you end up with tinnitus later in life and can't enjoy music anymore.
I can't speak for every device, but on the sansa, ipod, average laptop soundcard, etc. the mh1 is more than powerful enough for all but the quietest, rare music tracks. These two songs are not quiet. These are more modern masterings tending toward the loud side. So in that regard, you should never use an amp as you are already in hearing loss decibel range.
To each his own though. If you don't mind risking hearing loss, by all means, get an amp or a different iem. But in no way is the mh1 underpowered with an ipod type device. I would even say it's average. I have some iems that are quieter and some that are louder, but it's not near the quiet levels of something like the er4s. And even that doesn't require an amp with most music.
Another issue is that your hearing adapts to sound exposure. In other words, as you listen to loud music you get used to it. This makes some people want to turn it up more to get back that energetic sensation loud music gives you. As you continue to adapt the volume goes up. You have to be careful with this effect. Studies show that while your hearing does lower its sensitivity to adapt to the louder volumes, that doesn't prevent hearing loss after years of loud listening.
So in conclusion, again, the mh1 is fine and pretty average volume sensitivity for a high quality iem. So I would suggest you get an amp or a different iem if you can't get the volume you want. However, I would suggest more that you at least try to listen to music at a lower volume. I just want you to have your hearing later so you can always enjoy music. I wouldn't want you to unknowingly destroy it over time. :-/
. It's only $20, but i feel like i might be destroying one of my favorite iems...
