the key to audio bliss... turing up the volume?
May 25, 2004 at 3:10 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 34

TheMuffinMan_01

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it sounds too loud... but it sounds soooooo good. im so scared that im hurting my hearing... while wearing the cd3000's is there anyway to tell if its too loud? snapping at arms length or something? do you ever wonder if you are listening at too low a level and are not getting everything you could out of your cans?
 
May 25, 2004 at 3:20 AM Post #2 of 34
With closed cans I don't know how you accurately tell. With my open MS-pros I just see if I can hear anything when the kids talk to me... if I cannot I'm pretty sure the volume is just right!!!

Cheers,

TonyAAA
 
May 25, 2004 at 3:28 AM Post #3 of 34
Turning up the volume is a recipe for disaster. It is not the key to long term enjoyment if that is what you are talking about. I am fresh from a mini meet with a fellow headfier and the Marantz 1060B that he had was a ROCKER!! SImply superb bass - subwoofer proportions with any headphone. I was listening at absurd levels for short time periods.

Needless to say - my ears hurt like crazy now and I am going to quit headphones for a week or two to let it settle down...maybe use earplugs during this period as well.

I know the damage is not permanent because level-testing with a friend who doesnt use headphones showed that my hearing was intact.

But this is a frightening scenario I dont want to repeat
eek.gif
 
May 25, 2004 at 3:31 AM Post #4 of 34
i turned em up a little bit... not to the level that normal people think is alright. which is insane most of the time. but enough that its louder than i was listening. i was listening at like 6/40 on my iRiver and now im prolly at 9 or something... i need to get one or those spl meter thingies maybe...
 
May 25, 2004 at 5:16 AM Post #6 of 34
the way i figure wen to stop is b4 i go 2 sleep, i listen. usually, the volume stays at 6/25 on my dell. i go up to 10, wich is loud but still safe. outdoors, i dont surpass 10, because its not that my music isnt loud enuf wen im out, but that theres too much background noise. and i think that any hearing damage is permanent. some of it may come back, but i dont think all.
 
May 25, 2004 at 5:45 AM Post #8 of 34
For select songs that do it for me (Grateful dead, lovelight, uncle john's band, etc.) I crank the volume to obscene levels. I do this only for a single song. 99% is played as "quiet" levels, for relaxation. At these lower volumes I do tend to play with the equalizer settings to increase the bass to compensate. For critical listening the volume is not so loud that I cannot hear outside noises, cars passing, etce.
 
May 25, 2004 at 8:58 AM Post #11 of 34
Listening to loud music for a couple of years gave me tinnitus. Keep the volume resonable folks, otherwise you risk living the rest of your life with a permanent ringing. It *CAN* happen to you - I was fine one day, I went to a club, and bam, ringing forever. There's no cure, and you'll miss the silence when it's gone, trust me.
 
May 25, 2004 at 10:26 AM Post #13 of 34
I have had tinnitus since nearly after birth due to ear infection problems, and with my last round of ear infections 7 or 8 years ago I lost a little hearing and I doubt I can hear over 16KHz, although after that last round my tinnitus actually got a little better. I can't imagine true silence since I can always hear even just a tiny ringing sound, but most of the time I'm not bothered by it since I am so used to it. But if you don't have tinnitus, don't do anything that can increase your chances of getting it.

I am very sensitive to loud levels. My PPX3 rarely goes past the 9:30 position (the zero point is 6-o-clock) and that's with my Terratec soundcard set to -10dbV output instead of the standard line level (+4dbU) and all of my MP3s repaygained (that takes an average of 6db off of them). I do that to get more use out of the volume pot on the PPX3. Off my Sony D-14 (full power line out) I can't get much past 7:30, same with my computer without replaygain and at full line-out power. I listen at levels most would consider too quiet, but their normal levels are too loud for me.

Edit: Woohoo! This post made me a Headphoneus Supremus...oh wait, that may not be a good thing since it means I really need to get a life...
 
May 25, 2004 at 10:29 AM Post #14 of 34
I've read alot about tinnitus and I wouldn't want it for anything...
eek.gif
I'd rather keep my ears used to listening to low volumes and enjoy that than go through hell for years afterwards...tinnitus is serious, folks.
 

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