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| Hmm...I feel giving relative volumes like this for the iPod isn't exactly the best way to gauge volume levels. You need to take into account different volume levels of songs and mp3s. For example, when I listen to my A900 out of my iPod (not quite as efficient as the E3, 40 ohms I believe) I am usually just under half--but for some songs (especially some classical) I'm close to 3/4. |
CD's, and hence anything derived from CD's, have limited dynamic range. i.e. Even if you had the recording and playback equipment to do it, you couldn't reproduce both a moth beating its wings and a cannon blast on the same CD. At least, not accurately anyways. Think of it this way: 0 is a numerical value which represents the maximum possible volume, and you only have about a 100dB range to work with. (I forget the real numbers, sorry.) There is a 120dB differece in the volumes of a moth beating its wings and a cannon blast. If you record the cannon blast acurately the moth's wing-beating will be below the noise floor of the recording. Likewise, if you lower the actual volume of 0 to the point where you can record the moth beating its wings, the cannon blast will be clipped.
Bear with me. I do have a point.
For this reason, when recording music it is common, or at least, proper practice to set 0 to be very close to the loudest sound in the recording. That way you have the maximum dynamic range possible without anything clipping. In music where everything is of fairly consistent volume (e.g. rock music) a lot of the track material will be fairly close to 0. In classical, only a few intense bursts will be close to 0. As a result, the average volume of a rock track will be higher than a classical track. This is what you're hearing when you say some tracks are louder than others. (Bear in mind, you can deliberately record things hot, but that typically sounds very very bad... You can also record things cold. It's a bit of a waste, but not really a horrendously bad thing to do for most music.)
When I say 1/10, I mean for fairly typical musical tracks of most genres. I might turn it up a tad for some classical pieces or down for punk metal, but I'm typically very close to on tenth of the ipod's bar. For all I know toaster22 is listening almost exclusively to very quiet tracks. However, all I can go on is my own listening habits, and that ammount of volume would kill me *even* on the coldest track I own. (An ancient Harry Belafonte recording) I have never used A900's, but I have used the exact same E3's as toaster22 so I do have a pretty good idea of what volume's he's experiencing. The only thing I can think of that might affect things is if he bought his iPod in Europe and it has the lower maximum volume. He has Long Island, NY in his location though, so I figured it was the standard iPod.
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| i have definitely been one to shrug off tinnitis before. however, this is the first time that i have actually noticed any sort of hearing loss in one of my ears. i also compose music, so my hearing is incredibly important to me. i guess i've just been taking it for granted up to now. i always listen to loud music, but with canalphones, i now know that loud is not an option when the music is blasting a mm away from you eardrum. i will continue to keep you guys posted on my right ear's progress (fingers crossed) over the next few days. |
Just think of Tinnitis as your ears' way of screaming for mercy.
Good luck man, I really hope your damage is just wax, an ear infection, or something else that's temporary.
