Semanon
Super Member
Quite some cat.
Critical Listening
- Thread starter Soundork
- Start date
Soundork
Super Member
The SPL reading you're using are very low compared to what many use as a listening level. How are you measuring SPL? The chart below shows your reported listening levels are not much louder than normal conversation.
FWIW: My listening level is usually around 85-88dB C weighted with peaks into the lower 90's. Sometimes when prodded by a guest I'll crank it to ~100dB on peaks. At that point the sound is uncomfortably loud to me.
My listening space is my home office. I am measuring the SPL at a position approximately ten feet away from the speakers using this device:
I checked its calibration and it measurements for "Quiet Office", "Light Rain" and "Toilet Flush" were pretty close.
Sondork
I'm curious...are a lot of everyday activities almost unbearable to you? Driving a car, loud restaurants, mowing the lawn, using a blender, etc? Do you have to wear earplugs a lot of the time? Can you attend live music events?
Soundork
Super Member
According to normalized tests, I am losing my hearing...
We picked "23 and me" to provide ancestry analysis and part of the test was a hearing test which I also flunked at the doctor's office. It was a test evaluating the ability to comprehend speech in noisy environments. The volume of the speaker's voice was being decreased to the point when one stops comprehending. That's for normal people, it didin't take long until I stop understanding what the person was saying and declared pretty much deaf.
Some of you know me and some of you have already figured out that English isn't my first language. It takes a major effort to understand what everyone is saying in noisy environment. My wife is American and it drives her nuts when I always have to turn up the volume in the car, so I can "hear" the music or understand talk. Opposite is true at home when we either listen to music or watch movies and I always insist to turn the volume down...
Soundork
JoeESP9
ESL's & tubes since 83
You must have extraordinarily quiet surroundings. You also must have the most sensitive hearing I've ever "heard" of.
The reading on your meter is what most have as conversational level.
The subject of listening levels comes up quite frequently. Your levels are the lowest I remember anyone posting.
I'm also curious about the sounds spark1 mentioned.
How do you cope with the sounds of civilization?
One thing to note, many/most SPL meters, including phone apps are measuring something called A weighted. These are more for OSHA regs for hearing protection from machinery that is in the hearing damaging frequency ranges. Not sure if yours is A weighted or not but it makes a difference.
Start at 13:40 for A-weighted info
RunOutGroove
Addicted Member
I don't really like the term "critical listening" as it sort of implies that I'm being really critical about some element of what I'm hearing; the system, the quality of the recording, etc. I think of what I do as something more like "attentive listening," where I'm not distracted by other things when I'm listening to a recording. It's like I'm watching a movie or something, aware of everything that's going on in the music. Though I will occasionally put on an album while I'm doing some sort of chore, cooking or whatever, more often these days I want to listen to music to really hear the art of it and not as background noise. If I'm walking around the house and not in a spot where I'm really getting the whole picture of the music (not near the sweet spot of the listening room), I'd rather hear the news on NPR. I'm much more likely to be able to enjoy what I'm hearing if there's a kind of freshness to it so I don't really like listening to favorite albums over and over again. This kind of listening for me is where having decent audio gear really becomes attractive as if you're not doing anything but listening then it becomes more important to hear every detail.
It's funny, but the more that I've gotten into this audio thing and this idea of "attentive listening," the less that I actually put on recordings to listen to. The idea of background music that I'm not able to pour my full attention into just seems like a way to get bored of my record collection more quickly... but conversely, when I'm really listening to something without distractions I get much more out of it...
As for the volume... it really all depends. It's usually a moderate volume, but here and there if I'm listing to something with a lot of energy to it, I'll sometimes crank the thing up for a bit. What I don't tend to do though is listen to acoustic type music really loud as that somehow just seems wrong; I don't want to hear it any louder than it would actually be if I were hearing it live.
It's funny, but the more that I've gotten into this audio thing and this idea of "attentive listening," the less that I actually put on recordings to listen to. The idea of background music that I'm not able to pour my full attention into just seems like a way to get bored of my record collection more quickly... but conversely, when I'm really listening to something without distractions I get much more out of it...
As for the volume... it really all depends. It's usually a moderate volume, but here and there if I'm listing to something with a lot of energy to it, I'll sometimes crank the thing up for a bit. What I don't tend to do though is listen to acoustic type music really loud as that somehow just seems wrong; I don't want to hear it any louder than it would actually be if I were hearing it live.
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Soundork
Super Member
...
I never open the windows while driving and short exposures to loud sound such as, using a blender do not bother me. I am also forgiven for not keeping up with the ongoing conversation in loud restaurants, the only time I am really bothered is when I have a prolonged conversation with someone who speaks loudly. I am left feeling reprimanded...
Here is my best story ever:
Couple of years ago one of my favorite bands stopped by at a venue in Northampton, MA. Normally, they fill up smaller stadiums, but this venue could accommodate no more than 300, if that. It was the most intimate and wonderful performance I have ever experienced.
At some point I passed about three feet from one of the speakers placed just outside the stage and lost my balance for a second due to the level of sound pressure.
Soundork P.S. By "don't bother me" above, I mean "I can handle it"
Pio1980
AK Member
Because of the ear sound compression accomedation effect, I avoid cranking it up past a point where the more I go, the less it works to sound more dynamic.
If I start too loud for the situation and material, I end up progressivly turning it down until it is in the auditory sweet spot. There's a point where sound is being flung at me instead of being presented to me to savor in its dynamic richness of contrasts. Loud for loud sake isn't that, live or at home.
If I start too loud for the situation and material, I end up progressivly turning it down until it is in the auditory sweet spot. There's a point where sound is being flung at me instead of being presented to me to savor in its dynamic richness of contrasts. Loud for loud sake isn't that, live or at home.
JoeESP9
ESL's & tubes since 83
Pio1980
AK Member
That is about what I can max at my listening position, seems about the right range.
Art K.
The Voodoo You Do!
...
I never open the windows while driving and short exposures to loud sound such as, using a blender do not bother me. I am also forgiven for not keeping up with the ongoing conversation in loud restaurants, the only time I am really bothered is when I have a prolonged conversation with someone who speaks loudly. I am left feeling reprimanded...
Here is my best story ever:
Couple of years ago one of my favorite bands stopped by at a venue in Northampton, MA. Normally, they fill up smaller stadiums, but this venue could accommodate no more than 300, if that. It was the most intimate and wonderful performance I have ever experienced.
At some point I passed about three feet from one of the speakers placed just outside the stage and lost my balance for a second due to the level of sound pressure.
Soundork P.S. By "don't bother me" above, I mean "I can handle it"
We have some common ground. I listen at pretty low levels myself...and I enjoy the hell out of it. I don’t need loud to suspend disbelief. I also avoid loud talkers like the plague. My stepdaughters boyfriend is the loudest human being in the world. He can’t help it and he’s a nice young man...but one of the benefits of COVID-19 is not having to interact with him. I literally have a headache within minutes of talking with him. However, I love driving with the windows open...feel the wind. Then again I am reformed motorcyclist.
mkane
Lunatic Member
JoeESP9
ESL's & tubes since 83
If all you're doing is sitting and listening couldn't/shouldn't that be considered "critical listening". It's when attempting to "multitask" that one is not critically listening.
Critical listening doesn't have to be analytical. IMO/E enjoying the music is what it's all about anyway. Sure, when something new is acquired most everyone tries to hear any difference between devices. After a while it's back to straight listening.
Critical listening doesn't have to be analytical. IMO/E enjoying the music is what it's all about anyway. Sure, when something new is acquired most everyone tries to hear any difference between devices. After a while it's back to straight listening.
QFT
