How loud is too loud?
- Thread starter Morgan D
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- hearing damage. too loud
Chris Brown
Super Member
I think that it's important to point out that human hearing is more sensitive to certain frequencies compared to others. It should be no surprise that the frequencies that human hearing is most sensitive to tends to correspond with vocal frequencies, and human hearing is less sensitive to frequencies toward both ends of the spectrum.
I love loud music, but at the same time, I am NOT a fan of the rock-concert-style experience that basically requires ear plugs or else it sounds like someone is screaming in your ear. Above a certain volume, additional mid-range and treble simply becomes pointless. But you can never have enough bass... Suffice it to say, I don't hesitate to use EQ, etc, to achieve my goals. My decibel meter only measures up to 130dB and I have exceeded that numerous times; yet I've never once had my ears ring, and sometimes I can even still talk to the person next to me while listening loud.
I love loud music, but at the same time, I am NOT a fan of the rock-concert-style experience that basically requires ear plugs or else it sounds like someone is screaming in your ear. Above a certain volume, additional mid-range and treble simply becomes pointless. But you can never have enough bass... Suffice it to say, I don't hesitate to use EQ, etc, to achieve my goals. My decibel meter only measures up to 130dB and I have exceeded that numerous times; yet I've never once had my ears ring, and sometimes I can even still talk to the person next to me while listening loud.
When my daughter was about 16 she came into the room and told me I had to turn it down. I told her I was supposed to tell her that. It really wasn’t all that loud either.
Occasionally I will turn it loud, but not for long. I actually worry about damaging the dog’s hearing.
This is based only on my experience, so not in any way scientific. I think the sound level that causes hearing damage will vary from person to person. I went to a Who concert in 1975 or '76. My ears rang for 3 days after. I asked the 3 friends I went with if they were having any issues and they all said no. I also remember going to a club with a friend and having to go outside because the volume was causing pain. My best friend spent the night sitting next to the speakers and he still has good upper frequency hearing. My upper frequency hearing falls off a cliff at 4khz. Pay attention to what your ears are telling you.
OSHA says 85 dB over eight hours, but most audiologist suggest ear protection at lower levels. I think pain threshold is around 110 dB for undamaged years (much much higher if you are already deaf....) and above 130dB is likely to cause immediate and permanent damage.
We tolerate FAR too much noise. I can't wait to retire, and quite listening to all the equipment fans at work.
We tolerate FAR too much noise. I can't wait to retire, and quite listening to all the equipment fans at work.
Morgan D
Super Member
Could someone please tell me what A weighted means?
goodolpg
Just an old fart trying to help.
I spent a good bit of time at the drag races for 30+ years Google says a Top Fuel car at full blast is a round 150db.
Any time I was in the pits and a nitro car started I was right at the ropes getting a good snort of nitro. I never used ear plugs in the pits or in the stands.
Finally, when I was credentialed and shooting on the wall I started using ear plugs. I'm sure the damage was already done before that.
Using online hearing tests it seems I can hear to about 10kHz. Guess I should be thankful for that. Could be old age, could be the drag races, maybe it's the hundreds of hours on a riding lawn mower. Most likely a combination of all those activities.
Worst concert hearing wise was Ted Nugent. We stopped at an Arbys on the way home. I guess we were screaming at the girl taking our order as she asked if we just came from the Nugent concert.
Took a couple days to get the ears to clear up after that one.
Any time I was in the pits and a nitro car started I was right at the ropes getting a good snort of nitro. I never used ear plugs in the pits or in the stands.
Finally, when I was credentialed and shooting on the wall I started using ear plugs. I'm sure the damage was already done before that.
Using online hearing tests it seems I can hear to about 10kHz. Guess I should be thankful for that. Could be old age, could be the drag races, maybe it's the hundreds of hours on a riding lawn mower. Most likely a combination of all those activities.
Worst concert hearing wise was Ted Nugent. We stopped at an Arbys on the way home. I guess we were screaming at the girl taking our order as she asked if we just came from the Nugent concert.
Took a couple days to get the ears to clear up after that one.
JoeESP9
ESL's & tubes since 83
Here you go.
A-weighting is the most commonly used of a family of curves defined in the International standard IEC 61672:2003 and various national standards relating to the measurement of sound pressure level. Wikipedia
A weighting is generally used for listening measurements. C weighting is what a microphone picks up. I have no experience with D weighting.
Went to a For King And Country concert last year. Great show. Horrible sound. Ran 105-110db on my phone meter app. I actually had to take my hearing aids out and it still was way to loud.
I listenin the 70db range or less when wife is around, and 80-85 when she isn’t.
I listenin the 70db range or less when wife is around, and 80-85 when she isn’t.
RunOutGroove
Addicted Member
Judging by what the experts say on the subject, it seems that we're pretty much all screwed! Noise levels that most of us probably consider moderate and are all but unavoidable in the modern society we live in are considered damaging when exposure is for hours at a time...
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I'd say it's probably about just right in that case.
RVT1K
Super Member
I'll have to dig it out one day but..There's a picture of me in the sports section of the Phoenix Sun. Its from the pits at Firebird during the NHRA event. I'm hanging over the ropes of one of the fuel pits, wearing my gas mask and shaking my fists in the air, during an old-school warm-up when they still stomped the throttle.
goodolpg
Just an old fart trying to help.
Seems many folks miss the throttle whacks! A couple teams are still doing them, mostly for the fans I guess. It was always fun watching nitro virgins get their first smell of nitro and then jumping in the air when they experienced their first throttle whack.
I went to Firebird 4 or 5 times. Not the nicest track but being there in Feb. was way better than being in Michigan in Feb. Same for Pomona.
Evidently it is being shut down and a new casino or motel will be using part of the property. I think the 2023 national event is the last one there.
I've pulled out the phone several times to check how loud what I'm listening to is. Doesn't matter what genre of music it's an average of 75 decibels.
At 130db hearing damage starts immediately. There are charts that tell at what level and how long you can listen at that particular volume before hearing damage starts.
At 130db hearing damage starts immediately. There are charts that tell at what level and how long you can listen at that particular volume before hearing damage starts.
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