IMHO, each and every room has a different and exact volume level setting. Things just lock in.
I've setup hundreds of systems and it plays true every time...
Volume considerations
I’ve discovered something after much listening. I generally like the volume high, trying to emulate the sound in a concert hall. However I found that listening at too high a volume actually detracts from the soundstage and realistic blend of instruments. The sound actually tends to flatten out at too high volumes.
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I am always in a search to make the music louder without overloading the room. Waiting for GIK acoustics to deliver me a bass trap panel to put in between the TV for music listening session. Hopefully after installation will be able to turn up the volume knob, one or two clicks. Will report on the results. |
I think finding the "best" volume for each recording really matters to my enjoyment. I find that the volume can control the apparent size of the middle of the soundstage, be it vocal or, say, saxophone. If I don't want a 15 ft. vocalist, I need to turn it down a little. When things sound proportionate in size, I think the volume is close to right.
I also think my room (medium-small) can only play so loud - at least musically. After that point is reached, it feels like there is a "compression" of sorts that is created. One of the things about my recent move to horn speakers is that it sounds good - dynamic enough - at lower volumes, than my Magnepans did, for example. |
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I second dtorc's comments on finding the right volume for each recording. This is introduces a rabbit hole because each recording and its recording particulars will be different. This is where a remote volume control can be wonderful tool! Regarding your comment of preferring the volume high - that will also be an interesting factor depending on preferred genre as some bands play very loud at venues while others from other genre's do not. At the end of the day - if you have the system that can play loud and still produce the enjoyment factor - all is well. |
The better the stereo, the less volume is needed to feel the performance. Yet, the performance will never seem completely realistic, if the volume is too low (the band does not play at low volume). Rock singers do not belt out their vocals at low volume. My preference is loud enough to pressurize the room, but not too loud to distort the room, or cause amps to clip, or cause speakers to stop being pistonc (which will lead to distortion, perhaps unnoticed, but will still be fatiguing). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2pvz6RDBCE Another problem is that countless songs are poorly mixed and mastered. We might want to feel the drums, but the incompetent studio personnel dialed them down to a whisper. So we turn up the volume to get some umph out of the recording, which, unfortunately, hurts our ears due to everything else in the recording now playing too loud. I find myself adjusting the volume for nearly every song, and often during a song. For example: Grand Funk Railroad's "Paranoid": A so-so quality job done by the studio personnel. So you turn up the volume. But then at the 4:19 time mark, some imbecile in the studio turned up the gain on Mark Farner's guitar to "rip your ear drums" level. So knowing that assault is coming, I turn the volume down (and I am confident that most others do, too). Volume is a battle with not only your room, and your own equipment's design, but also with the incompetent studio personnel. They are not all incompetent. There's great stuff out there. The battle is with the ones that screwed up hit songs. |
"Another problem is that countless songs are poorly mixed and mastered."
@seymour-krelborn Yes, it amazes me that a Herbie Hancock, Art Pepper or Bill Evans recording from 55 years ago can sound so good ... while some contemporary offerings sound so bad. |
At high volumn spl can cause compression in the voice coils ,motor and it's ability to get rid of the heat generated thus large vented open voice coils in pro audio. Clipping from the amp and headroom come into play.this is why most of my amps are > 1kw 200 amps so if I want the db meter above 100 for a few songs I can do it. Dampening it how well your amp handles the feedback in emf and rf the woofer voice coils ,motors feed back to the amp. Thus why some bi,tri amp to keep that signal away from the mid and tweeters. Be careful cuz loud volumn can cause hearing loss. Enjoy the music get a db meter on amazon |
I understand what you are saying. I typically listen at fairly low volumes to most jazz and world music. However, when I listen to orchestral pieces I typically carefully dial in the volume. I started this when I was attending symphonies every week and I would hear a symphony that started with some tiny sound coming out to of the background ambience and with crescendos at... well in the symphony hall, a bit too loud (causing ear overload). I'd carefully calibrate so at home I could hear the first instrument just after its started and the creshendows would not overload my ears... Maybe what you are calling flattening... your ear is like overloaded with stuff so detail gets scrambled. I made note of this volume (yes, I know it varies across recordings) but for most it puts me right there. The is my "live" setting. My system doesn't loose the dynamic range until way beyond what I find comfortable. That level is very system dependent. Or maybe that if the flattening you are talking about. |
"IMHO, each and every room has a different and exact volume level setting." Huh? I've been a pro musician and pro live sound engineer for several decades and statements like this mystify me. Exact? Every mix on every recording is generally different, and some seem better than others based on personal taste. Where is the listener sitting? Where is this "exact" "locking of in" going to happen? Is a bass heavy or bass light or treble compromised recording going to "lock in" every time? I don't require an answer, maybe I simply need a vacation. |
Paul at ps audio produces music and has a sound room bob Dylan recorded in.he has some great points and a difference of opinion is always welcome. I have visited boulder Colorado and taken the tour as you should too he has been around bascom king and arnie nudel both prominent historical individuals in the audio industry. Happy listening |
Our ears, as in our hearing, starts to compress when faced with amplitude that is too high. Also, older listeners may seek to increase volume in an attempt to linearize what they hear -i..e to make frequencies that their hearing is deficient in audible. But that becomes a fool's game because more volume equals more hearing loss. So best all round to listen at sensible levels. |
@rvpiano what you’re describing has to do with room acoustics and amplifier headroom. Room acoustics will greatly affect the depth and width of soundstage as the volume goes up and the walls, ceiling, floor and other objects in the room begin to play into reflections. Sound bouncing around impacts timing and delivery and your brain isn’t able to perceive it the same way as at lower levels with less interaction from room boundaries. |
It is most likely a combination of overloading the room and your ears (and possibly the equipment as distortion generally increases especially with speaker designs) Ears will also "compress" as they compensate for the loud volume. This can be called "ear fatigue" where our ears are no longer sensitive to subtle dynamics. And probably the biggest one is the room acoustics being overloaded. If it takes X milliseconds for a certain frequency to decay to Y decibels, if it's super loud, Y decibels will take longer to reach because of the sheer volume which will cause distortion and phasing as the frequencies at play are interacting with each other for a longer period and at a higher volume. I've found for low volume listening tube amps are great for this reason - more full bodied at lower volumes. Start to crank it though and the solid state designs around the same price seem to outshine them. Just an added two cents. I'm sure this isn't always the case (I've never tried a Decware and I hear they are better with this) but just in my experience YMMV |