It depends on the dynamic range of the music. Where the db level is nearly constant - a lot of rock and roll for example - somewhere around 85-90. Jazz and blues - 80-85. Classical, barely audible at 60 or so up to peaks over 100. By the way, I have taken an spl meter to the front row of symphony performances at two different halls a number of times. The loudest peaks I have ever measured was 102 db for Verdi's requiem and slightly over 100 for Tchaikovsky's 6th. Many years ago I worked on military jet aircraft. Stand next to an A7 turning up - that's loud. On last audiometric testing a few years ago my hearing is well within the normal range. Also of note, the relative level against a background heavily influences what "sounds loud." In a lot of classical pieces (Tchaikovsky's 6th for example) several minutes of low volume sound followed by sudden increase of 30 decibels will be percieved as louder than a constant level higher than that peak. This is somewhat supported by medical research which tends to show, at least with animal subjects, a neurological protective response to loud noise. These research results have been interpreted as meaning that a constant environmental noise actually protects one against damage by a sort of conditioning. So it is probably not only the db level that is important as far as what is percieved as loud but also the immediate history of db levels. In other words, the signal elicited from the anatomical structures that sense hearing and are sent to the brain depend, at least in part, on that history (a few minute history if I recall)- at least in test animals. Of course the test animals are notoriously poor music critics, aside from the canine love for the blues (i.e. Howlin Wolf).
What decibel level do you listen at?
poor grammer on the question, I know, but I recently downloaded the SPL Meter app for my iPhone and I am shocked by how low the volume level actually is when I listen to music.
I thought I was normally listening at high SPL levels, but I have found that at about 85 it's too loud to think (when it reads 65, you can't talk to someone else in the room). I checked it against my real SPL Meter and the readings are pretty accurate.
I thought I was listening at about 90+ dbl on average, but I have discovered it's actually about 60 to 75 db, and that actually seems loud to me. I guess I'm happy about that, but does anyone else check the Decibel level, and what's considered "Reference Level"?
I thought I was normally listening at high SPL levels, but I have found that at about 85 it's too loud to think (when it reads 65, you can't talk to someone else in the room). I checked it against my real SPL Meter and the readings are pretty accurate.
I thought I was listening at about 90+ dbl on average, but I have discovered it's actually about 60 to 75 db, and that actually seems loud to me. I guess I'm happy about that, but does anyone else check the Decibel level, and what's considered "Reference Level"?