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How loud do you listen to music?

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Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
How loud do you tend to listen to music? Are you a glutton for volume like I am?

When listening to music on headphones (which is how I always listen to music these days), I listen to music rather loud, but probably not quite loud enough to cause hearing damage if listening to music for one and a half to two hours every day (which is usually how much time I spend listening to music every day) and I'd say that the volume I listen to music at is anywhere from 85 to 100 decibels.

But there are times where I get completely lost in music and end up listening to it longer than usual. A few weeks ago I listened to music longer than I usually do and since then I've been paranoid that I damaged my hearing a little; I'm obsessing over this. I know some of you may give me **** for listening to music at such a high volume, but there's a reason why I crank my music up while knowing of the detrimental effects listening to music at such a volume can have: I find it impossible to enjoy music at a low volume. I'd much rather listen to music for a short amount of time at a loud volume than listen to music for a long time at a low volume. I've tried enjoying music at a low volume, but I can't do it. I wish I was like those people who can listen to music at a low volume and still gain enjoyment from music as I hate risking messing up my hearing.

Here's an interesting decibel comparison chart I came across lately:

Decibel-(Loudness)-Comparison-Chart_1327744151233.png


Anyway, I await your responses.
 
Louder than usual, for sure. I can't really give a concrete measure per that chart above, but put it this way: the audio chip on my computer doesn't cut it nor does my MP3 player. My laptop comes close, but still not loud enough for my liking.

Quality matters to me as well - the laptop's sound chip tends to distort the sound at higher volumes, which is fine for most songs. When I play any bass heavy music, however, it sounds like garbage and is nearly incomprehensible.
 
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I don't like listening to music loud, unless it's in a room with good acoustics. Loud music causes me headaches and is very distracting. I listened to loud music and we turned up the volume pretty high when we practiced with the band, later I developed severe headaches, which I had almost every day for a few years after we stopped playing.
 
My taste in music is the kind that doesn't really need to be loud to enjoy it. I've also learned from my brother, who's deaf in one ear from getting blasted by 8-tracks through very high quality studio-type headphones. (No, I'm not ancient at all.)
 
I have the volume on my ipod loud enough so it just about drowns out everything else but if I really strain to hear I can still hear other things. This is particularly useful when walking my dog to listen out for cars coming when crossing the road. There is a particular stretch of road that I take her down that's near a motorway so the cars are quite noisy so I do turn it up quite loudly at that point but then turn it down again when we get back near residential areas.
 
On headphones, pretty much full blast.
But without, I keep it pretty low and in the background strangely enough.
 
That chart says OSHA only allows for 15 minutes of sandblasting level noise per work day..... I sandblasted for 6 hours in a day a few weeks ago. I was wearing silencers but it still seems to be a pretty harsh restriction. If theres work to be done its gonna have to get done! :lol:

I usually listen to music pretty quietly unless its a song Im really excited about. Then Ill crank it. Which I do intentionally because it seems louder by comparison. Audio dynamics really interest me
 
I keep my music at a decent level, I'm not sure how many DBs though - how do I find out? I have two pairs of noise canceling headphones so I don't really need the music very loud. I also have a feature built into my Sony Walkman that limits the volume to ear-friendly levels.
 
If its in the Firebird while Im driving Ill crank it up pretty decently. But around my apartment I usually just relax and chill to some moderatly volumed Slayer or Megadeth :lol:
 
Droopy said:
how do I find out?
Click to expand...

You can buy a device that measures volume, but I think it's tough to get an accurate decibel measurement from headphones -- you mostly have to guess. I guessed 85-100 decibels for me because I know I don't listen to music that's as loud as a snowmobile or lawn mower engine (the sound they make tends to range from 100-107 decibels).

Snowmobile and lawn mower engines make my ears ring after a short while; that (usually) doesn't happen with headphones. And I can always hear the sound of a lawn mower engine over my music when mowing the lawn with music on which shows that it's clearly louder than my music.
 
I have no clue how loud my music actually. I have a dB meter app on my phone, but I doubt that's an accurate representation. Cause with that app, I should be deaf, cause I'm practically living (and sleeping) under close to 95 dB all day.

I do have a thing for wanting to feel the music, so my subwoofer is giving the floor (and the ceiling of the dining room) a pounding; the lights once came down from the ceiling.

I rarely have it blasting hours without end... but that's partly because I'm usually awake late at night. So it's during the late afternoon/evening around dinner time, where I crank it up a bit... and even that depends on if I'm in the mood for music. I've had my share of days where I didn't listen to anything for a day.

From the outside though it doesn't seem that loud.

At nights I do listen with headphones, and obviously when I'm outside with my earbuds on my ipod. Those are pretty loud usually, but I have those around so I can cancel out noises which bother me. A few days ago when I was in the train people talked way to loud, so I couldn't put my music loud enough... that really bothered me.

As for hearing damage, I should be kinda careful cause I'm being more into music recording and production, but my ears held on very well all that time. Yes, I might have some damage, but nothing really noteworthy. That being said, I sometimes have my headphones or speakers on very low levels, especially during night and I can still hear. During the day sometimes planes fly over and I kinda want to not hear those. So I really have my levels kinda adjusted to my surroundings, at least when I'm "working". And in a way, I can not really see how putting 50 dB on headphones over 80 to 90 dB of a flying plane is more damaging. Fact is, in life in general your hearing will get damage, especially if you take in consideration all the "unnatural" sounds like engines (or traffic in general), humming, buzzing and such of appliances and all.

Hearing damage I think it has to do a lot with the frequency of the sound as well. Some noises will probably shred your hearing capabilities a lot more than others. And in result distorted music when it's being cranked up (as in, bad hardware, not music with distortion in it) might help. There's reasons why there's production and mastering in albums. Some albums are poorly done to the point where if you put it on louder, some elements will clip, while others wont clip no matter how loud you put it.
 
I'm starting to keep the volume at a more normal level in fear that I'll mess my ears up too quickly if I keep listening to music with the volume cranked up so high.

I got a bit scared when I discovered that my portable FLAC player on max volume doesn't go nearly as loud as the volume I was listening to music at with my headphones plugged into the headphone jack on my stereo. This is pretty much what made me decide to start keeping the volume at a more agreeable level.

Fortunately, I'm getting used to listening to music at this volume level rather quickly. :)
 
Well,

I listen to classical music but I do like it loud. Loud being similar to sitting there in the symphony. I also listen to Opera. Classical music can get real soft and then real loud. It is hard to listen to as background music. I listen via my iTouch and I use Bose in-ear headphones. At work I use the Bose Bluetooth Sound Dock on my desk. iMac and home with music via Wifi to more Bose speakers.

I used to be an audiophile with the tube amps and real nice speakers but having it all digital works for me. My wife can hear the music in bed and always says I have it too loud on my headphones. I take a Melatonin and listen to some music and I am asleep in 15 minutes every night no problem.
 
King_Oni said:
don't know if this is gonna startle people, but I stumbled upon this article earlier.

Hearing test: Can you hear like a teenager?

Hearing Test - high frequency sounds measure hearing loss

Check which frequencies you can still hear, and which you can't... I actually am having slight problems with 16k hz and up.
Click to expand...


That's pretty cool actually, definitely a "share" material :)
I can't hear the 17 at all, everything before that I can hear fine :) and apparently I can hear like a teenager, even though the sound is annoying, it's true :)
 
I like music, but not to be loud but more so that I can feel it.

I have severel subwoofers and amps in my car to make me be able to feel my music as I listen to it. It is a wonderful thing to not just hear with your ears, but with your whole body as well
 
When I am out walking going by the chart you gave I would say about 130-135db.
If I went past a jack hammer while playing music I would hardly notice it and on a quiet street the person on the other side could tell what song it was.:D

My last car stereo was only 200w but loud enough to resonate my ear drums.
 
I listen to music at a moderate volume and without headphones. But during the school year, I listened to my iPod at maximum volume for two hours per day because I couldn't stand the noise I'd otherwise have to endure. It was the sound of extremely obnoxious boys causing a ruckus on the school bus. I don't know how many decibels that was.
 
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