Cowon Volume Poll

[BruceBanner]

Heheheh and also :.(

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by BruceBanner

3-5... this astounds me. Using my e10's at this level it would be hardly audible, I could have a conversation whilst iems inserted with music playing at this level, akin to chit chat with background noise lol.
Well the variance does seem to swing from one end of the spectrum to the other, interesting stuff.

I'll bet you can't say: "I can hear a pin drop"

[musichound]

I use quite efficient Denon IEMs, Any audio volume above 20 is very loud. The highes volume I would listen to audio in short durations is no more than 26 on my Cowon X7. Also, to those who think Bruce's listening is excessive, it could be the DB range his songs are encoded with. For me, any audio encoded with anythiung at 86db or below is extremely quiet, and I would most probably need to listen to audio volume 30 or above to enjoy it.

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by musichound

I use quite efficient Denon IEMs, Any audio volume above 20 is very loud. The highes volume I would listen to audio in short durations is no more than 26 on my Cowon X7. Also, to those who think Bruce's listening is excessive, it could be the DB range his songs are encoded with. For me, any audio encoded with anythiung at 86db or below is extremely quiet, and I would most probably need to listen to audio volume 30 or above to enjoy it.

He has everything MP3Gained to 94db, if I remember rightly....

[musichound]

Originally Posted by Marvin the Martian

He has everything MP3Gained to 94db, if I remember rightly....

Oh, I see. then this explains Bruce's listening habit: He's deaf.

[BruceBanner]

Lol.
But lets be serious for a second, what does this actually mean? I mean lets pretend i go for a hearing test and all comes back fine (which i presume would be as i have never had any situations irl that suggest my hearing is impaired in anyway), what does this mean? The fact i can listen without hurting my ears (at the time) at these volume levels does it mean bad things are waiting for me in future? Like it feels fine and confortable at the time, but long term i will be setting myself up for hearing problems?
Like what im trying to say is never is it painful or uncomfortable for me to hear music at this volume, but are the consequences of listening at this level long term negative for me i.e. will i go deaf somehwhat further down the line?
I suspect we each have quite a bit of genetic variance to hearing and how our ears work. Even my wife who isnt an audiophile and doesn't listens to her d2 that much will still have her volume 22-26, which i thought would be quite normal. The fact that quite a few members here listen as low as 5-10 was pretty shocking to me (and my wife who was all like "how can they hear anything at that level?").
And although i possibly listen at the highest level in the poll, there are still plenty of members listening at levels that others would find uncomfortably high... I just find the spectrum very interesting. When i started this poll i thought most would listen between 22-30, never did i think anyone would listen below 15.. And certainly not single figures!

What im getting at is it possible that i will suffer no permanent damage or loss of hearing at these levels (because i am not subjecting myself to uncomfortable levels that I find uncomfortable) and that i have different listening tolerances to others i.e. genetics?
There is for example levels of volume i find too loud even for me, using mdwrights eq setup and bbe tweaks, anything past 34 is unbearably loud (not to mention distortion etc), if i listened at even level 37 on mdwrights setup i would be in physical pain.

[WalkGood]

You can damage your hearing permanently :/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_from_noise
http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-l...-ears-safe.htm

Edit:

The ear can be exposed to short periods in excess of 120 dB without permanent harm — albeit with discomfort and possibly pain; but long term exposure to sound levels over 80 dB can cause permanent hearing loss

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noise-induced_hearing_loss

[The DarkSide]

Just because it's not uncomfortable doesn't mean it isn't damaging your hearing. It's the sound that's loud & doesn't cause pain that does the MOST damage. You don't know it's happening until it's too late.

Get your hearing tested please,...for your own sake.

[BruceBanner]

Damn
But that kinda sucks, cuz listening to songs low volume does little for me, im not saying it has to be concert loud, but when working out, working or needing that extra 'punch' i cant imagine not taking it to that level
Guess im doomed....

[The DarkSide]

85db is the threshold of when the damage starts,... (I get hearing conservation training at work once a year, followed by a monitored hearing exam)

[BruceBanner]

Is there a way of finding out what volumes i am listening at? If my tunes are 84db replay gained, using e10s and using mostly volume 38 of flat c2 settings?

[The DarkSide]

Dude, go get a hearing test.

[WalkGood]

Estimating it
http://www.head-fi.org/t/586490/appr...lume-output-db
http://www.ifans.com/forums/threads/...volume.364522/

While these youtube ones don't all show the volume level, I'm assuming it's full blast. But it's easy to imagine you're not too far away from the results based on the levels you stated. and the results are all over 100 dB

You Tube

You Tube

You Tube

You Tube

[cdosrun]

Bruce,

It does sound like you might benefit from having a hearing check - it may be that both you and your wife have been to the same concerts and experienced the same loud noises for a while.

I would take my experience with a pinch of salt as I appreciate my hearing is a bit sensitive; I have never been able to go to stay in nightclub without wearing noise attenuating ear plugs and I have only ever been to clubs a couple of times, no concerts. I have probably only ever experienced my ears ringing fewer than a handful of times from music (power tools aside) so I might be at the other end of the spectrum. However, in a quiet room I can always hear a whistle/noise which I suspect is a mild form of tinnitus from ear infections as a child - hence my over cautiousness with loud noises.

If you do have some hearing damage then at least getting checked now will allow you to stop it getting worse at this stage.

Andrew

[WalkGood]

Bruce, I could be wrong but I seem to remember you once told me you owned a commercial cleaning business. Now I’m not sure how much or what type of gear that you own or use but I’m sure that listening to a commercial vacuum every day would kill my hearing. I say this cause when I use our residential vacuum; I use ear plugs because the high end noise really bothers my hearing.

Edit: btw there isn't anything wrong w/our vacuum, it's just regular noise generated from the electric motor

[BruceBanner]

I just do domestic cleaning, with a pretty quiet backpack vacuum, my music drowns out the noise it makes (except for quiet sections in songs), but i dont have the volume that high to drown the noise it makes out, i would still have naturally selected that level if i were to go for a run etc.
Yer the first person i have heard that wears ear plugs when using normal domestic vacuum O.o
I am doing renovations at the moment, the chap helping me who is a carpenter by trade puts cotton wool in his ears for only certain tasks. He's 55yrs old and been doing his trade longer than i have lived! If he's going to be usng a mallet and hitting metal he would use cotton wool, but general drop saw use he wouldn't bother, power sawhe might use if he was cutting sumthing that was likely to shriek. But i find the drop saw quite loud myself, not sure enough to warrant ear plugs, but i do understand why he uses ear protection for some of the other things he does.

[The DarkSide]

I don't use earplugs with my vacuum, but I do with power tools at work. I also use earplugs when I have to do flagging, as I'm using either a whistle or airhorn. I refuse to not be able to enjoy my music when I get older. My father was almost deaf,...it's not a pretty thing to see.

Bro, we care, or we wouldn't be busting your balls.

[BruceBanner]

I know i know i know i feel the love

[WalkGood]

Did either of you look at some of the db results from that youtube video above? For example the hd380s hit over 114 dB While I don't think those results can be said to be 100% accurate, it does give you something to think about, because what TDS said above is true 85 dB and up will cause damage over the long haul ...

[Urne]

I listen to my music between 18 and 20, mostly at 19. During the night I listen to my music at around 16 and when I'm in an airplane it goes at 23 at max.

Using AIAIAI TMA-1s.
Impedance: 32 Ohm +/- 1.5 Ohm
Sensitivity: 110dB +/- 3dB
Load Rating: 0.1W