What volume level do you use for classical music? Loud or quiet? What are your opinions regarding relaxation and volume?

[Sokel]

My PEQ level meters are perfectly set now with the new bassier PEQ settings of today. No clipping and I think I can even get better low end response if I fiddle with it some more. That track you linked is a excellent tool. Thanks muchO! My ears are feeling the pressure now.

It's even better in the original version,YT somehow cuts a little of it.
Happy you like it!

 

[Doodski]

compression

I hate that stuff. It really kills the fun/enjoyment/participation factor for me.

Audacity

I'll download and investigate this after when chat slows down. Thank for the suggestion/advice/knowledge.

 

[Doodski]

I hope it goes without saying not so loud as to risk damage to hearing. Beyond that, I'd say you want it loud enough for the quiet parts to have an effect but not so loud that climaxes are unpleasant. So the level also depends on the quality of the recording. In general, I suggest turning up the volume until the instrumental timbres sound right (full and saturated), but then turn down the volume a notch below that to reduce stress on your ears.

I have my Schiit headphone amp volume knob set to just where it limits the max output so I don't fry anything and don't go deaf. I think I can manage a bit louder actrually if the recording is really good and there is enough low frequency to give it warmth and not be too sharp. The new and improved PEQ settings help with that immensely. I just needed the correct reference track to setup the PEQ and that is very close to optimum now.

 

[Doodski]

It's even better in the original version,YT somehow cuts a little of it.
Happy you like it!

I love it. Kettle drums and all that impact lend it reality and perspective.

 

[Robin L]

I've recorded a lot of "classical" music. Orchestral music can get loud, but it's not the same kind of loud as rock or blues. There usually is a constant dynamic level with the more popular forms of music, but with classical music it's much more dynamic so levels vary. And, of course, it all depends on what sort of music we're talking about. Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque and early Classical music doesn't get all that loud. Things don't really get loud until about the time Beethoven shows up, and there's a clear explanation for that. As to how loud it gets in the concert hall, it all depends on the hall and where one is sitting in the hall. Listening to Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony in the front row of Davies Hall was the loudest classical music concert I've ever heard, hearing the same piece in the balcony of the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion was nowhere near as loud.

I generally avoid playing Classical music really loud. In part, there's limits on how loud things can get in the small room where I listen. And I sit very close to the speakers, in an arrangement much like that for studio monitors. I know the volume levels are not as high as they can get with unamplified acoustic music, but it's easier to hear what's going on if the levels aren't that high. I've been listening to a lot of piano music lately, those recordings have some of the widest dynamic swings of all the recordings I have. This includes the historical recordings (1930s) I've been listening to recently.

 

[Mikig]

I love it. Kettle drums and all that impact lend it reality and perspective.

if you want to hear something really strong listen to:

requiem mass, dies irae by Verdi.

For those of you who have subwoofers!!!

 

[Doodski]

I've recorded a lot of "classical" music. Orchestral music can get loud, but it's not the same kind of loud as rock or blues. There usually is a constant dynamic level with the more popular forms of music, but with classical music it's much more dynamic so levels vary. And, of course, it all depends on what sort of music we're talking about. Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque and early Classical music doesn't get all that loud. Things don't really get loud until about the time Beethoven shows up, and there's a clear explanation for that. As to how loud it gets in the concert hall, it all depends on the hall and where one is sitting in the hall. Listening to Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony in the front row of Davies Hall was the loudest classical music concert I've ever heard, hearing the same piece in the balcony of the Dorthy Chandler Pavillion was nowhere near as loud.

This is a good idea and something I can consider. I think baroque guitar should maybe be medium level but rock acoustic I like loud.

This includes the historical recordings (1930s) I've been listening to recently.

I have heard vintage recordings that are surprisingly very good. Even Medodious Thunk (Thelonious Monk.) has some clear great recordings from his time frame.

 

[Robin L]

Is there supposed to be a large quantity of bass/low frequency response? I ask because I have the bass backed off and the top frequencies very much boosted so as to make the instruments more live sounding.

Most of the time, no. There's some music that deploys pipe organ. The Saint-Saens Symphony #3 has a number of passages where the organ kicks in, there's a sequence where only pedals are being used, so there's no overtones, just deep, deep bass. And there's plenty of Baroque organ using the pedals. While the piano can go as deep as 27 hz, it rarely does. Double bass goes down to 40 hz. I find that most classical music sounds fine on gear that is somewhat limited in the lower octaves, though deeper bass is always better anyway. By way of example, most classical music sounds good via my Drop 6XX, without EQ.

 

[Doodski]

if you want to hear something really strong listen to:

requiem mass, dies irae by Verdi.

For those of you who have subwoofers!!!

Sooper! I have a google search results window opened for after chat slows down and I will get on that bandwagon too. Thank you.

 

[Ken Tajalli]

I have been a classical music lover since my childhood, so a few years!
There are two types of listening I do
- Background music, while I am working or doing something
- Serious listening.
Background music, the volume is low. Otherwise, medium to loudish levels for serious listening, otherwise I may miss something.
Once you get used to going to concerts, then you figure out what level is realistic.

 

[Doodski]

Saint-Saens Symphony #3

I have another Google search results window opened for this and will research it after chat slows down. Thank you.

For those of you who have subwoofers!!!

I wish I have a big 18" JBL subwoofer but I am on Sennheiser headphones.

 

[Robin L]

This is a good idea and something I can consider. I think baroque guitar should maybe be medium level but rock acoustic I like loud.

Classical guitar never gets all that loud. Lute and Harpsichord should be soft. Clavichords should be about as loud as loud bees buzzing. Many instruments used in the Baroque era and later abandoned, like the Viol family, were displaced because they were not as loud as their successors, the Violin family.

 

[Mikig]

I have another Google search results window opened for this and will research it after chat slows down. Thank you.

I wish I have a big 18" JBL subwoofer but I am on Sennheiser headphones.

for that track it is highly recommended

 

[Doodski]

Once you get used to going to concerts, then you figure out what level is realistic.

Yes, and this is a topic and a yearning I have in wanting to get a season's pass for the local venue of classical music. It's not that expensive for a season's pass and I would use it as much as is possible as I live a 15 minute walk away from the huge building.

Background music, the volume is low. Otherwise, medium to loudish levels for serious listening, otherwise I may miss something.

This is a idea I have mulled a bit and actually I found that the German speakers that I have experience with (MB Quart & Magnat.) had very good high frequency response and can playback low levels with startling low level sharpness that gets my attention.

 

[Doodski]

Classical guitar never gets all that loud. Lute and Harpsichord should be soft. Clavichords should be about as loud as loud bees buzzing. Many instruments used in the Baroque era and later abandoned, like the Viol family, were displaced because they were not as loud as their successors, the Violin family.

IC... progression and succession of musical style and instrument evolution.

 

[Daverz]

I find I am encountering very loud dynamic transient peaks that are virtually impossible to predict. I have the classical music pieces playing as I do stuff on my desktop PC and am commenting here @ ASR and it is good for background listening but as I said it can be overwhelming in comparison to rock and pop that maintains a steady beat and power output level most of the time. It's a totally different vibe for sure. I think my typing is better with classical too... LoL.

That's going to be true of much Romantic era and modern symphonic music. The composer wants to wake up the over-fed concertgoers napping in the back row of the concert hall.

 

[Robin L]

IC... progression and succession of musical style and instrument evolution.

Also, commercialization of music (from chapels and courts to concert halls), increased size of concert venues, industrialization increasing noise pollution - in many ways, more like devolution. A similar "progression" happens with pop music, from the megaphone during the days of vaudeville to the Grateful Dead's "Wall of Sound".

 

[Robin L]

That's going to be true of much Romantic era and modern symphonic music. The composer wants to wake up the over-fed concertgoers napping in the back row of the concert hall.

As far as I can tell, it started with Haydn's symphonies 93 and 94.

 

[Doodski]

Haydn's symphonies 93 and 94

I have another Google search window opened for this too... LoL. Going to be enlarging the Music Classical folder tonight for sure.

 

[Robin L]

I have another Google search window opened for this too... LoL. Going to be enlarging the Music Classical folder tonight for sure.

Symphony 93 has a moment in the slow movement best described as a loud fart in a church. As for symphony 94, it's nicknamed "Surprise" and I'll let you find out for yourself.