City living as a serious listener: impact of limited space/neighbors/high rent on listening?

[olds1959special]

What a self-centred attitude

yes, probably why I have not many friends. Loud music is the meaning of life and I'm too crazy to let anything stop me from blasting it. I have set up my systems to limit the volume at a certain point though to protect my hearing. I also live in a very big apartment since it was built in the 1920's and currently no one lives downstairs. I don't play music late at night or early in the morning. It's perfectly okay to play music during the day. For a year they were doing construction next door from 8am-6pm every weekday, and it was very noisy. It's perfectly legal, and expected, living in a big and dense city. What about the helicopters or the ice cream trucks or the school across the street that throws huge parties for kids and plays loud music over a PA system? Sound is everywhere! There is nothing you can do about it! No one owns the air! Noise is just a part of life in the big city.

 

[GroeneLeeuw]

yes, probably why I have not many friends. Loud music is the meaning of life and I'm too crazy to let anything stop me from blasting it.

Of course you don´t have many friends

If you were my neighbour and you did that shit often I´d make your life a living hell and would have you move away fast.

 

[olds1959special]

Of course you don´t have many friends

If you were my neighbour and you did that shit often I´d make your life a living hell and would have you move away fast.

Is burnt toast a remedy for diarrhea and gas? I've been farting a lot for the past few days.

 

[delta76]

Those of you in large cities should have the benefit of lots of live music.

the cost of going out, let alone to a proper concert, has skyrocketed.
of course you can go to a local bar for some music, but that's still costly and can be done once a week - if you are lucky. the music is not always to your taste anyway

 

[Jcrow]

I live in a house, so neighbours aren’t an issue. I do, however, have two small kids and a wife who goes to bed early. I listen to music in my study, so nearfield, and at relatively quiet volumes. If I need to listen more loudly, or am watching a movie, I have to use headphones.

When I did live in an apartment, during my bachelor days, I'm pretty sure I just blasted music - though, never late at night. It was an old apartment, and also lacked enough power points, however, I just ran extension cords all over the place since I was a bachelor and didn't give a damn. Kind of miss those days...

 

[pinger]

the cost of going out, let alone to a proper concert, has skyrocketed.
of course you can go to a local bar for some music, but that's still costly and can be done once a week - if you are lucky. the music is not always to your taste anyway

And live music is fine but you cant have it at all hours of the day on command like a home audio system so kind of a poor alternative

 

[pinger]

yes, probably why I have not many friends. Loud music is the meaning of life and I'm too crazy to let anything stop me from blasting it. I have set up my systems to limit the volume at a certain point though to protect my hearing. I also live in a very big apartment since it was built in the 1920's and currently no one lives downstairs. I don't play music late at night or early in the morning. It's perfectly okay to play music during the day. For a year they were doing construction next door from 8am-6pm every weekday, and it was very noisy. It's perfectly legal, and expected, living in a big and dense city. What about the helicopters or the ice cream trucks or the school across the street that throws huge parties for kids and plays loud music over a PA system? Sound is everywhere! There is nothing you can do about it! No one owns the air! Noise is just a part of life in the big city.

So apparently you DO care at least a little about your neighbors.

 

[Tell]

Of course it all depends on how your building is built, if it's just drywalls or 1 meter cement between every apartment, but it's still always a good idea to decoupling your speakers from the floor since a lot can travel to your neighbours from those vibrations alone. Now I'm lucky to live in a house, but I noticed a BIG difference in vibrations in my room after I 3D printed some soft cushy feets for my two subwoofers, and this is something that a neighbour definitely will hear as well. Because you also have to remember that the lower you go in bass frequency the more we need to actually hear it, so the risk of your neighbour hearing the bass itself at normal listening levels from you is quite low, unless they hear house and furniture vibrations from it that is.

 

[AnalogSteph]

Those are the problems I face every day-- for instance, I can't listen to LPs right now because I dont have an outlet to plug my turntable into. If I run an extension cord it will look terrible and will also have to go behind the radiator, which might be dangerous!

*slightly baffled look*

Around these parts (admittedly 230V mains), power strips are not a question of if but of how many, plus dad had the idea of mounting some boxes with outlets to the rear of the hi-fi cabinet - woodworking has always been kind of his thing. (Obviously you have to respect applicable load limits, but it's a hi-fi, not a space heater or laser printer.) Surely there has to be some sort of creative solution? A turntable uses laughably little power, the usual solution here would be just using a bigger power strip.

Perhaps you could provide a picture of the situation. It couldn't be that hard, right? (Famous last words, I know.)

I hope the apartment has seen some new electricals in the last 50 years or so at least. Just because the house is 100 years old does not mean everything in it has to be. Folks in North America do not seem particularly accustomed to the idea of major renovations, or that's my impression anyway. A 1950s electrical system would be considered well overdue here (something early 1970s of decent build quality updated with modern-ish breakers is about the minimum standard), and finding knob and tube wiring anywhere but a museum pretty much unfathomable.

Side note, since my placement options for a "big" hi-fi have been less than ideal, I'm going nearfield more often than not. Or headphones. All my music is on some sort of computer anyway (or rather, mirrored across two to three).

 

[Sammy77]

I guess I can put in my two cents in this conversation, small spaces have positive and negative impacts, the good is the your cluttered with stuff and that observes a lot of the energy coming out of your system and it can sound good with constant tweeks , the sound equipment in all computers can down tone a lot of the overly obnoxious waves coming out hz / settings , supposedly the ear can only hear so many hertz’s anyways right , the electricity coming in changes in a daily based hence sometimes your phone takes an eternity to charge versus other times and that means you have to tweek with the equalizer settings and there is no science to that , it has to be done by ear , other then that it sucks because if your not organized there’s always clutter right , anyhoo …. Funny …. Move or headphones reply … had me going for a while.

 

[pablolie]

I actually do not like the idea of a dedicated listening room. I have always made my living room a music listening room, because I need to live with music - I pick the best wall and go from there. I also have satellite systems in every room.

My neighbors have not once ever complained about noise. It may be because it is a very solid construction.

It also helps I live by myself (well, with 2 cats). But even when I was married, the living room was the main music listening room.

 

[delta76]

I actually do not like the idea of a dedicated listening room. I have always made my living room a music listening room, because I need to live with music - I pick the best wall and go from there. I also have satellite systems in every room.

My neighbors have not once ever complained about noise. It may be because it is a very solid construction.

It also helps I live by myself (well, with 2 cats). But even when I was married, the living room was the main music listening room.

Dedicated listening room is a luxury most of us Europeans can't afford. Compare to US big houses, the houses here are noticeable smaller, let alone apartments.
Music can be enjoyed without an expensive setup though.

 

[Mort]

Of course you don´t have many friends

If you were my neighbour and you did that shit often I´d make your life a living hell and would have you move away fast.

Spotted anonymous tough guy on internet

 

[olds1959special]

So apparently you DO care at least a little about your neighbors.

Yes, I try to establish boundaries for myself and complaints have been rare.

 

[Keith_W]

Well, I have a new neighbour. He is Indian, and he likes music, parties, and cooking Indian food on his BBQ. Every weekend when i'm out in the garden, I can smell his incredible food, hear laughter coming from his backyard, children playing in the pool, and music. I don't mind any of that except for the smell of his food, it makes me want to knock on his door and ask for some. Indian food is already amazing, but Indian food on the BBQ is next level.