Music: how loud is loud? (video)

[Sal1950]

Not to go OT so far, but there's more to music than db or THD

Very true, those are only 2 of the measureable areas of sound reproduction.

 

[Sokel]

Yes live sound from ordinary events are more dynamic than any recorded music. Thank goodness, due to the perceptual limitations in human hearing we don’t have to maintain the natural dynamics of a snare drum to have the recorded signal sound like a snare drum. The film and broadcast industry standards recommend an 18 to 20 dB crest factor, relative to 0 daBFS.
Music recording on analog media were typically limited to 13dB Crest factor Max. Less for Cassette.
With digital signals there are little technical limits other than the need or risk of needing to tweek the volume control between songs.

Check out this video I did a while back!

Thanks for this,really nice,short,dense,simple and to the point.
Tools like this demolish myths and speculations.

 

[danadam]

Check out this video I did a while back!

You can get similar plots just by analyzing the files. The data here is from ffmpeg's ebur128 filter:

 

[Andysu]

my cat Bear washing himself a little startled when explosion went off , yes it was loud in THX sound system !

 

[Killingbeans]

 

[stalepie2]

I got Beyerdynamic's recent headphones the DT 900 Pro X and they have a short term maximum input power of 100 mW and rated maximum input power (continuous operation) of only 30 mW:

(from the spec sheet).

So according to a headphone power calculator, I can get it to 113.2 dB for short term (?) by maxing out the volume on the 1 volt Apple USB-C adapter before the "built like a tank" driver goes kaput.

However I find that most music is starting to sound pretty loud at around 40 to 60 % on this adapter. I wonder how loud I really listen, typically.

 

[tineared]

Anyone who went to a Robin Trower concert in the seventies knows what dangerous sound levels are. He played through Marshall stacks 4 high across a stage approximately 170ft wide. That is "holy crap" loud. My ears rang for over 24 hours afterward and I'm sure some cilia were destroyed and the event contributed to the mild Tinnitus that I have today...

 

[Robbo99999]

Anyone who went to a Robin Trower concert in the seventies knows what dangerous sound levels are. He played through Marshall stacks 4 high across a stage approximately 170ft wide. That is "holy crap" loud. My ears rang for over 24 hours afterward and I'm sure some cilia were destroyed and the event contributed to the mild Tinnitus that I have today...

That's pretty horrible! I don't really go to concerts, or haven't been in a long time, but I'd probably take a set of earplugs with me in case it was too loud.

 

[tineared]

I was 16 and I lived for that stuff back then. Now I prefer to have my concerts at home. It's a much more comfortable setting and I control the volume...

 

[Andysu]

all music is garbage trash do not care to listen to any of it again

That's pretty horrible! I don't really go to concerts, or haven't been in a long time, but I'd probably take a set of earplugs with me in case it was too loud.

same with rubbish dcp cinemas or even some past ones lousy audio engineers that have hearing issue loss and tuned systems so deafening , end up wearing earplugs or walking out

 

[Robbo99999]

all music is garbage trash do not care to listen to any of it again

same with rubbish dcp cinemas or even some past ones lousy audio engineers that have hearing issue loss and tuned systems so deafening , end up wearing earplugs or walking out

Yeah, same again, I've not been to the cinema in a while, but I do remember a few experiences where you think this movie is way too loud when you first go in....and then your ears adjust, but still that doesn't mean that it wasn't too loud. Movies should have a lot of dynamic range, if it was up to me I would tune the normal dialogue to be a little bit above normal talking level for the quietest seats I suppose, then I would hope the large dynamic range of the explosions (etc) would then allow the movie to be impressive in those intentionally audio aggressive scenes where you really need the impact/surprise/fear/emotion. I'm not sure if there are standards whereby cinemas should tune certain seats to certain dB(A) levels for normal talking scenes (no reason they need to be deafening in normal talking scenes). Movies for sure should have a massive dynamic range, gotta make the most sense! (I don't mind being blasted by scary loud short passages in a movie, just make the normal talking scenes a normal volume - if anything that would make the movie soundscape even more impressive with it's contrast between normal & loud scenes!).