What dB level can you be exposed to in a Nightclub and how dangerous is it for your hearing?

[DanielT]

I dipped into the food court at a local mall recently. The next thing I was shocked at after how little food I got for the money was how loud the food court was. My Apple Watch confirmed my feelings. The music was being played at an average of 75 dB with peaks at 80 dB. I typically run my desktop speakers at 65 dB for casual listening!

One of the great things about my Apple Watch is that I have a decibel meter on my wrist that's within 2 dB of a calibrated noise meter. I even have the noise meter set up as a complication so that all I have to do to check the noise level is flick my wrist.

You can keep a pair of musician's earplugs on your key chain, like the Etymotic ER20XS, Loop or Eargasm earplugs if you're regularly going to loud places or have hearing sensitivity issues. Musician's earplugs will allow you to evenly reduce frequencies so that you can still talk to your friends for example while protecting your hearing. I've been using the Etymotics for ages, and I have a pair of ACS Pro 17 earplugs on order for even more accurate reproduction when I go to concerts.

There is a lot written and researched in the area of noise pollution and its effects. An example:

The Effects of Noise on Health

Noise pollution is more than a nuisance. It’s a health risk.

hms.harvard.edu

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A bit of googling and this came up:

 

[Digby]

I dipped into the food court at a local mall recently. The next thing I was shocked at after how little food I got for the money was how loud the food court was. My Apple Watch confirmed my feelings. The music was being played at an average of 75 dB with peaks at 80 dB. I typically run my desktop speakers at 65 dB for casual listening!

My pet hate is trying to buy clothes that both fit and look nice (tedious and time consuming in itself) and being assaulted by music in the process. It makes it impossible to concentrate.

The concept of background music, emphasis on the background, seems entirely forgotten in the UK. In almost every shop, especially clothing shops, you are assaulted by music. Typically the trendier and more expensive the shop, the louder and more aggressive (electronic music) the assault.

 

[DanielT]

My pet hate is trying to buy clothes that both fit and look nice (tedious and time consuming in itself) and being assaulted by music in the process. It makes it impossible to g.

Aha, I did not see: is, at the first reading.I thought your pet hated trying on clothes. You in the UK are sometimes seen as a bit eccentric so why not?

Isn't that a concept, a notion? The Eccentric Englishman that is:
(not seen as something negative but the opposite, if I understand it all correctly)

The Eccentric Englishman - Nathaniel Clark - Oil on Canvas

✅ Buy the Artwork 'The Eccentric Englishman' by Nathaniel Clark (2021) : Painting Oil on Canvas - 60x20in ➽ Worldwide Shipping ➽ Secure Payment ➽ Free Returns

www.singulart.com

 

[DanielT]

Maybe nothing new for you who write in this thread, BUT it's good when celebrities (or semi-celebrities, musicians like her as well) speak out:

 

[RayDunzl]

During the year or so I ran a PA for 50's through early 80's dive bar group, I always wondered about the folks who would slide a table right in front of the speaker stacks and sit there all night.

Maybe they were already deaf.

 

[Anton S]

Interesting read on the topic ...

Music and Noise: Same or Different? What Our Body Tells Us​

 

[DanielT]

Interesting read on the topic ...

Music and Noise: Same or Different? What Our Body Tells Us​

Her voice was like sweet music to my ears said the newly in love man.
After a number of years, her voice was like.. brr....said the man in connection with the divorce.

This is a fascinating modern phenomenon, speaking of sound, or noise:

No tune, no words, no dancing: why white noise is the music industry’s newest hit

The sounds of bonfires, waves and rainfall are helping us relax – and making millions

www.theguardian.com

I am therefore right on time! My vintage receiver HK330C (which I use sometimes) has a humming sound from the transformer, sounds a bit like standing near a electrical substation. However with a much lower volume than that. The humming sound is nothing I hear when I play music and without music on the humming is barely audible, but what I hear I therefore have to see as a contemplative sound, noise. Heh heh.