Headphone Listening Volume

Does anyone else rest their ears between listening sessions? I usually listen at pretty high volumes (like the equivalent to 80% on airpods pro) so I usually listen for around 30 minutes minutes every other day. I’ve been listening to a bunch of headphones recently so I’ve had to turn down the volume to account for the increase in listening time, but it’s pretty difficult to find that balance between listening volume and rest time.

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You should consider investing in a meter, and try and keep it below 85 dB (look up OSHA standards).

BAFX Products - Decibel Meter/Sound Pressure Level Reader (SPL) / 30-130dBA Range - 1 Year Warranty (Standard) Amazon.com

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I do find it fascinating what people consider loud varies so much, I almost never get above the mid 70’s when I’ve measured it, even when it’s what I consider overly loud.
Yet other people seem to have to be careful to keep the volume at safe levels.

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That’s pretty much where I listen (low 70’s). Especially if it’s aggressive rock/grunge music. That’s probably why I prefer a smoother upper-mids/treble. I tend to be sensitive to those frequencies.

85 dB I believe is the safe for 8 hour rating per OSHA, that’s why I used that number.

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I do all my main listening at night. You get a lower ambient noise floor which leads you to listen at lower volumes than you would typically during the day.

The only time during the day I listen to music is in the gym but even then I turn down the volume to about 25%, then my brain just acclimates.

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I used to listen a lot louder when I was younger. I’m much more aware of my hearing these days. Partly as my parents are elderly and both have hearing aids and partly just that general thing you get with age of noticing the body ain’t what it once was hah!

I occasionally use a sound level app on my phone to give me a rough idea of my listening volume and then set it accordingly. I have found that having more detailed headphones has lead me to want less volume - there is already enough going on without the loudness.

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I found a deal on a good dB meter and uses it for a while during my listening sessions. Louder, when I’m rocking out, it showed peaks in the low 90s. I consider 85 loud and most of my listening is done between 70 and 80 db. At night in more dynamic listening sessions It can get as low as 45 to 50 db, there is no constant and the majority of my listening during the work day is background music at 55 to 60, where I can think, talk and work without it being distracted. It takes a lot to damage your hearing but some people manage to do that.

I think headphones and IEM are far more dangerous than speakers though and I never use IEMs.

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I’m setting up a cheap setup on the other side of the room because as much as I love my genelecs on the desk sometimes I can’t concentrate on work with them playing in front of me no matter how low the volume is

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This is certainly a thing, though I don’t know of it’s detail per se, all transducers have a minimum volume where they come alive, the D8000 is an example of a headphone that requires more volume to sound it’s best. And the Dan Clark headphones require more volume than I can tolerate to sound at all dynamic.

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I typically listen between 75-85db sometimes raising it a bit louder to 90 when a banger track comes on lol

I usually know that I’m listening too loud when after a session I take the headphones off and my ears hum for 5-10 minutes afterwards :joy:

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I’m at 80db average on both headphones and speaker rig. I’ve had a couple of people who listened to my headphone rig basically turn it up past distortion and listen at that level. I deducted that they’re deaf and don’t need hi-fi anything lol.

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I’m pretty much the same as you, though it does depend on the headphone. I can turn up my Aeon Noire a tiny bit louder without issue, whereas my HE500 or Diana V2 I prefer to listen to at moderate levels.

I top out in the low 70’s. My ears are kind of self-regulating. When I think maybe I am playing too loud and test, I have drifted up into the mid 70’s. Sometimes my wife will say, “that is crazy loud” and she usually ends up being right. :smile:

My last three new headphones are from Nectar Sound and Sennheiser. VERY open headphones. My wife, repeatedly, has been able to Shazam my music from five feet away. I just laugh and pull out the decibel meter.

Most of my listening seems comfortable in the 60’s with peaks in the low 70’s Db wise.

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If my ears are ringing after i pull the HP’s off it was too loud and probably detrimental enough that I’ll regret it later on while trying to hear details in my 2 channel stuff… ears ringing = bad, future tinnitus = bad. Thus don’t overdo it too much :ok_hand:

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I always thought I was listening too loudly but today I downloaded a free decibel meter app on my phone to use while listening to speakers and on my “fun” volume which I’m always afraid neighbors will come knocking it averaged at ~74dB and at my normal volume it was ~68dB.

Not sure how accurate the app was but this was about 12ft away from source which puts the source at roughly about 100dB/95dB (74dB/68dB).

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