Just curious "how loud" you run your systems on the dance floor .. maybe you don't know.
I went to a concert last week .. Sublime with Rome .. had 2 Reggae warm-up bands. My ears were ringing after the 1st group, so I pulled out my calibrated SPL app and they were at 110db with most music with peaks around 115db .. and that was on the opposite side of the arena, at least 250 feet away. The second band was the same and the main act as well. I can only assume the main board had an output limiter or maybe the arena had one at 115db, but it sure seemed like every fader was on 11.
I have to say it sounded like crap .. the bass, kick drums and keyboards all were pushing heavy content in the 40-80 Hz range and it sounded like mud. At the front of house position (mixer area) you could see a live graph of the frequencies and the lowest octaves were 30%+ higher than everything else (that might have been the venue limiter). My ears hurt through the next day.
On Saturday, I helped a friend run a retro disco party and he had the music up to around 105-107db with peaks near 112db. I had to put in hearing protectors (Amazon.com: EarPeace HD Concert Ear Plugs - High Fidelity Hearing Protection for Music Festivals, DJs & Musicians (Standard, Black Case): Health & Personal Care - (https://www.amazon.com/EarPeace-Concert-Ear-Plugs-Protection/dp/B076VVP6CX?th=1) ) to bear it. Everytime I showed him the meter, he'd turn it down .. and then it would creep back up.
So it got me thinking HOW LOUD should it be.
100db seemed to be a good max level for heavy dance .. 115db was WAAYY too loud.
For SPL, I have an actual meter, but generally use the Studio Six Digital SPL app ... SPL Meter | Studio Six Digital - (https://www.studiosixdigital.com/audiotools-modules-2/spl-modules/spl_meter.html) I bought their audio tools suite which has some other tools like RTA. At 105+db, you will have hearing damage in short order ...
I went to a concert last week .. Sublime with Rome .. had 2 Reggae warm-up bands. My ears were ringing after the 1st group, so I pulled out my calibrated SPL app and they were at 110db with most music with peaks around 115db .. and that was on the opposite side of the arena, at least 250 feet away. The second band was the same and the main act as well. I can only assume the main board had an output limiter or maybe the arena had one at 115db, but it sure seemed like every fader was on 11.
I have to say it sounded like crap .. the bass, kick drums and keyboards all were pushing heavy content in the 40-80 Hz range and it sounded like mud. At the front of house position (mixer area) you could see a live graph of the frequencies and the lowest octaves were 30%+ higher than everything else (that might have been the venue limiter). My ears hurt through the next day.
On Saturday, I helped a friend run a retro disco party and he had the music up to around 105-107db with peaks near 112db. I had to put in hearing protectors (Amazon.com: EarPeace HD Concert Ear Plugs - High Fidelity Hearing Protection for Music Festivals, DJs & Musicians (Standard, Black Case): Health & Personal Care - (https://www.amazon.com/EarPeace-Concert-Ear-Plugs-Protection/dp/B076VVP6CX?th=1) ) to bear it. Everytime I showed him the meter, he'd turn it down .. and then it would creep back up.
So it got me thinking HOW LOUD should it be.
100db seemed to be a good max level for heavy dance .. 115db was WAAYY too loud.
For SPL, I have an actual meter, but generally use the Studio Six Digital SPL app ... SPL Meter | Studio Six Digital - (https://www.studiosixdigital.com/audiotools-modules-2/spl-modules/spl_meter.html) I bought their audio tools suite which has some other tools like RTA. At 105+db, you will have hearing damage in short order ...