Loudness

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I had one school dance ask me to turn it up. (about 800 kids), so on the next event (a prom this spring, about 500 at it) I turned it up and took my meter out to the middle of the dance floor about 35 ft out and the meter was going from about 108 to 112 db and I thought that was TOOOOOO loud but no one complained.
They haven't lost their hearing yet .. they will when they start to .. :)
 
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I don't like to go higher than about 100 on the floor. The best way to create the impression of loudness without hurting ears is with a true subwoofer (not a 60 Hz one-note-wonder that is all too common in the MI world). The visceral feel of the bass gives the impression of loudness without hurting the ears.
 
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I don't like to go higher than about 100 on the floor. The best way to create the impression of loudness without hurting ears is with a true subwoofer (not a 60 Hz one-note-wonder that is all too common in the MI world). The visceral feel of the bass gives the impression of loudness without hurting the ears.
BINGO! What's worse than a 60hz one-note-wonder? A 70hz one-note-wonder! The grey line (#4) is the Yorkville LS801P - a sub that has has too short of a horn on the rear of the driver, giving a huge peak at 70hz (can you say boom), but no real bass below 40hz.

Loud, yes. Good sounding, no...and yeah, I know a lot of you used them and your Grandmother thought they were fine.

102w5th.jpg
 
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Let's be realistic .. with recorded music .. especially mp3s, there isn't really much below 45 Hz anyway. Live sound (kick, bass, keys) .. yes, could easily go to 20 Hz, but for most recorded music we get from pools it's really just noise down there.
 
Look, Stevie.....
I love this job because it DOESN'T require math!

But... I usually play too soft.
I always start lower than I should.
During the night, I am constantly walking into the room to check the volume.
I start bumping it up as the formalities end and the party picks up!
 
Let's be realistic .. with recorded music .. especially mp3s, there isn't really much below 45 Hz anyway. Live sound (kick, bass, keys) .. yes, could easily go to 20 Hz, but for most recorded music we get from pools it's really just noise down there.
While it may not have been recorded to the Master, I believe mp3 encoding is flat to almost 2Hz - that's Two Hertz..and there is a big difference between a sub that is almost flat to 45 HZ, and one with a big peak at 70 Hz. Sure, you can EQ the heck out of an 801, but you throw efficiency out the window.
 
But... I usually play too soft.
I always start lower than I should.
During the night, I am constantly walking into the room to check the volume.
I start bumping it up as the formalities end and the party picks up!
I think a lot of us do this. IMHO, much better to er on the low side - you can always turn it up if asked.
 
I tend to make sawtooth volume adjustments throughout an evening or even during a set. If I am moving into a high energy set, I boost the volume a bit. Once the floor is filled, I slowly bring the volume back down. This leaves me some headroom to boost the volume again for the next song or for the next high energy transition. The sawtooth volume approach solves the problem of hearing compression. Yes, your ears compress. This is most evident by the number of times you were blasted by the car radio in the morning. The night before you were probably rocking out and kept raising the volume without ever lowering it. You don't realize how loud it got until the next morning.
 
I made the OP because there is a disconnect with speaker ratings and everyone discussing speaker SPL differences between say 125 and 135 db and I'm thinking we'd be frying the ears of dancers anywhere near those levels.

I still have minor ringing above normal tinnitus from 1.5 weeks ago .. that's not good. I plan to test every setup going forward.
 
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What will also make a huge difference is the kind of music your're playing or listening to. The Mahler 2nd Symphony is scored for a full orchestra w/organ, and a full chorus. During the finally, the 5th movement, you've got 200 plus people banging, sawing, blowing, screaming - ol' Gustav new his stuff...and it is LOUD. If you ever get a chance to hear it live, just do it, whether you like classical music or not. It is stupendous.

However, music like recorded EDM, while not necessarily louder, has more energy because it has been highly compressed - it is uniformly loud. In mathematical terms, it has more area under the curve, a concept I'm certain Steve will be thrilled to explain. That's also why any additional compression you might add with an outboard processor should be done moderately - the heat the speaker has to dissipate goes up.
 
What will also make a huge difference is the kind of music your're playing or listening to. The Mahler 2nd Symphony is scored for a full orchestra w/organ, and a full chorus. During the finally, the 5th movement, you've got 200 plus people banging, sawing, blowing, screaming - ol' Gustav new his stuff...and it is LOUD. If you ever get a chance to hear it live, just do it, whether you like classical music or not. It is stupendous.

However, music like recorded EDM, while not necessarily louder, has more energy because it has been highly compressed - it is uniformly loud. In mathematical terms, it has more area under the curve, a concept I'm certain Steve will be thrilled to explain. That's also why any additional compression you might add with an outboard processor should be done moderately - the heat the speaker has to dissipate goes up.
Integrals and Calculus .. the bane of every engineer ...
 
And let's not forget our alma mater's cheer...

E^^x, dy/dx
E^^x/dx
cosin, secan, tan, sin
3.14159
Square root, cube-root, log(pi)
Disintegrate them RPI
Our fraternity chants were better, though certainly NSFW ..
 
Integrals and Calculus .. the bane of every engineer ...
And let's not forget our alma mater's cheer...
E^^x, dy/dx
E^^x/dx
cosin, secan, tan, sin
3.14159
Square root, cube-root, log(pi)
Disintegrate them RPI


HEY! HEY! HEY!
What did I say about MATH?
Knock it off and start talking about some client who contacted your partner about a gig you did three years ago.
 
HEY! HEY! HEY!
What did I say about MATH?
Knock it off and start talking about some client who contacted your partner about a gig you did three years ago.
The one where their cousin's sister's White Castle server told me I should be headlining Coachella??
 
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oops .. I have slight tinnitus in my left ear (mainly from shooting without enough ear protection) but it has been ringing more than normal this past week. I'm really hoping it subsides a bit.
I have it in my right ear, constant fucking I guess its a ringing, I can barley hear anything coming from a ear bud unless I max the volume, not sure when it started, but Ive always like my music loud so probaly from my teen years forward.
 
I have it in my right ear, constant fucking I guess its a ringing, I can barley hear anything coming from a ear bud unless I max the volume, not sure when it started, but Ive always like my music loud so probaly from my teen years forward.
I can still hear, but it's a constant high pitch.
 
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