How loud do you like to listen to Music?

HenryChinaski

I had to do a return trip to Dublin today and while I'm not usually a huge fan of driving I really enjoyed flaking it up and down the M7 listening to some of my favourite tunes up full blast. I know that if years of listening to loud music hasn't already taken it's toll on my hearing, it probably will eventually but I also know that I'll never be able to not blast it up when I'm on my own listening to my songs. The thing that gets me though is I know so many people who claim to be big music fans yet they'd listen to the radio more than their own favourite music and they'd never just stick in the headphones and crank it up to 11. What's the story like, am I just asking to go deaf?!

SilverScreen

HenryChinaski wrote: »

I had to do a return trip to Dublin today and while I'm not usually a huge fan of driving I really enjoyed flaking it up and down the M7 listening to some of my favourite tunes up full blast. I know that if years of listening to loud music hasn't already taken it's toll on my hearing, it probably will eventually but I also know that I'll never be able to not blast it up when I'm on my own listening to my songs. The thing that gets me though is I know so many people who claim to be big music fans yet they'd listen to the radio more than their own favourite music and they'd never just stick in the headphones and crank it up to 11. What's the story like, am I just asking to go deaf?!

You don't necessary have to crank the music all the way up to 11 to truly enjoy it, well depending on the music I guess, stuff like My Bloody Valentine and Boris you've just got to crank it up loud. I usually listen to music at a comfortable enough volume, both through headphones and through speakers (at least enough not to annoy the neighbours ). I value my hearing quite a bit and I still want to be able to enjoy music when I'm 40 the same way as I do now.

HenryChinaski

I generally lean towards old school blues and motown, classic hip hop, and modern country/bluegrass as opposed loud rocky type stuff so maybe there's a difference but when I listen to tunes like these the volume always just soars even if I don't realize I'm doing it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4h9OtI--FM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4h9OtI--FM

mike65

I listen to music with the volume pot turned to 9 pm.

Jimmy Iovine

HenryChinaski wrote: »

I had to do a return trip to Dublin today and while I'm not usually a huge fan of driving I really enjoyed flaking it up and down the M7 listening to some of my favourite tunes up full blast. I know that if years of listening to loud music hasn't already taken it's toll on my hearing, it probably will eventually but I also know that I'll never be able to not blast it up when I'm on my own listening to my songs. The thing that gets me though is I know so many people who claim to be big music fans yet they'd listen to the radio more than their own favourite music and they'd never just stick in the headphones and crank it up to 11. What's the story like, am I just asking to go deaf?!

Since when has being a music fan meant that you had to crank it up to 11?

When I'm in the car and just driving around town then I'd keep the volume at a medium setting. If I'm out on the main road doing 100kph then I'll turn it up a bit. I'd never have it absolutely blaring, maybe just the odd time.

As for the headphones, I feel sorry for the teenagers/young adults of my generation that'll end up with hearing problems in years to come. Those iPod earphones are the single worst things to use in my opinion. All my friends use them with the sound turned up as far as possible. I did it myself when I was younger until my ears started hurting and I bought headphones.

I may end up with hearing problems myself but if I don't then the switch to the headphones will be the reason why. I can listen to the music at a lower level because the sound quality is better and the headphones act as a barrier to the outside noise. The ones I use are pretty basic and are nowhere near as good as the noise-cancelling ones but they're still very effective.

It's scary when I'm on a bus and I can hear the music that a girl two seats in front of me is listening to and I'm listening to my own music through my headphones. She's busting out some nonsense through her white iPod earbuds and she is completely oblivious to the destruction that she is doing to her ears.

Have a read of this study. The results are pretty scary.



I'm listening to C.R.E.A.M. by the Wu-Tang Clan. I'm listening at about 60% and it's perfect. I could vary between 50-70% depending on my environment. I would never go up to 100. There's no need to.

In fact I just found an old pair of iPod earphones there and I tried listening at around 90%. It's ridiculous. 5 seconds and I was done. I don't know how anyone could subject their ears to that level of abuse.

Anyone who uses a pair of earphones and listens to their music at a very high level is asking for trouble. Buy a decent set of headphones and turn the volume down. You'll save yourself so much hardship in the future. The very last thing you want to develop is tinnitus. It's absolutely awful and as far as I know it's incurable.

Rigsby

OP, to answer the final seven words of your post....YES. As has previously been mentioned, you dont need to listen to music at high volumes to enjoy it. Do your long term hearing a favour and drop the volume. One way or the other, your hearing starts to very slowly go down hill from around your early twenties, and continues for the rest of your life. Why accelerate the process ?

im invisible

WHAT!?

Rigsby

im invisible wrote: »

WHAT!?

I rest my case !!

kunst nugget

Rigsby wrote: »

I rest my case !!

You've a messy face???

windingo

I listen to the radio for short everyday trips just at a normal volume i guess, but if I'm going on a roadtrip or something I'll tend to make a playlist of classics and blast them as i don't do it regularly!

Rigsby

kunst nugget wrote: »

You've a messy face???

Yes ! yes !

Hire up that hearing aid !!

Blisterman

Using earbuds.
20% in a quiet room.
40% on the streets.

If I can't hear it at 40%, I just won't listen to it. My hearing's awful as it is, so I'm doing whatever I can to stop it getting any worse.

Rigsby

windingo wrote: »

if I'm going on a roadtrip or something I'll tend to make a playlist of classics and blast them as i don't do it regularly!

To use a well known supermarket slogan... "every little helps".....to damage your hearing.

karaokeman

I'm guessing you're a heavy metal fan.

As I have confessed to be open to most kinds of music, how loud I would listen generally varies. I would like a bit of heavy stuff to be played loud, someone mentioned My Bloody Valentine, I couldn't possibly enjoy Only Shallow as much unless I had the volume reasonably high. Then I have more folkey stuff like Mindy Smith, Elliott Smith and Jim McCann where I prefer to have the volume toned down, as their music is more laid back and melodic. So it typically depends on the genre.

As for the people who claim to be huge music fans but listen to the radio more often, ask them whose music they enjoy listening to on the radio. I listened to the radio when I was getting into music, but as I'm finding more and more music I don't really use it anymore.

Technocentral

100%

lordgoat

I normally blare it. I've uncannily good hearing, but normally lean on the probably a bit louder than it should be. That said i'd rarely have it at extreme volumes for more than an hour at a time.

Interesting chart Jimmy.

Stavro Mueller

I like to listen to music in the car but it's more of a functional thing to help pass the journey. I only listen to certain types of music in the car - if I put on classical or quiet acoustic music, I'd hear bugger all over the road and engine noise.

I've never been a fan of turning music up to 11. You can hear everything perfectly well without making your ears bleed. Years ago I did a safepass course and the info about decibel levels made for alarming reading. I'd rather turn the music down and still have a functioning set of ears beyond the age of 40.

Rigsby

cymbaline wrote: »

the info about decibel levels made for alarming reading.

This is a key point, i.e. knowing just how much (or how little !!) noise can do damage. Because hearing loss in generally a slow gradual process, people dont realise that it is happening, so they don't do anything about it until there is precious little left to protect. This is why I have a thread on the "Bands/Musicians Community" forum, suggesting a sticky to try and make people aware.

Stavro Mueller

I don't know if there are any laws in this country regarding decibel levels in pubs, clubs and music venues. If there are, a very high percentage of places aren't paying any heed to them. Louder is better seems to be the order of the day. If people complain about the noise, they're just told to go back to watching Antiques Roadshow and be careful not to spill your cocoa on their carpet slippers.

I think when it comes to listening to music, you've got to accept that there are times when it's better just to put the earphones away and not try to hear the noise over the outside noise. Like on a noisy bus for example. You'll just be blowing the ears off yourself and not getting to hear all that much of the music anyway.

rcaz

HenryChinaski wrote: »

The thing that gets me though is I know so many people who claim to be big music fans yet they'd listen to the radio more than their own favourite music

karaokeman wrote: »

I listened to the radio when I was getting into music, but as I'm finding more and more music I don't really use it anymore.

I don't really get these arguments... Radio DJs expose you to stuff you wouldn't have heard before, get a good DJ and the new music is all unreal. Our very own John Kelly is a master, check out his lunchtime programme on Lyric FM. Who else plays Stravinsky and Aphex Twin in the same show?? And with internet radio, there's a channel for every kind of music you could imagine. The radio ****ing rules.

cymbaline wrote: »

You can hear everything perfectly well without making your ears bleed.

Yes, but can you feel it?

Try listening to some garage or dub or future bass or whatever they call that kind of stuff now, quietly. Not the same. Turn it up - much better. Same goes for noisy rock music. Crank Loveless up as loud as you can within reason - adds so much to the music. Blare John Coltrane or Ornette Coleman and the solos will tear your ears off, it's a physical music, it has to be felt. And sure, feeling the emotions coming through the sound is great and all, but ramp it up and let those airwaves vibrate your body. Feelsgoodman. Some stuff is better listened to loud, and some music is too ****ing good to worry about your hearing all the time. I know that sounds stupid and you'll call me young and irresponsible, but every now and then, you have to... Go for it, right?

Remember, everything in moderation - including moderation :pac:

Rigsby

rcaz wrote: »

Yes, but can you feel it?

Try listening to some garage or dub or future bass or whatever they call that kind of stuff now, quietly. Not the same. Turn it up - much better. Same goes for noisy rock music. Crank Loveless up as loud as you can within reason - adds so much to the music. Blare John Coltrane or Ornette Coleman and the solos will tear your ears off, it's a physical music, it has to be felt. And sure, feeling the emotions coming through the sound is great and all, but ramp it up and let those airwaves vibrate your body. Feelsgoodman. Some stuff is better listened to loud, and some music is too ****ing good to worry about your hearing all the time. I know that sounds stupid and you'll call me young and irresponsible, but every now and then, you have to... Go for it, right?

I basically agree with what you say here. People are well able to make up their own minds about the volume they choose to listen to music. However, it is possible that if they were made more aware of the consequences of loud volume, they might come to a different decision.

Like smoking, no one is saying dont do it, just be aware of the long term consequences.

Redzer7

Always have it blaring! Nothing like lying on my bed with the windows open and the radio/cd blaring. Just takes me to another planet

rcaz

Rigsby wrote: »

I basically agree with what you say here. People are well able to make up their own minds about the volume they choose to listen to music. However, it is possible that if they were made more aware of the consequences of loud volume, they might come to a different decision.

Like smoking, no one is saying dont do it, just be aware of the long term consequences.

Completely forgot to point out, that if I'm at a gig or anything, I wear ear plugs. All the benefit of feeling the vibrations really loudly, without doing as much damage to my ears.

3hn2givr7mx1sc

Depends on the music:
Low for Bob Dylan, Donovan, that kinda stuff.
Medium for pop kinda shíte, that I tend to give into quite easily.:o
Loud for Queen kinda stuff.
Very loud for Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys etc. and dubstep.

That's the general gist of it!

grey_so_what

Nothing like the sound of a concert ringing in your ears from massive Marshall speakers....My ears buzzed for days after a Rory Gallagher concert in the Stadium.....Not the same anymore....Health and Safety took all the fun out of that!......and also...Apt living!!!

Jimmy Iovine

lordgoat wrote: »

Interesting chart Jimmy.

To be honest I was shocked by it myself. I knew of the dangers but was pretty freaked by it all the same. I suppose as long as you're not wearing any of those in-ear headphones then you should be alright.

I fins I can regulate the sound on my iPod fine but when I'm watching a movie or tv show online then it's a different story. I find the sound just creeps higher and higher. It's only when I take off the headphones that I realise how loud it was.

I've no doubt that there will be countless numbers of people around the world who have hearing problems in 15/20 years time because of their listening equipment and habits. They'll probably even try to sue Apple for not informing them of the dangers or something like that. In a way it could be added to the ever-growing list of "first-world problems" :pac:.

HenryChinaski

I was out in a few pubs in Dublin over the weekend and that was what I'd consider a much more unhealthy level of loud than anything I'd get in the car or through my headphones.
Also if I'm going to let loud music damage my hearing I'd rather do it with music I enjoy, which is not something I can say about the sh*te they play in most city centre pubs in Ireland.

On another note I agree about earbud type headphones, I don't like them at all. I use a pair of good Bose over-ear headphones but I don't actually use them that often, especially since I bought a Kindle. However when I do use them I'll generally have the volume up pretty high if not on max volume. Most of the times I spend listening to music up very loud I'm either in the car on the open road or else pottering around the gaff cleaning or whatever. Like Rcaz says, sometimes you just have to feel it.

Rigsby

HenryChinaski wrote: »

sometimes you just have to feel it.

That may be the only option left, (i.e. merely vibration....like a mobile phone on "Silent" mode), if your hearing goes.