Home General Asylum

General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories.

RE: volume

If the system limits the volume, then the system is inadequate. A recording should be played back at a volume that makes the resulting sound as realistic as possible. Ideally, this should be full concert volume in a seat corresponding to the sonic perspective provided by the ambiance of the recording. The SPL levels will depend on the musical genre, i.e. for solo guitar or harpsichord they will be low, but for a Mahler symphony the fortissimo passages will be 90 dB with instantaneous peaks above 115 dB.

The test is to turn the volume up about four dB above your favorite setting and go to the back of the listening room or into the hallway. If the sound is not still clean, then you lack sufficient head room for realistic reproduction of the music that you are playing.

I am using live acoustic music as the benchmark. If your benchmark is live rock concerts, then your hearing may have already been destroyed and any discussion of sound quality is probably irrelevant.



Tony Lauck

"Diversity is the law of nature; no two entities in this universe are uniform." - P.R. Sarkar


This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  Schiit Audio  


Follow Ups Full Thread
Follow Ups

FAQ

Post a Message!

Forgot Password?
Moniker (Username):
Password (Optional):
  Remember my Moniker & Password  (What's this?)    Eat Me
E-Mail (Optional):
Subject:
Message:   (Posts are subject to Content Rules)
Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Upload Image:
E-mail Replies:  Automagically notify you when someone responds.