Is "reference level" LOUD to YOU? - Page 3

That's is my thinking as well. Most people that come over leave with a WTF look on their faces hahaha. I was getting the furnace cleaned tonight and the worker was dumbfounded. I played WOTW at reference and his face was priceless.
I don't just watch movies, I want to experience them

I am sorry to hear about the hearing loss but a gun is far, far worse for the ears than 'reference' level listening. Maybe I'm lucky but I've passed 40 with perfect hearing and I've owned one system system or another capable of playing cleanly at reference levels for over 20 years and listened to loud music every single day. Gunshots are momentary but they range from 140db to 170db in intensity and of course the gun is always within 1 meter of your head when you are using it, so the instantaneous damage is happening if you shoot unprotected.

To match this poll results, 90% of those who watched the IMAX movie with you would have to find it too loud. I doubt it was the case.

Many folks scorn what they cannot have for themselves. Lamborghinis and Ferraris, private jets, supermodel wives and girlfriends, stereo systems that are flat at reference from single digit Hz on up... but given the chance to enjoy those same things for themselves, they become instant fans.

You have it! I have named my HT "The Experience" and that is what most tell me when they leave. I happen to enjoy rock videos- A lot. I can watch over and over ASIA, The Eagles, Rush, Peter Frampton, Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, Led Zeppelin and the list goes on. Hard to experience the same feel of the concert without concert level playback. I rarely just do clips and such. I tend to put in a movie and watch the whole thing. But, I can put on Pink Floyd - Pulse and I am transported back to the time I saw them play and feel the emotions that that night stirred and it is just magical. I do not smoke or drink or any kind of other vice and this is my outlet. I work in noise all day. I have been wearing ear plugs and muffs pretty much every day for
almost 30 years now. I know what loud is and the noise I listen to every day is really loud, but it is constant and mostly one tone - like a torture really. So, for me to come home and put in Beethoven's "Ode to Joy and let it rip is just the norm. I am a classical music buff at heart and the dynamics are as wide as I have experienced. I have many versions of each piece and some are better than others. Some are just very important because of the director and conductor and some are just very well done. A 100 piece orchestra can get mighty loud and I have been to the Symphony so many times it is hard to count, so I know how it sounds in person. To get that impact in your home requires lots of headroom. I have been in HT's that have nice "all in the box" setups and they get somewhat loud and they always seem too loud to me when trying to play my selected recordings.I usually ask them, after they ask me how it sounds, if the system has a volume control- They never get the hint! That said, I never notice that in my HT. It is loud- very loud, but it "feels" louder than it is I guess is how I want to put it. Hard to really explain, but, if you experience what I am describing, you will know what I am saying.

Keep cranking,

Robert

The not quite part essentially bases around the fact that while some of the systems (bass specifically) that you see people going way overboard with, don't ever need 130dB's technically, but they need the capability of the additional firepower and drivers to extend lower and lower. Once EQ'd out, whether you are bass hot or not, it is all really done for extension. My first DIY subs were the F-20's (pair) and they had INSANE output for the dollar, but they conked out at 20hz where they got a tab bit of room gain below that but didn't extend down as far as I wanted. Now with some sealed uber drivers I am able to get down to where I wanted. I am by far not in the 130dB crowd, and I do have some areas to improve on in my system, but once it is all said and done, I am glad I have the headroom I already do in spots, but still see benefit where additional drivers would help the longevity of the system. Folks like Ricci, Not, MK, that have built out some of the biggest systems around can sit back and know that what they have will take them anywhere they want to go and further. What's the price you pay for that? who knows. IMO I will personally not be happy until I can sit on my couch with a new flick that has some pretty dynamic content, and smile knowing I could have a steel door in front of my equipment rack hiding the Christmas tree of lights on all my gear and KNOW that I won't be clipping anything or worrying about frying voice coils. For some it doesn't take as much as others, but even if you listen below reference, be that -2 or -15, having a system capable for even when you catch a wild hair is always nice to have. Some would say this hobby is pricey, and in many cases it is, but at least we aren't all into collecting antique artwork. For two reasons I guess, no one wants to drop a Dali on the floor of their living room when they are experimenting with high power sine waves and flexing their house walls 2 inches, and who really wants to sit and stare at a painting that doesn't play music or move? Haha.

How does the upper frequency response compare. As mentioned earlier, the rolling off in the upper frequencies can allow a little more output before ear bleeding sets in.

Someone who gets it, lol.

Music relaxes me. Loud music relaxes me more.

The other day I was downstairs after a bad day at work. I had DSOTM on SACD cranked to 11. My wife comes in, gives me the look, and walks out. After I come upstairs, she asks me how in the heck can I relax to that? Someone people just don't understand.

There is just something special about a faithful reproduction of the source.

I can afford a 120db system. I choose not to spend my money doing it. Even so, I only lack some more amp power on my subs. I also find most theatres and the IMAX a little to loud. Not way to loud, but just a bit.

My point is how do you know that people have systems capable of clean reference? What is clean reference to you?(general question here). Have you guys measured your THD and responses at reference? You can clearly measure THD and see if there is a correlation between it and the sound quality you can bare. With me that level changes based on frequency.

tuxedocivic

pursuing perfection..............to a point.

I think it depends on the track and the movie, I usually can ease myself into reference as the movie goes on but that first 5mins I will be at about -15 and then up it as the action hits.

Oh I know about how loud gun shots are in comparison. I'm sure they had a much greater impact. But any audiologist will tell you that listening to sustained 100 db sound will damage your hearing. And the result is very slow to come and subtle in onset. You might be lucky, but maybe when your 50, who knows.

Floyd

That's just an excuse to turn it up even louder.

Ditto on this and my system is calibrated with a sound level meter. However, I find that some movies & blu-rays are quieter than others. Also a few have dialog that requires you to turn your system up, but the action scenes are almost too much on your ears..
Edited by pgwalsh - 12/17/12 at 9:45pm

I still feel there are way too many variables between rooms and equipment to establish a scientific baseline.

I could listen to my buddies Rockets at reference all day long. My other friend runs a Klipsch setup and it really starts to hurt a long ways below reference. As I stated earlier; this doesn't take room treatments into account which play a huge role.

IMAX 15/70 or IMAX Digital? I find the IMAX Digital houses to be incredibly distorted, I have been to three of them. All of them are calibrated with the nXos calibrating system. While they all sound very similar, the distortion is painful. It is not a quality sound experience.

JSS

Oh man, I was not being argumentative, I was speaking tongue-in-cheek. I agree with you 100% about the vast majority of people's taste when it somes to SPL, I am more like a 1%er when it comes to volume levels and I've got two decades of bad relations with my next door neighbors to prove it. I also happen to find all movie theaters to be intolerable when in comes to the mix of SQ and volume. My eardrums sometimes spasm in movie theaters and of course I never go anymore... I think Avatar's premier at an IMAX theater was the last time I sat through a whole movie. That never, ever happens to me at home with my system, even when it is pumping so hard that it feels like my sofa is on a roller coaster and the highs sound like pure crystal.

I suppose I should have voted 5 instead of 1... but 1 is the most accurate description of what I do.

I am skeptical about the 80% estimate. If that was the case I'd expect the industry to comply. After all, the business model is to entertain, not to torture.

I bet most people do not think about the sound in movie theaters at all. they just swallow it whole - the story, the sound, the visuals - the experience.

Anyway, the point I was trying to make is that perception of loudness at ref. level playback in typical small rooms and large movie theaters is different. This is a well know fact, i do not think it is debatable, really. That's why, in part, Dolby came up with the dialnorm offsets.

I wonder what else people would do in a movie theater if they had a remote control. Perhaps pause the movie to go get some popcorn and take a leak? Perhaps they would adopt that nifty habit of adjusting the volume throughout the movie? Turn up the surround sound to suit their taste for whatever seat they chose?

As for the 'risk' involved in watching movies at 85 db (average) volume on a dialy basis? Even if it was my job, I'd be in the clear. Same goes for 90db.

Haha, ya, I suppose that's true

I don't know if I could stand 10+ but I never reach levels that cause ringing in the ears. I guess it could be my room as I have had members on different occasions tell me to turn it up as well. Madaeel thought WOTW was great at reference but LOTR can get a little loud at MV 0 on certain parts but still tolerable. TDNR has a few scenes where it gets unbearable but I believe it has to do with the recording more than volume. I can tell when the mic is too close to an actor and he screams into the mic as his voice sounds like he clipped the mic or something.

"And another 50% like it quieter, still."

that's fine. i'm not sure that i see your point though. why should what the bottom 50% like somehow figure into what the upper 40% spend their money on?

Good grief. Some of you are so argumentative. That was a freaking joke hence the lol at the end. What, your wife wears the pants at home and the only chance you get to show off your ego is online? Some of you really need to step away from the keyboard for a while.

I'd be careful on who you choose to council. I'm not your brother, and don't need the "____________" lecture. So take your own advice.
Edited by bass addict - 12/18/12 at 9:26am