Volume/Loudness

[Wumbo]

As lovers of music we're often guided by our feelings rather than by our conscious decisions. The volume knob is one of those things that often goes up or down without thought, but maybe it is something that deserves thought.

When listening to something, we often perceive a louder sound to be clearer, and easier to distinguish. As a member of some 'audiophile' communities, I can tell you that it is vital when testing equipment for everything to be volume matched.

Furthermore, when we are in an emotional, or energetic mood, we sometimes turn up the volume because we feel it better matches the intensity of our feelings. These are things we do when we are not thinking about volume.

But I want to suggest reasons we should make a conscious decision to listen at a quieter volume.

The most obvious and boring reason is that we need to protect our hearing. If you are trying to overwhelm a noisy environment with your music, you can be sure you are damaging your hearing.

A much more compelling reason is that you are paying less attention when the music is very loud. If everything is right in your face, the dynamics of music are lost. Your ears do not strain at all to hear quieter segments, and the louder segments are simply numbing and unrealistic. Yeah, if the singer were in your ear shouting it would sound that loud, but in reality you are listening to him on a stage or something, from a fair distance away.

It should also be considered that a studio album is not a live performance. A studio album is designed to be listened to at a reasonable, comfortable volume, because they know people will be listening to it in the comfort of their own homes. It may be more realistic to a live show to have your music at max volume, since they really try to blast the front row's ears off just to make sure everyone can hear, but I think that is distinguishable as a once in a while performance. The studio album is an art form, and like film, it should be enjoyed, rather than consumed.

Anyway, I'd be interested if anyone could bring points about the pros and cons of different volume levels. I would also be happy if those who are used to listening at very loud levels would give quieter volumes a try. I think you will find it very rewarding, and a much more involving experience when quiet sounds are actually quiet. The focus it forces upon you helps to appreciate everything surrounding the album.

[Applerill]

Great thread. I've always tried to avoid turning up my music too loud. I think that, with the thousands that I've spent on music, I don't want it to go to waste with me not being able to listen to it anymore.

[Kiki]

My older brother always accuses me of listening to music too quiet

[CellarDoor]

Don't know, you'll have to ask my neighbours

I really hope the old lady downstairs is deaf, because I love to be DROWNED IN SOUND - in a shoegazy, dream pop kind of way.
One day though, walking downstairs, I heard little old lady listening to "Dark Side of the Moon" (and rather loud too - in favour of a slight hearing disability), so that gave me a good excuse to share the music I enjoy

Seriously, I try to be careful ("bring it down !"... and The Stooges loud are great by the way).

[RaineyWins]

I listen to music as loud as possible if I am wearing headphones, but if it is out loud and for my self, it is usually pretty quiet

[dp39]

My girlfriend complains its too loud. So I turn it up more.
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[RFNAPLES]

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[mikeyskywalker]

I like my music pretty loud...especially at the gym, have to turn it up extra loud!

If I'm in a quite environment though, I may sometimes have it at a reasonable volume.

[Charicature]

I like the music moderately loud, so I can hear the subtleties of it. But I don't like it at concert levels - much too loud. Too quiet and you can't hear it all - especially me since my hearing is no longer as good as it used to be (probably, no doubt, due to listening to music at the top volume my Walkman would reach to try to hear it over the lawn mower when I was a kid).

That said, the definition of "moderately loud" varies with the time of day - early in the morning and late at night you don't need anywhere near as much volume to hear the music closely because there's a lot less background noise.
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[SquishypuffDave]

I am a big fan of albums that are highly dynamic, so both I guess. Loud in the loud parts, quiet in the quiet parts. I do most of my listening on my headphones at night, most of my favourite albums are terrible for high noise-level environments, like driving or in the background at a party.