Some time ago one of the seemingly more knowledgeable guys recommended getting a sound level meter and using it to set a spl for mixing. As I recall, it was somewhere around 85db A weighted. Does anybody remember what the recommendation was. I asume that level would allow a guy to minimize the ear fatigue . Anybody???
Optimum listening level
- Thread starter chazba
- Start date
guitarmagic
New member
Your correct. It's around 85dB. It's a loud level and will not minimize listening fatigue at all. The only way to minimize listening fatigue is to take regular breaks. At around 85dB this is where you hear all your frequencies evenly. If you go lower you won't hear the lows as well as the mids or highs and you'll end up adding too much lows in your mix. A lot of engineers say if your mix sounds good at really low levels that means you have a good mix. I disagree with this. If you can hear all your frequencies at low levels that means you have too much of something and it's going to probably sound bad at higher listening levels.
Massive Master
www.massivemastering.com
80-85dB *C* weighted, slow response.
witzendoz
Senior Member
I am always changing the volume, I like to listen at very low and very high volumes and around the 80/85 db. I do this because people that listen to music in the car, home, club, etc etc hear the song at many different volumes.
I also listen on different monitors switching every 10 to 15 mins until I feel the mix is right, then listen to play back at different monitors at different levels to check it all works.
Cheers
I also listen on different monitors switching every 10 to 15 mins until I feel the mix is right, then listen to play back at different monitors at different levels to check it all works.
Cheers
bkkornaker
www.bryankmusic.com
i actually listen at 2 levels. One pretty low.....almost normal conversation speaking levels....i can almost hear the computer fan running
the 2nd one pretty high, bass is now shaking the window glass.....
after that, i again listen on a pair of headhones, and really jack the volume WAYYYYYY up, this way i can hear for real nasty transistants and un-wanted "ear stabbing frequencies". Sometimes you cant hear if you have too much 2.5k going in.....unless you crank the crap out of the volume on headphones........
the 2nd one pretty high, bass is now shaking the window glass.....
after that, i again listen on a pair of headhones, and really jack the volume WAYYYYYY up, this way i can hear for real nasty transistants and un-wanted "ear stabbing frequencies". Sometimes you cant hear if you have too much 2.5k going in.....unless you crank the crap out of the volume on headphones........
I think if you investigate the Fletcher and Munson Relative Loudness curves a bit more closely, you will realize that at 85db, you do NOT hear the whole frequency spectrum evenly. It just happens to have the "least difference" compared to other levels.
h ttp://w ww.webervst.com/fm.htm (sorry, I need to break the url because it won't let me post a url until I have 5 posts on the site)
Also, I think if you listen carefully to some well done productions, I think you will see that the mixes have a decent amount of low end even at very low listening volumes. So, having done a fair bit of production work in the last 20 years in studios, I can say with a bit of certainty that listening at very low volumes has as much benefits as louder volumes do! In fact, if I am looking for stuff that sticks out too much, a very low volume shows this off better than louder volumes do.
SouthSIDE Glen
independentrecording.net
The whole idea behind the 85dB SPL level is indeed based upon the ISO equal loudness curves (technically, the actual Fletcher-Munson curves are rather obsolete these days), and the idea that that's the level here the human ear tends to hear frequencies most evenly (but still not exactly the same).
There is one famous engineer (I forget with one) who is quited in Owsinski's "Mixing Engineer Handbook" as doing most of his mixing at "normal conversation levels", which in a quiet studio CR would probably be in the 40-50dB range, give or take.
The problem is, 85dB is pretty loud. Maybe not rock concert loud or jackhammer loud, but it's loud enough where if you keep things there for extended periods, it can both prematurely fatigue one's ears in the short term and desensitize them to quieter details in the longer term.
85dB is an interesting reference point, it's a good reference to mark on your playback volume control as a point where you can listen with detail without having to crank the volume past that where things can get much more dangerous, but that really should not be warped into the idea of that being where one should do all - or even most - of their monitoring when they mix.
Use what volume is necessary for the specific mixing task at hand at any given moment, with 85dB used as a mileage marker to let you know that's where you're at. When I mix, I have my right hand is on my CR Volume control almost as much as it is on my mouse or my faders; I'm constantly changing playback volume to match whatever it is I am actually doing at the time. Sure I will often crank it up to 85dB to check general playback, or when I get up and walk around listening back to the mix to check balance in the room, etc., but usually most of my actual "work" is done probably somewhere around 70-75dB or so, with some things going as low as 45-50dB.
G.
There is one famous engineer (I forget with one) who is quited in Owsinski's "Mixing Engineer Handbook" as doing most of his mixing at "normal conversation levels", which in a quiet studio CR would probably be in the 40-50dB range, give or take.
The problem is, 85dB is pretty loud. Maybe not rock concert loud or jackhammer loud, but it's loud enough where if you keep things there for extended periods, it can both prematurely fatigue one's ears in the short term and desensitize them to quieter details in the longer term.
85dB is an interesting reference point, it's a good reference to mark on your playback volume control as a point where you can listen with detail without having to crank the volume past that where things can get much more dangerous, but that really should not be warped into the idea of that being where one should do all - or even most - of their monitoring when they mix.
Use what volume is necessary for the specific mixing task at hand at any given moment, with 85dB used as a mileage marker to let you know that's where you're at. When I mix, I have my right hand is on my CR Volume control almost as much as it is on my mouse or my faders; I'm constantly changing playback volume to match whatever it is I am actually doing at the time. Sure I will often crank it up to 85dB to check general playback, or when I get up and walk around listening back to the mix to check balance in the room, etc., but usually most of my actual "work" is done probably somewhere around 70-75dB or so, with some things going as low as 45-50dB.
G.