Monitor volume level

A

anywhither

Member
i start to worry if i play too loud cause damaging my monitors.
how do you guys ensure you aren't going to hurt your monitors?
i use it directly to 828mkII.volume is always around -30db of the vol.knob during listening music.
-20db to -25db during mixing in sonar.
is it too loud?i don't want my mon gets distorted:o
please help~
 
I would worry about your ears WAY before your monitors.

Monitors are replaceable. Ears are not.

By the way, what kind of monitors do you have?
 
hahahaa.
yea,ears are more treasurable(i forgot).
it's luck that my ears are still fine.
but i really enjoy listening music at loud volume.
what should i do?
i use pair of genelec 8040.
 
Listen at a comfortable moderate level most of the time, and check your mixes from time to time at both high and very low volume levels. If you monitor loud all the time you will almost certainly damage your ears, and get into a cycle of turning the volume up, and up, and up, and up...
 
There are some files on the internet you can download, Bluesky Media is one site, they are monitor calibration files. They are recorded at
-20db from 500 -2500 Hz. You will need a Radioshack SPL meter ($39) and you use these files to set your monitors. Recommendations are anywhere from 73 -85 db to correlate with the Fletcher Munson curve. This is the range in which the frequency scale is somewhat flat to the human ear.

Once you are done you have your maximum volume setting for your room and monitors. Most sane people build a mix at lower volumes and then run it up to 85 db for a few minutes at the end, just to make final adjustments to the overall balance and.... to save their ears.

You can get even more focused and get hold of a calibration CD which has test tones from 30Hz to 20KHz. You play these files and chart the volume level your SPL reads for each tone. This will help you find room nodes and nulls.

If you have a small room your chart will quickly tell you that you have excessive bass volume, a severe drop off in the 100-125 Hz range and lower overall mid and upper frequency response. This is why small rooms need bass traps, to soak up the low end and balance with the upper and mid range frequencies.

The idea is to balance your overall room at the mixing position. This will improve your ability to make the proper EQ adjustments and lower the number of trips to the car to check your translation.
 
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Charting your room takes about an hour but it provides a baseline for acoustic treatment. I was always getting this huge massive low mid hump in my tracks when I got them to the car. Turns out I had a hole at the mixing position in that range and I was pushing it hard to hear those frequencies. I could only hear the problem on other systems.

I am installing bass traps this week and next to smooth things out. That and some midrange auralex and I hope to have the room flattened out.
 
thanks very much for the useful information!
im going to get a spl meter and try it.
i checked the bluesky media,only talked about 5.1 and 2.1
so is it same if i don't have a sub?
and is it recommended that using the tone control of a monitor to cut too much bass or other freq.?
 
If you monitor at too high a level your ears get used to it and you have to keep turning it up. You might think it sounds just right so you do a take.
But the next day it sounds like poop at normal listening levels. Where did all that thumping bass and sizzling highs go? You could only hear them when it was too loud.
 
anywhither said:
thanks very much for the useful information!
im going to get a spl meter and try it.
i checked the bluesky media,only talked about 5.1 and 2.1
so is it same if i don't have a sub?
and is it recommended that using the tone control of a monitor to cut too much bass or other freq.?
Click to expand...

Setting the SPL levels is the same. You just skip the part about adjusting the sub and you are set. Don't use tone controls to set adjust your monitors, at least before you have treated your room. Once you have run a baseline measurement with various frequencies you use bass traps and Aurelex, carpeting, whatever to get relatively close volume performance across the spectrum using pink noise or the freq tones. This is to eliminate nodes or nulls. If you still have problems then some minor tweaks with EQ may be needed, although many try to avoid this.

The latest JBL speakers and some of the high end monitors provide EQ adjustments.
 
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