Speaker volume

[sucram]

Hello all,

I have a pair of JBL LSR 25Ps. When I play out of my sound card (Delta 66), I never have to turn the monitors up past the second detent out of 20 because I live in an apartment. It doesn't sound too quiet, and I'm not concerned about the actual SPL, since that's determined by my neighbors

My question is, is there an advantage to driving the speakers at a higher output volume (in turn, lowering the soundcard line level output to the speakers), or does their amplification not seriously affect the sound. I can't really tell on my own, but I figured someone out there must have some knowledge on this!

Thanks in advance,

marcus

 

[camn]

i mix loud. Fuck those neighbors!

xoox

ps.. keep as many gain stages at UNITY as you can. Turning up introduces noise...... tuning down loses something?.....

xoxo

 

[regebro]

Good speakers or amps should not sound differently at different volumes. However, your ears hear differently, and the best volume is at about 60-70db If I remember correctly. That is a volume that feels loud, yet are comfortable to listen to even for long times.

If you turn the volume up from a low volume, you end up at the right volume when you feel that you hear everything clearly and you don't have to make an effort to hear the nuances.

Thats the volume you should mix at, and in a typical house, you can't do that after say 9 or 10 pm without the neighbours getting annoyed. Espcially since its the same bloody song, over, and over, and over...

 

[littledog]

The advantage of mixing at low volume is that your ears (and brain) maintain their critical listening capabilites for much longer periods of time.

The disadvantage is that you often can't judge bass levels accurately. (That's why they originally put those "loudness" switches on stereos - to add bass when listening at low levels).

So, while mixing at low levels can be a very good idea, you do have to crank it up from time to time to check bass content.

 

[mixmkr]

<edit>?...you do have to crank it up from time to time to check bass content.

are you talking about fishing here??!! Usually, I can feel it in the end of my rod,(<----don't touch that!) whether or not I've hooked one...

 

[littledog]

The Bluefish are making the water boil right about now, and the Striped Bass are lurking as well! Meet you at the boat!

 

[sucram]

alright, but...

What I was referring to is the actual amplification that happens to the line level signal in my active monitors.

Are there technical reasons for me to crank or not crank the monitor amps? Note that this would not affect the volume, as I would also be adjusting the soundcard output level. So does it matter, let's say, for me to have my soundcard output at "1" and my active monitor amps set to "10", versus having the soundcard at "10" and the monitors at "1". I'd be hearing the same loudness, but driving the speakers' amps hotter or cooler.

I'm just curious really. I already know i'm not monitoring loud enough, but I can't change that until I buy a house. Also, the LSR25Ps don't go down low enough to judge bass too well without a sub (which I don't have). Of course, I still will be learning to use them as best I can.

Thanks everyone,
marcus

 

[regebro]

Well, how much difference it does depends on both your soundcard and your amp, but with the amp set high and the soundcard set low you will introduce noise.
If the volume control on the soundcard is digital you might also introduce digitizing noise. So the soundcard volumen should be pretty high, as a rule.

 

[KingstonRock]

Expanding on what camn said, raising the gain stage may add noise, Im not sure, but I do know that lowering the gain will bring you closer to the noise floor, making the natural noise of the electronic system louder compared to the actual audio, in effect adding noise. So zero on as many faders as possible would be preferable. But im not sure how this applies in the digital world. Technically, I guess zero would be better because it doesnt require and extra equation to reduce the gain, but Im sure no one would notice .

Eric