the magic 85 dbs

[CyanJaguar]

hi everybody,

I know this is weird, but what does 85-90 dbs sound like?

I cannot afford to spend $65 on a spl meter from radio-shack right now,so I need some estimates.

I had a friend over, who had measured 85 db with borrowed equipment and he told me to keep turning my amp up till, gosh, the highs were very sharp, and the sound could be heard downstairs and outside(though not loud).

Now, my recording handbook says to monitor at levels people listen at, and all my friends listen at quite low levels.

So please can you give me an estimate of what 85 dbs sound like.

By the way, I like listening to it loud like that, I am just afraid of hearing loss later in life, and I don't want to get the guys downstairs to get mad when I am mixing at 3:00 am

I know this is a thread that might not get any replies, but, hey , I aint mad at you

peace

 

[rtzstudios]

According to "modern recording techniques"....

90 db SPL is about as loud as a subway.

Here's the whole run down of SPL's...

60-conversation

70-restaurant

80-busy street

90-subway

100-factory

110-dance club

120-band practice

130-jack hammer, rock concert

140-gunshot

150-jet take-off

hope that answers your question...

 

[vox]

Cool rtz, I was just wondering where my copy of that exact same list went to.

 

[regebro]

Thats a fucking loud subway! The one in Stockholm only got up to about 70. (Thats inside the car). The new silent subway cars only got up to 60, which matches nice with the "conversaion" level, cuz you can easily hear what people a couple of meters away are talking about.

Having a db meter is fun.

The 85 db level is loud, but not uncomfortably loud, IMO.

 

[Track Rat]

A SPL meter from Radio Shack is only about $40 and a VERY worthwhile investment. Mixing at 85dB, "A" weighted has to do with something called the Fletcher-Munson curve. It's the way we here the full range of audio versus loudness. Below 85dB, the way our ears percieve sound, bass starts rolling off and above it, it starts becoming exagerated. What that translates to is if you mix at too low a level you can make your mixes bass heavy and if you mix too loud your mixes can be bass shy.

 

[BigKahuna]

I keep it a little lower than that ... I find that I get tired so fast if I have the monitors up too loud. So, I try to mix it up a little ... and turn it up only for a little while here an there to see if anything is sticking out too much. But mostly, I keep it around conversation level. Be aware of the effects of monitor volume (or lack of it) and I think you'll be ok.
I also pipe the mix to a cheapo stereo in the other room so the band can go in there, crank it and yell to each other all they want. Nothing worse that trying to mix with people screaming in your ear.

 

[CyanJaguar]

WOW

thanks a whole lot guys,

this has been very informative. I must say that I had been monitoring at restaurant levels, which is kinda dangerous.


Well I don't feel so bad turning my amp up now. thanks rtzstudios.

hey Big Kahuna, good point about monitoring a little bit lower and then turning it up some to blow it up.

Hi track rat, I will get an spl meter as soon as possible. The guys here only have a single digital one though.

------------------------------

Some unrelated information. I tried out the Antares mic modeller today, and its like WOW.

You can hear characteristics of your favorite mics, and the proximity effect is quite accurate.

I must say though that I still prefer the u87 to the telefunken 47 which everybody is raving about. THe telefunken was nice but a bit dark.

On the other end was the manley reference mic, which is crisp and articulate.

unsuprisingly, the shure sm58 sounded pretty darn
good.

peace yall and thanks