How To Match Your Room Size To An Ideal Listening Volume Level - www.AcousticFields.com
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- Опубліковано 6 лют 2025
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- Today we’re going to look at average listening room levels and how to get the right level for your room so you hear less room sound. I go into a lot of rooms with dealers and people that have listening systems and the first thing that I notice is that they always play the music too loud for the amount of room treatment that they have in their room.
Well in today's video you'll learn:
1. Why playing your music at much higher levels than 83 DB SPL aggravates and magnifies the low end issues that are in your room,
2. Why you can also increase the reflections and the reverberation times if you do so and
3. Why anything over 83 SPL in your room, you have to really focus on the low end absorption and get that under control.
So enjoy the video and as always please let me know if you have any follow up questions.
Thanks
Dennis
P.S. To learn more about room acoustics, please sign up for my FREE private room acoustic training videos and ebook at www.acousticfie...
For folks who are doing this for a home music studio, you should have a known monitoring level that you can reproduce accurately, because the 'internal EQ' of our ears is affected by levels. As the level goes up , we hear it as more and more scooped. If you are all over the place in terms of monitoring levels, you'll constantly be feeling like the balance is changing.
I recall reading something like 85db being the reference volume used in most monitoring systems. Seems loud enough for my liking. Never really thought about this issue but makes sense. Finally liften my subwoofer off the ground a few feet level with my mains.
Essential commentary for aspiring audiophiles. Thanks !
GREAT POINT! This is obvious, but never heard anyone address it before.
I like relatively quiet listening , so that means it’s easier to treat, right?
I was wondering why I don’t have all the problems I should have in my small strangely shaped room.
Don't forget to calibrate your SPL meter first. A quiet room is about thirty DB.
Watch levels over 80 DB as they can cause long-term hearing damage.
You want to enjoy your music when you get old!
Very understandable, thanks for sharing knowledge in an easy way 👍😀
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you for educating us.
Our pleasure!
Great content as always.
Hhm..
Thank you so much.
That was my bigest problem to match listening volume and room, so i thank you very much
If you treat the low frequency distortions (modes) with the proper rate and level of absorption, you can increase the amount of energy you place within the room and still maintain resolution.
My iPhone and the NIOSH app tells me I listen at 70dB. 83 is loud!
Stereophile magazine did a survey years ago and the participants claimed an average dB SPL of 83 if memory serves.
Absolutely. My room is horrible to a point that if I listen (not often mostly vinyls) iPhone source (lossless) through Tubes HiFi I have to crank up HiFI and lower the signal from iPhone to get better low frequencies.
An iphone is not a high enough resolution source.
SPLnFFT is the meter I use. Others are JL Audio, UE SPL. You can do a search for SPL, FFT in the app store.
Great video. Thanks for sharing.
As a reference in a small room 50 db is the level at which your ears rest, you can listen all day long comfortable at that level, 64 is loud music above 64 neighbours will start to listen your 40 to 100hz frequencies, and youll start having reverberation, and if you dont equalize and cut those frequencies at which sound wave length will not enter your room rize (hz\340ms=freq length) a lot of standing waves will emerge. Above 80db is very loud music, you can listen 5 songs then your ears will start deafening and you'll feel that you need to increase volume at that point you are lost, more is less. Best is to listen at 60db.
What is best is subjective in nature. Lower pressure levels are best when compared to louder levels in many areas. When we build new rooms, we design for a 30 dB SPL noise floor.
@@AcousticFields thanks keep the good work I love your channel, learned a lot watching it.
At what distance was the 83dB measured? Am I to assume this was approximately 10 to 12 feet?
C, I believe the distance averaged 6-8' if memory serves me correctly.
Distance of mic from speakers makes all the difference. Even 2 feet difference is pretty significant.
😂😂😂
Thank you very much for all these information.
After treating the room as good as possible, having a room correction system in place (having correction EQ on master bus) will do any good? How scientific they are?
Thank you.
+Gokul Salvadi Our experience with room correction software has been favorable at frequencies below 100 Hz. Above that frequency, they have a tendency to collapse the sound stage. Manipulation of the artists and engineers presentation in the recording should not be disturbed. Tune your room so you don't have to mess with source.
Thank you.
That is something I never considered before even though I treat my room
H, You must consider all issues regardless of what the speaker manufacturers claim.
Love this channel
Thanks for your support and following.
You are awesome, love your videos!
S, Thank you for your support.
This channel is dope.
Also...great great channel. Love it. Thank you.
83 dB using what weighting? I presume you're using A-weighting, which is not representative of the total sonic energy in the room. A broad spectrum signal measuring 83 dBA will typically measure 20 dB higher unweighted.
Your assumption is not correct. Use a "C" schedule.
@@AcousticFields I use Z-weighting (flat) to capture more of the sound pressure at the extremes of the spectrum. My casual listening is usually around 94 dBZ, which is 84 dBC. That sounds somewhat recessed to me, so serious listening is generally a bit louder, more like 88 dBC.
I thought I had read that Stereophile used A-weighting for their sound levels. 83 dBA is far too soft for my tastes. The performance sounds too distant and most nuances are lost.
Is this applicable to a live reinforcement system? Cheers!
D, Yes
hmmmmm. 1:47 'exasperate' _works_ , but check out *exacerbate* ... i think this fits even better...
........... To increase the severity, violence, or bitterness of; aggravate
Are you talking about the effect of loudness contours here? I was lead to believe that from a physics perspective, you can’t escape room problems or impact room acoustics through manipulation of spl’s but of course the perception changes....us being humans and all
L, Less energy, lower pressure levels, less issues below 100 Hz. They don't go away, but you can lessen the impact of + 12 - + 15 db peaks we see everyday in small rooms.
83db is considered average? I'd say that's bloody loud, and listening at somewhere in the 85db range for longer periods is known to cause permanent hearing damage...
R, This is the level most engineers and listeners use.
Acoustic Fields
Wow...I don't think I could stand that kind of volume...
R, Reference pressure levels are subjective. They vary across music genres and from engineer to engineer.
Are we talking A-weighted SPL? I have one of the old Radio Shack analog SPL meters that can do A or C, and fast or slow.
Hi G, Take both measurements with A and C . Compare the two. What do you see that is different between the two scales and what do you see that is the same?
G, Use C weighted
One problem thou, mobile Apps are 99% wrong about the SPL level. So don't use an SPL meter on a phone ...
Q, The error rate is low. It is fine for general numbers.
I don't even trust my cheap SPL from Amazon, especially for low frequencies. I'm not sure I'd put much stock in the results you get from an app, especially since there are about 100000000000 different smartphones out there, and they'll probably all show quite different readings...
I'm in a shed with a peaked roof. I covered the entire ceiling with diffusers. Is this a bad thing? They are only on (entire) ceiling and back wall. Can you have too much diffusion on the ceiling? I have absorption on first reflection points I have floor to ceiling bass traps in all four corners of the room. Also should I have some traps up in the peak as well?
Hi Mark Pawlak
The material composition of any structure has a direct impact on the room acoustic. Room surface treatment is entirely dependent on room musical usage and the sonic objectives the user is trying to achieve. The placement and determination of room treatment types and amounts depends on the unwanted pressure issues within the room, their strength, frequency of issues, and a host of other issues.
Room acoustics is a complicated science and achieving a good room sound is all about doing a lot of little things correctly and in the right order. Placing sound absorption technology in the room corners may be a good treatment option, it may not assist you at all, despite what the literature and its manufactures tell you. You must identify, locate, and treat with the proper technology.
Thanks
Dennis
+Mark Pawlak Largely depends on the type of equipment you have chosen to fill the room with sound, as well as the room design and shape. Loudspeaker height, subwoofer placement, furniture placement, and many other factors all determine what you will hear at a specific location in the room.
An idea would be to take out as much of the room treatment as possible, set up your loudspeakers in a way that suits your ear and the manufacturer's specifications (there are many guides on UA-cam for this), adjust the listening position to the point in the room where the sound is neutral, then measure the frequency response of the listening position.Take a few sweeps at listening position, and four other positions around the listening position. Move the seating forward/backward/side-to-side until you reach the best point in the room without treatment, then take note of any dips/peaks in the frequency response. At each corner of the room, perform a sweep. Make notes of dips/peaks around these areas, and if bass traps are required to banish the evil standing waves, try putting them in and taking another measure.
It's really all about putting one thing in at a time, and if it helps, then keep it. However, it is possible to attenuate the low end too much.
About the diffuser, what frequency/frequencies is it trying to diffuse? Some of them can be very picky and only "break up" specific frequencies, whereas others cover a much wider range. Have you ever considered a flat reflection panel for the ceiling instead? :)
Regards,
Kevin.
I've been watching your vids and my room seems like the worst place to put speakers in,it's small,it's got uneven wall dimensions,it's my bedroom so a bed is a problem,my pc desk is close, I need to put speakers completely against the walls and even then,my listening position is more on the left side than the right,so speaker position is even a bigger problem. I give up.
E, Your room set up is not possible. Too small, too many issues. Try and find a larger room size.
@@AcousticFields I'll try. Thanks
I go in a lots of rooms with dealers ....... lol :D
E, I don't understand your comment.
00:11 thats what you said, sorry made me laugh, no offence :)
Your videos are helping me a lot setting up my studio :)
E, Just got it. LOL
:D
have already signed on your site, are you provide online advices ? Any way to PM you for more info ?
tnx in advance :)
E, Fill out the information in this link: www.acousticfields.com/free-room-analysis/. Follow software prompt.
good info
Kinda funny you did a vid on this.i was wondering if sound quality changes as u turn up the volume. As it goes louder the sound stage changes. At least in my case.but it does make sense.
I'm going to try this db app and test. Thanks for another great vid
JS, Balance, balance, balance. It always about equal representation of all frequencies.
he's always saying that in all videos...jaja "you have to be very careful"
I'm still waiting for this guy be more specific...
TL ; DR. More volume = you need more absorption.
T, Maybe. It all depends on usage. Every usage has different requirements.
83db? 100db+ What? Did you say something?
Yes, these are high pressures that must be managed adjusting the source gain and the room treatment.
😍😍😍😍😍😍
Thank you
Why is there an option to close that red window at the bottom of the screen when you can't reach it with your mouse to actually close it if you find that is distracting from the video? If you want it to be part of the video why include the false close option? That type of passive aggressive behavior belies the integrity of the presenter.
S, I am checking with marketing on this issue.
S, This "red window" is part of the discontinued "Annotation" feature by UA-cam. It can be closed by clicking on the "x" on the right upper edge of the window or by disabling annotations completely for the video. To do so click on the little gear icon in the UA-cam player and switch "Annotations" off. This issue is most likely caused by low screen resolution.
really?
just listen to the music....
shees
J, Unfortunately, it is not that easy. Half of what you are hearing is the room distortion. If you remove that you hear more music.
And how do you remove room distortions?
Stack it up with pillows?
It is still a room, but now with loads of gimmicks...
I bet you also like speaker cables that cost $10.000 or more.
No it's me too.
He Probably didn't realize his room comes with built in speakers. Sort to say
Johann Bogason Stupid troll...go away.
@@johannbogason1662 , you have my sympathies...