How close to the real thing?

Hi Hifihvn,
Drummers wear headphones because they are mic'd and are using the headphones as monitors. Drums get very loud, up to 110db. I have not heard any strings that can cause hearing damage. Granted most of my live listening is to cello and violin & piano and it is in a venue capable of seating 600 people, but as I stated earlier, I run a sound board fairly regularly. I have never been subjected to threatning levels from these instruments.. and I do tend to duplicate spl's at home vs live(non amplified) venues. The peaks are short term and is required to really get the dynamics that have been discussed here. I completely agree that the wink link is the recording. Good Listening, Tim

"I completely agree that the wink link is the recording. Good Listening, Tim"

The recording being the weak link is where a good audiphile wants to be. That is one thing that is not in his/her control.

Hi Timlub,A lot of musicians have been aware of themselves being at risk for hearing loss.Schools of music teach them about this also.The headphones and plugs I was referring to,were the passive ones that they can hear what they need to,without amplified headphones,or plugs.It depend on the situation as you most likely know dealing with recording,or mixing for amplified music.A violin can reach 110 db at their ear.Wind instruments can get high also,plus a lot of others.It depends on the instruments too.But instruments used for concerts are the ones that are chosen for volume, along with their sound quality.There are some that say some of the lesser wanted instruments,may sound better, but just can't produce any volume,to qualify for a concert quality piece do to this.Some wear those plugs with holes in them(I think),that claim to let enough frequencies through for them to perform correctly.A couple of links for sound pressures.I'm guessing the music schools might have accurate info on this,plus Google.I like live music,we need it for our recordings,but we can do fairly good at home listening,for great enjoyment also.The last one may be conservative for db ratings in certain cases.Links.[http://www.hear-it.org/page.dsp?page=1662][http://www.sengpielaudio.com/TableOfSoundPressureLevels.htm][http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/loudness.html]

Well Hifihvn, you just enlightened me, I didn't even consider the violin at the ear, nor am I experienced with any large scale concert type instruments.
and yes, we have headphones that allow some hearing. We do have a sound chamber that drummers can use(we tend to allow the drums on stage), it uses speakers as monitors and the drums are mic'd and sealed from the outside world, so the drums are completely by mix. Thanks for the info, i'll check it out. Tim

Timlub,Only the one link shows 110 db for the violin.There's a lot for over 100 db.Maybe the players/owners of those pricey pieces don't want to be bothered with measuring it. Just playing them might be their priority.Still,over 100 db can be bad.I think it was a Michigan State band director that said they get over 120db at 100 foot during practice(I think).
I was Googling Musicians and hearing loss,plus decibels for instruments,when I ran across that one.