Background noise.

@twoleftears 

+1

I just remeasured the background… 25db with iPhone. It is Thursday mid morning… so, under ideal late night conditions it probably goes down a bit more, low 20’s. I then flipped on the air cleaner. My phone showed 27db… but… of course it jumps to high 30s - 40s if I take a breath. I think my conclusion is the iPhone Microphone just isn’t that sensitive in this range.

To me carefully listening, with and without the air cleaner sounds more like a 10db change (guess). I have a better SPL meter somewhere and a high quality microphone I bought for this purpose. I’ll pull them out.

BTW, three walls of my audio room (front and sides) are underground and as such help significant lower the noise floor. The distance from the speaker wall to rear wall is over 40 feet… so rear reflections are minimal.

I have always been cognizant of background noise. But, I am really surprised at the amount of special information, dynamics, and detail lost by a seemingly really small increase background noise.

Obviously, there are two things going on… your system background and ambient room background. These factors and their interplay have to be really important in results reported by lots of folks about there equipment performance.

@dpop

I have also been lucky enough to experience quiet. I used to explore caves and underground mines. Frequently alone… hmm, having said that, I am thinking in retrospect that was not that safe… I did this stuff a lot. Anyway, I have always been surprised at the quiet… but that in confined areas how you can sense the walls… in big caverns the noise floor drops away. You have to hold your breath and listen of course.

I worked for high tech companies. Our office in Germany had an anechoic chamber… yeah, now that is quiet.

Even if you don’t have any SPL meters, it’s really as simple as just sitting in your listening room sweet spot, and for a few moments, listening; with no music playing. If you hear your refrigerator running, or your furnace running, or neighbors outside, or even audio equipment transformer mechanical hum; this background noise, in essence, is raising your *perceived* listening room noise floor. You may tune it out when music is playing, but it’s still there. You may find (I know I do) your listening experience, better, or improved, by trying to lower the ambient noise level in your listening area. It goes without saying that so much about achieving and reaching audio system performance nirvana is about listening - buzzes, hums, wall reflections, dead acoustics, cold acoustics, the difference in cable choices, etc. (keeping the good, while eliminating the bad). In my particular situation, my furnace and refrigerator are the loudest in my home. If I’m in a serious listening mood, and want a really quiet listening environment, I will temporarily turn them off.

We should demand our rights for late night listening freedom 🙂

trying to have my listening sessions from 23hrs till ...power amp gets...warm enough.

Drawback is the volume, you want more.

Ambient noise is the bane of audio listening sessions. It's why, in my crappy second floor apartment, I rarely listen in the summer when the AC is on. It's a wall unit and shares the same space as my stereo making it impossible to fully appreciate the music.

There are times when I'll go as along as two weeks without listening as it frustrates the living hell out of me. Then, when I can turn it on, the event is  almost an epiphany.

I can imagine and appreciate what a junkie goes through to get that fix.

All the best,
Nonoise