Are your listening levels healthy? Doing damage?

Industrial hygienist here, very versed in the OSHA standards.

1.  For a phone app, try the NIOSH app.  Clearly not as good as a top shelf sound meter, but one we use if we don't have our "good" equipment with us just to screen sound levels.  Phone quality obviously plays into this, and/or whether or not your phone's speaker is dirty and caked with dust and grime.

2.  85 dB is the level at which an employer is required to have a Hearing Conservation Program, monitor employees with baseline audiograms and provide hearing protection.  Hearing protection in a workplace setting MUST be worn at levels exceeding 85 dB as an 8-hour time-weighted average (which basically means, if your work environment is really loud, right around 85 dB (+/- 2 dB or so) for your entire work shift, you need to be wearing appropriate hearing protection.

In practical terms for home audio, you're probably not listening for 8+ hours at levels above 85 dB.  If you are, you're destroying your hearing.  Intermittent excursion above 85 dB won't destroy your hearing, but could still do damage.  So, glad to report that those who identified 85 dB as the magic number.........all get a blue star for the forehead (for those who remember that kind of grade school stuff).

@hartf36 

Being an industrial hygienist sounds very exciting. Thank you for your wonderful reply.

I downloaded many apps on my iPad and Niosh is one of them. I get variations of 20 to 30 dB between the apps.  Normal talking volume into my iPad scores about 90 Db on the Niosh ap. And normal TV volume is about 85.  seems high.

I think there is great need for a calibration device when I buy a sound meter. Can you recommend one for about $200 Plus calibration which I view as essential.

Thank you very much. A very very important topic. Thanks

@emergingsoul  -- you need to pay attention to what weighting scale your meter uses. A Z scale is flat and not common on the consumer meters or phone apps. Meanwhile,  while the A scale most resembles the human ear's hearing at moderate levels. The sensitivity of the A scale drops off quite a bit in the low bass and high frequency range. The ear's "flatness" perception changes with volume, and the C scale is closer to the ear's frequency response sensitivity at higher volumes -- 100 dB or so.

As such, if your meter can switch between C and A, the C setting will show as louder if the music contains more bass.  (THis is also why some amps used to have a "loudness" button which boosted the bass at lower volumes.)

OHSA standards are based on the A scale. Depending on the frequency range of what you are monitoring, there can be a considerable difference between what the A and C scales show.

This is an important topic for all of us.  I have Decibel x on my iphone and try to keep below 85db, minus occasional peaks in low 90s.  I have used the app for a lot of day to day sounds and have been stunned.  Riding in traffic is close to 85 dbs.  The background noise on an airplane is frequently above 80 dbs. Think of the time exposure of that! Our world is surprisingly noisy. We have to remember that all sounds through our days are additive to what we expose ourselves to while listening. I've been practicing orthopaedic surgery for 34 years and just recently has our academy put out warnings of potential hearing loss as a result of operating room noise.  There are earplugs made by etyplugs that lower the volume without the sensation of muffling. These are great for live noisy venues as it serves as a means to preserve the sound quality, but at a lower level.  I have been using these in the operating room for several years and on flights, when I remember to bring them home.

@orthomead 

I’m planning to launch a lawn scaping business that advertises getting your lawn care taken care of without all the noise. My current landscaper is forbidden from using at least blower, and that took a little effort, but I think he’s happier

My fleet of trucks will consist of battery powered Grass cutting machines (plenty of batteries to make it through the day). My crew will no longer use leaf blower’s except in the fall and during first visit in spring. I will teach my lawn crew to use a broom, what a novel concept.

You won’t even notice us.

In our current period of existence, lawn scaping services are proliferating with crappy and noisy commercial Grass cutting machines with very dull blades that are awful for your lawn. And don’t forget multiple revving leaf blower’s throughout the ordeal of getting your lawn done. And of course your neighbors do the same thing. It’s getting very very noisy out there. Most of the time I can’t hold a conversation in my yard because of nonstop leaf blower’s revving. How did we ever come to this.

I plan to make a lot of money with my new lawn care service (maybe as much as an orthopedic surgeon), and it’ll be a bonus for the environment.