Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater volume level?

It's probably a question related to personal taste but at which volume level are you listening to your movies?

I normally listen to movies at around -15/-10 db but I don't know the limit of my receiver (pio vsx-1018). Well I know it's 130w/ch but I don't know how its translate back in db.

Time to get an SPL meter....and you are right, what you listen at is going to be different from everyone else, with my Denon3808 I listen at -25 al the way up to -15 depending on the movie.

75db is around 50 on my receiver. I listen to movies anywhere between 40 and 50 depending on the sound track.

holy crap! +50? ouch!! my ears would bleed

My receiver does not go to +50. Luc, all receivers are different, so your -15dB could be -20dB on mine. You have to get an SPL meter to see what SPL your at for a given volume. With that said, it varies for me from -25 to -15dB's

As would mine if it were +50 on your receiver. The scale on my Sherwood starts at 0.

that explains it then, my Denon is like -60 or something like that.

I wonder if my Sherwood is the odd man out on this. Most of what I have seen here indicates 0 as a center point rather than a minimum.

it's a good thing that it starts at 0. It's cutting the foreplay and goes directly loud! :-))))

ah! will try to get one. Do they sell a twin pack of SPL&SPM meters so I can measure my volume and wife acceptance level at the same time

The volume control on my Denon goes from -80 to +18. I usually have the volume control between -30 to -17 depending on the source (t.v, movies, sports, videogames etc) Playing Gears of War 2 today I had the volume set at -20. I do not know exactly how loud it actually was becaues I never measured it with an SPL metre but I am sure you could here it throughout the entire house:). My system got a workout on that game especially the QS4's and subwoofers:).

Dr. House

If you calibrated your system correctly (using the internal tones), then -10 means 10 less then reference, or 75db. There will be peaks of +20 db. Some AVRs, like my Onkyo, allow you to change the display to absolute. On my system, if I put the volume at 70 db and run a test tone from DVE, I should get 70db reading on my SPL meter (it is pretty close).

Disclaimer: This works with DVD, BluRay, and HD DVD only. TV and music do not follow any standards and may vary greatly.

My Denon 3808 test tones play back at 75db as did my older 1804.I beleive Onkyo as you have stated does use 85db for it's test tones.

The Onkyo's test tones are 75db. The end result should be a volume of 0 (or 85db absolute) will register 85 db on an SPL meter when playing pink noise.

Luc, as others have indicated, simply looking at the volume control settings in different setups doesn't give an accurate picture of the actual volume that the listeners are experiencing in their different rooms. An SPL meter is very useful for this, and regardless of the volume settings used in a particular setup to reach it, an 80dB average listening level can be considered as being comfortably loud. Listening at a louder level than this on a prolonged basis isn't a good idea from the standpoint of hearing loss. Listening at an average of maybe 70dB is more advisable long-term and certainly isn't too low in level(the average level of conversation with someone nearby, for example, is about 60dB).

Which is why you start at 75db, a 0 level, and have the ability to move the speaker levels up or down as needed to aquire 75 SPL on a meter which will allow for some headroom to attain that 85db, I see. Thanks again Dave.

I just posted this in another thread running on the same topic, but to make sure the OP sees it, also see this earlier discussion of the same topic.

By the way... in my room, even after calibrating at 75 dB, I could never watch any source at 0 dB on the Denon 3808's gain. I'm not sure if it's something I did wrong in calibration, but it is far louder than 85 dB at that level (I haven't measured it, but will now at some point to get more information). To answer the original question, I listen to almost all sources at -15 to -30 (and around -35 in night mode).

For others who have calibrated their 3808's to 75 dB, can you really come close to listening at 0? Listening at 85 dB for me would be louder than average, but I think at 0 the sound is significantly louder than that. I'd go test now, but it's 6:45 am and sleeping wife and baby probably wouldn't appreciate my experiment.

Jason

The closest I get on my 3808 is -15 dB. I don't think I'll get to 0 dB.

I have an Onkyo 908 on an A1400-8, (epic80/600) and tend to watch films between -12 and -22. (depending on the time of day and how much I don't care about my neighbors at any point.)

I love when you feel the true dynamic range of a film, where dialogue sounds pretty normal, then an explosion almost caves in your chest.

Yeah, I hope it never actually caves in my chest. I don't need to be quite THAT immersed.

Wait till you get twin 800's

Ha ha, I know. Maybe it won't cave in my chest directly, but it could cave in my house, which could in turn cave in my chest.

Dr. House i was amazed at how much bass (and deep bass) there is in GoW 2. Whoever they hired to take over sound design for this game really took video game soundtracks and effects to a new level IMO.

Grrr, fine, I'll have to fit it into my spending budget somehow so I have something to test the EP800s with.

Gears of War 2 is a joint project between Epic games and Microsoft Game Studios. Each of these game developers deliver when it comes to good quality sound in games. I would assume there are more than a few people responsible, the audio director, audio production director, sound designer and sr. sound designer:).

Yes the sound is mixed very well in this game. Tons of bass in the game but I also like how much use the surrounds get as well. Video games are becoming just as good as movies when it comes to HT. The voice acting could use some work however, it is a little cheesy for my taste ;).