Has anyone noticed that when playing back music that every source has a "correct" volume?

By that I mean, the sweet spot.

Increase the volume just 1 more and it becomes too loud and blaring, decrease it 1 less (than the sweet spot) and you can't quite achieve lift-off. Not enough "grunt factor" to rock out (or jazz out or symphony out or country out or...) with.

It seems that each "source" has a perfect volume that varies.

Or is this just me?

It is just you and your room

I have noticed that some source material does sound better at different volumes than others. Most likely those recording engineers having some fun at our expense

I would look at it more in the sense of the variations in the quality of the recording(s) itself rather than volume playback (though that varies as well). Music recordings have such inconsistent quality in this regards across genres.

There may be a sweet spot, but it varies according to mood, and also according to how loudly you've been listening lately.

Have you ever started up your car and couldn't believe how loudly you were listening to the stereo the last time you were in your car? Your ear/brain unit adjusts to loudness over time.

Yes, when I start my car up to go home from work I usually find I was blasting it in the morning to wake me up.

BINGO!

After 4 glasses of wine and the ingestion of a cannabis cigarette...

... and I shall call it: "The Grunt Factor Threshold".

Sorta like achieving the correct speed to get airborne...

(results may vary)

Just make sure that you have about 4 different “brands” of cigarette. With a different mix of the good stuff in each brand you can stay airborne at a higher altitude longer, or so I've heard.

While results may vary they are usually very good.

Back on topic yes I find that different sources each have a volume that sounds just right a bit to high or low and it just doesn’t sound right.

Some types of music beg to be played louder, like most Rock music. Playing Foreigner, Zeppelin, Doors ect at lower volumes just seems to lose some of the ambiance or power. On the other hand, I generally prefer to listen to acoustic music at a little more moderate levels, James Taylor, Leonard Cohen, Lightfoot, Dylan, Young ect.

Hi audiosavant and all,

Yes, mood and previous listening levels all play a big role (as well as ingestion of various liquids or substances), but individually there is quite a range of how we describe subjective levels of loudness.

In past listening experiments at Canada's National Research Council with a number of colleagues, I found their preferred levels were about 3 dB louder than what I liked, so I'd move back to the second row of chairs.

Not to re-direct this thread, but another interesting aspect I've found over the years is that if you are buzzed on whatever, you tend to lose critical faculties and tolerate really degraded sound quality or crappy speakers.

I never do critical product listening tests at Axiom if I've ingested anything other than food or coffee.

Cheers!
Alan

I can't seem to listen to music as loud as I use to since a bad incident with tinnitus a few years ago. I am now very careful with volume levels for sustained periods as well as wearing hearing protection around loud tools or machinery ex. chainsaws. When I start to feel "a fullness" in the ears, I don't mess around anymore.

Does that include brownies... ?

Brownies are included so long as they don't have you-know-what in them. . .

Alan

Chocolate chips?

Peanuts?

Those allergies can be heck.

Frosting.

Frosting goes on, not in. But has no place around brownies.

Agreed. Brownies should be just brownies. Chocolate chips are good in them, though.

But definitely no nuts. The last time I bit into a brownie with nuts, it cost me over $1000 in tooth repair, after insurance and writeoffs.

Not that this thread has mentioned marijuana at all, but I've decided that if California legalizes pot I'm going there to try it out. I've never done pot, but a lot of TV shows (e.g., Entourage) and movies (anything with that dude from Zack and Miri Make a Porno) make it seem fun.

As to volume of music, my preferred volume definitely depends on a number of factors, including genre. However, I would disagree with Adrian on one point. I don't believe there are enough decibels in the world to give Foreigner either ambiance or power.

Road trip!

Florida never legalized pot and I used to try it all the time ... it is fun.

It's probably been 25 years "since" for me, but I'd really like to try it again!

Maybe I could just sit, relax and enjoy music again!

Last time I tried it we were down at the beach at night time and a boat was hauling butt right off of the beach and my neighbor kept telling me it was the police boat coming to get me ... "REALLY?!"

That's when I found out that you can't trust a 63 year old veterinarian.

Same here. Maybe a reaffirmation party is required.

I think we need an Axiom get-together in California.... after the law is passed!

Seriously...imagine the listening sessions and the snacks!

and...and...miles and miles of silicone in every direction!

Dude...I'm so there....

My theory has always been is that unversities/colleges encourage drug use due to the overwhelming work load, the need to stay awake and need to cope with the amount of stress put on students these days. There is a reason it is called higher education .

Alright, sounds like an Axiom board member meeting is in the works.

Maybe if I try the stuff I'll understand what "spiritual messenger cats don't have rectums" means. And don't ruin it by explaining the meaning beforehand.

The 1st Annual 'Axiom Magic Bus Tour', coming through your town soon!

I can see it now.

Canada would be honoured

Dude, if you can see it now, then you've started early!

We need an Arizer !

Oh that's great very well done video!

Not on my buy list any more, but fun to watch!

You know, someone starting on the second page of this thread would have absolutely no idea what it was about unless they went back to the first few posts.

Hell, I started the thread and I've already forgotten!

Short-term memory impaired, lol.

Sooo, you're saying its a pretty normal thread.

I forget what the thread was about as well.

I think I ran into him at college!

Yeah, he was the guy you'd find drinking the bong water.

Ha ha ha.

Charles told me that wine tastes better.

Back in the day the Zig Zag man had a tattoo of me on his arm,
I sorta kinda remember, or maybe not, yeah I think for sure,
probably.

PB

Looking at your avatar....would you say that your significant other is in her/your sweetspot.....or exceeding it?

I guess I should have read the whole thread before posting. It has been 18 years since for me. In college, after it warmed up during the spring, every Friday we met at the Bell Tower for "High Noon". You couldn't get in trouble for it ......back then.

One other thing......save a seat for me on the bus!!

Now i'm hungry. I think

This thread hijack sure is bringing all of the old stoners out of the woodpile generating a lot of interest.

Why am I standing in the kitchen looking into the refrigerator?

Yeah, I'm starting to feel a little, well, atypical.

Why am I staring at my hands when I could be watching television or playing videogames?

For me, it was "Why am I repetitively bumping the back of my head into the wall I'm standing/sitting against?"

-or-

"Why do my arms feel like they're immovable?"

One of my favorites was in Wisconsin, sitting one night on the roof above the porch of a house a friend of mine and I were renting looking up at the stars, when I say to him “Hey Leigh, is the sky moving?” Immediately he says that he was about to ask the same thing. Turned out it was one of the strongest Aurora Borealis in a long time. I had never seen it before so at first it was totally freaky watching colours ripple across the sky like waves. Ok it was still freaking awesome even after I realized what it was.

Did you hear that?
No?
Sounds like someone is knocking at the door?

Great thread

This thread smells like 1969.

As long as it doesn’t smell like old bong water.

It's 4:20 somewhere!

Only when it's 20 past some hour, though.

Turn the volume down maaan, I'm seein' too much purple...

Here the clock reads 4:20 all the time. No, literally! I need to change the battery.

Geez..I kinda hate to see this thread run out of steam.....It was takin me back to my youth. We had an "idiot" friend who fired one up at the State vs Carolina football game. We were 2 rows from the top of the lower section - in other words right at one of the entrances. The cop came over immediately tapped a couple of us on the shoulder and said "put that thing out or I'm takin you down town." That was it.

I don't think you need to put idiot in quotes.

Maybe he should've put friend in quotes.

Could have put fired one up in quotes.

This is just one of the many *legal* stops the Axiom Magic Bus is going to make whenever we make it to California...

Wow Man!

That looks like that would be "kinda hip" when one is intoxicated in one way or anotehr.

To keep everybody in the happy frame of mind this topic seems to engender, does anybody watch the Showtime series Weeds? I don't have Showtime, but I own the first four seasons on DVD. I think the show is great. I keep waiting for the price to come down on Season 5 so I can get it on BluRay. (Don't say anything that would be a spoiler for season 5!)

Speaking of WOW ... I just noticed this.

Anybody remember that band?

Yeah. The album cover w/ the car in the swimming pool and the dude with the gigantic blue Mohawk!

I mean, if no one wanted to see electrical tape on my nips anymore, I'd off myself, too!

I saw her on the Tom Snyder Show (I believe that was the show) once where she blew up a bus and if I'm thinking correctly cut a bunch of somethings up with a chainsaw ... or something like that. It's been awhile.

I do distinctly remember thinking at the time .. 'Damn, that child can't sing a lick.'

Speaking of "the correct volume" :

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Kelowna...9705/story.html

Were you able to keep anything at all John?

Judging from the photo, that's what happens when you live in houses made with 1 x 2's and sided with pressed outmeal.

Where's the equipment list?!