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Can't you just turn up the volume?

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Re: Can't you just turn up the volume?

#11

Post by dsr_ »

larrybolt wrote: post #2

This was an interesting read, but what to me personally is more interesting is how to prevent hearing loss over the years. I might be wrong on this, but I recall a hearing specialist advising me not to use earbuds at all, or at least limit the use to max 1 hour at a time. A dynamic headphones, such as the good old Superlux HD 681 would be "better" in the long term. (Not trying to advertise for that headphone, it's ju…

If your ears hurt or are annoyed, stop.

Quiet is better than loud. The more sound isolation your phones provide from the outside world, the quieter you can play your music and enjoy it.

If you're sitting with headphones on for six hours, maybe you should get up a few times.

Re: Can't you just turn up the volume?

#12

Post by ics »

darklajid wrote: post #8
zenocon wrote: post #5

"Why can't I just turn up the volume on my iPhone?" is something I ask myself everyday and shake my fist toward Cupertino. Seriously, the gain on the phone is severely limited. Try listening to a voice call on speakerphone in even a moderately quiet environment with just a twee bit of ambient noise. It is maddening that I can't get any more volume out of this device without jailbreaking it.

I'm not trying to pull your leg here, but .. why would you try to use the speaker if there's noise around you? I mean, why wouldn't you - like - put it up against your ear instead?

Any scenario where you'd want to use the speaker phone has little to do with noise. Sometimes I want it while driving because I don't have a headset (and don't plan on getting one, since I don't own a car and drive rarely). Or in the shop while drilling, soldering, or whatever. Or outside working on something. It's about using the phone while doing something else, often something that you couldn't do with something blocking one ear or dangling anything from your head. Then of course there's the case where multiple people are listening/speaking through the same phone.

Re: Can't you just turn up the volume?

#13

Post by jeremysmyth »

a2kadet wrote: post #6

> "Sound expresses itself in three dimensions: time (seconds), volume (decibels) and frequency (Hertz)." Is anyone else as irked about the authors choice of the word dimensions as much as I am? I can't read past it. Wouldn't "factors" be a better fit?

No. "Dimensions" is the right word, because they are three orthogonal scales along which musical notes can be measured[1]. The author could also have suggested timbre and other possible dimensions, but the three stated apply to all sound, including (importantly) sine waves, the simplest type of sound.

[1] Technically, frequency is a function of time too (and timbre a function of the interaction of multiple frequencies and envelope changes, another function of time) but these are all independent uses of time.

Re: Can't you just turn up the volume?

#14

Post by larrybolt »

Symbiote wrote: post #7
larrybolt wrote: post #2

This was an interesting read, but what to me personally is more interesting is how to prevent hearing loss over the years. I might be wrong on this, but I recall a hearing specialist advising me not to use earbuds at all, or at least limit the use to max 1 hour at a time. A dynamic headphones, such as the good old Superlux HD 681 would be "better" in the long term. (Not trying to advertise for that headphone, it's ju…

I use earbuds, but I set the volume while I'm somewhere quiet. If the underground train is drowning out the music, so be it. I've also used reusable earplugs (I spent about £15) for all gigs, nightclubs etc. Sometimes I use them in noisy pubs. > However I cannot wear my headphone longer than 6 hours without it getting annoying. That's a really long time. Wouldn't it be best to reduce it? The main charity for deaf peo…

I don't often go to clubs or places in general with loud music, but I play music trough earbuds/headphones to shut out distracting noises around me. And I guess to get "in the zone". I'm going to look up if there would be earplugs that could help me with that.

And 6 hours is seldom, it's the max, but average I do go above the suggested 1 hour.

Re: Can't you just turn up the volume?

#15

Post by korethr »

This is nifty.

My father has hearing loss and it's bad enough that not only does he use hearing aids, he is constantly turning them up until they feedback and start ringing. He doesn't hear the ringing, but I do, and I have some hearing damage of my own. And he wonders why his hearing aids go through batteries so fast.

Their description of how hearing loss works gives me some ideas on how I can help my father manage his hearing loss better than just constantly buying batteries.

However, I do have one complaint with the article, and that's their (mis)use of terminology, specifically, dynamic range. Dynamic range is not, as they claim, the range of frequencies one can hear, from lowest to highest (e.g. 20Hz-20kHz). That's bandwidth. What dynamic range is, is the ratio of quietest to loudest sounds possible, often expressed in dB.[1]

For example, as they mention, human hearing has about 120dB of dynamic range. An audio CD can encode a dynamic range of 96dB. The 24-bit files professional audio studios work with can represent up to 144dB of dynamic range.

Perhaps it's a pedantic distinction, but using already existing terms for what you mean to say is less likely to cause confusion than misusing one that means something else.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_range

Re: Can't you just turn up the volume?

#17

Post by soperj »

ics wrote: post #12
darklajid wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not trying to pull your leg here, but .. why would you try to use the speaker if there's noise around you? I mean, why wouldn't you - like - put it up against your ear instead?

Any scenario where you'd want to use the speaker phone has little to do with noise. Sometimes I want it while driving because I don't have a headset (and don't plan on getting one, since I don't own a car and drive rarely). Or in the shop while drilling, soldering, or whatever. Or outside working on something. It's about using the phone while doing something else, often something that you couldn't do with something b…

Seriously.. just don't talk while driving. It's dangerous for everyone.

Re: Can't you just turn up the volume?

#18

Post by rcfox »

a2kadet wrote: post #6

> "Sound expresses itself in three dimensions: time (seconds), volume (decibels) and frequency (Hertz)." Is anyone else as irked about the authors choice of the word dimensions as much as I am? I can't read past it. Wouldn't "factors" be a better fit?

Dimensions are variables that are independent of each other. They could be spatial dimensions like (x,y,z), or color dimensions like (red,green,blue).

Re: Can't you just turn up the volume?

#19

Post by baddox »

adamnemecek wrote: post #3

I might be wrong here but isn't what you call "dynamic range" usually referred to as "hearing range"? Dynamic range has a bit different connotation AFAIK.

A lot of the concepts in this article appear to be deliberately simplified and terminology deliberately abused, and I would argue too much so. Take this paragraph for instance:

> As you look at the waveform, the problem should become apparent. Sound is a 3-dimensional construct, but we can only represent 2 dimensions on a textbook or a monitor. In the waveform representation, we see Time on the x-axis plotted against Volume on the y-axis.

The two axes in most waveform plots are sound pressure and time, not volume and time. The fact that the waveform depicted is nearly symmetrical reflected across the x axis should hint that this is the case.

Re: Can't you just turn up the volume?

#20

Post by chias »

a2kadet wrote: post #6

> "Sound expresses itself in three dimensions: time (seconds), volume (decibels) and frequency (Hertz)." Is anyone else as irked about the authors choice of the word dimensions as much as I am? I can't read past it. Wouldn't "factors" be a better fit?

Not really. A sound can be described by a one or more [time, volume, frequency] triples. I think the author's use of the word "dimensions" is perfectly suited.
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