When Did Loud Become Synonymous With Good

When I was younger, I liked it loud. Now that I am a little harder of hearing due to IED blasts, I HAVE to have it loud. When I am with others, I typically turn on subtitles in movies and TV, so I don't have to turn it up.

I don't think anyone claims that loud is good. But it seems to be a constant in my generation that we like things louder than the previous generations. Maybe it's a product of too much entertainment, and the dying ability to pay attention. If something is loud enough, it demands attention.

 

Old Elijah would probably take issue with that! :thumbs: (1 Kings 19:12)

 

I going to go play Beethoven's Chorale Fantasy, right now, and it's going to be very loud. Because it's awesome, loud. Music is a selfish experience for me. I don't like to talk to people, or do anything that takes me away from it. I like to analyze each instrument, and separate the parts, learn the math in the chord changes. Can't do that unless the music is loud. Live music is especially enjoyable for me.

Movie theatre sound levels are regulated, pretty heavily. There is more bass, but not more volume, than there used to be. Sound is getting digitized, 7 speaker surround sound systems are the norm. The sound is harsh, and unnatural, and that might be offending your ear more than the sound level.

I have an old Kenwood amplifier, with 2 big JBL speakers, old-school. No obnoxious subwoofers, no 7.1 anything like that. I have a BOSE Wave Radio hooked up to my Mac to watch Netflix shows. Pretty simple, actually.

 

Having been stationed on an air station (MCAS Eltoro) and being around all the airwings I lost some of my hearing. Failed my hearing test when I took a physical at discharge. And it seems that has affected my hearing quite a bit and it gets worse as I grow older. I hate loud noises. In fact being exposed to them to long makes me frustrated.

 

In the mid-1990's. That's when record company producers began to overdrive the sound levels of music recordings. Pretty soon everyone was doing it.

Very good explanation here (less than 2 minutes):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gmex_4hreQ

More here:
http://dynamicrangeday.co.uk/about/

I've ripped some CD's of mine and run them through a spectrum analyzer and it's true! Most songs are overdriven to the point of clipping.

 

Essentially. Compression allows greater volumes than just simply recording. Normally, we don't call it overdriving, to avoid ambiguity with overdriving like you do with a guitar. Essentially, overdriving is taking a source noise and playing it louder than a speaker can hold, (causing clipping) and then lowering the volume through a second channel. Compression is a similar process, but the end result is greater volume without distortion.

 

Now I didn't fully follow all the preceding, BUT, if I got the gist of the argument correct, this is basically why one (me) can listen to a live concert at high volume and enjoy it, while listening to basically the same, via recording, making the rendering much less appreciated at a comparable volume?!?!
Yes??? No????

I do know that in a theater, live, the loudness is far less critical than listening on my stereo at home.

 

In a way. First off, digital recording is always harder on the ears, even in high def. Ever notice that if someone plays a keyboard over the phone, it always distorts?

Live music in a big room has a natural dampening effect that "pulls out" the mids while allowing the bass and treble to resonate. That's why music in a car or at home sounds best if we leave the mids alone and slightly elevate both treble and bass.

Also of note, vocal music tends toward the mids and treble. This is why someone listening to a "thumping bass" HAS to listen to music loud. The bass overruns the upper levels, essentially drowning out words. So they elevate the music to hear.

Also, (without going into a full blown music class) loud beats effect the body, releasing chemicals that are similar to eating chocolate or making love. The body enjoys this release in chemicals so much that it basically becomes an addiction. The body starts needing this release.

 

Well, at least I know now that it's not all psychological.:tongue3: Thanks!!

This brings up a question; Bose makes much to do about the sound quality with their wave system, and I'm wondering if this is a relatively (?) inexpensive way to go to get as close to "live" as possible w/o spending big bucks?

 

I'm not really a big fan of the Wave Radio. Too much compression and dynamic equalization. My Kenwood is a much better sound. I use the Wave Radio for movies, or anything on my computer.

At BOSE, you pay for the research. I was lucky enough to work in the Israeli Air Force Noise-cancelling headset test systems, among many others. The technology was always being pushed forward. It was a great place to work.

 

Old age setting in Crabby? My Mama used to have a fit when I'd blast my Allman Brothers Fillimore East album as loud as I could get it. Mama would stomp up the stairs and tell me how deaf I was going to be in my old age. To my shame I made Mama deaf as a turnip.

She and my father watched Fox News from the rising of the sun playing the TV so loud you could hear it down the street. It was my fault. Stateboro Blues ruined her hearing.

On a serious note, I have profound hearing loss in my right ear. Depending on the level of ambient noise I may or may not hear what someone says to me even if they are close. Too much noise and I hear nothing but din. I get frustrated going to a movie because I can't understand half the dialogue.

 

Ditto :thumbs:

 

Huh? Did you say something?

Weird I can sit in the woods and hear a chipmunk rustling in the leaves from 75 yards but can't hear my wife sitting next to me in the car. Let me clarify. I can hear that she said something but most of the time have no idea what she said.

 

In a room full of people with a ton of background noise I see your lips moving but whatever you are saying just blends in with all the other noise. I spend a lot of time smiling and nodding hoping I am not committing myself to something weird. But if I get near loud noises like music or even electric hand tools the noise literally makes me mad.

 

Their systems use "piping", where the sound travels along tubes that double back on themselves multiple times. The idea is that the resonance gained lived is imitated with these tubes. I've honestly not heard one live, so I can't comment on whether it really sounds as good as they say.