Loud Music?

[asif3]

Heya,

I was wondering, do any of you people listen to music really loud? It's probably not good for my ears, but I always listen to music really loud. Otherwise, I just dont get the full effect of the music - this is especially true with Classical tracks. Becasue of this I burn classical tracks @ 320kbps, to avoid distortion, but it becomes a problem with music purchased from iTMS becuase it distorts fairly quickly.

Oh, how I wish they would give us the option to download 320kbps songs :(

[King Cobra]

When I'm home alone, and in the mood...I play music pretty loud. Usually, the music consists of whatever I added to iTunes most recently. Now, I rip my music to 64Kbps AAC, so when I do play it loud, it's fine with me (and no one else). http://www.thetechpub.com/phpBB2/images/smiles/icon_twisted.gif http://www.thetechpub.com/phpBB2/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

[Jetson]

I listen to music through quality equipment. I use Sennheiser HD580 or HD600 headphones which reproduce a wide spectrum of sound. My loudspeakers are JBL S312 at the front and JBL S310 at the rear. These headphones and loudspeakers deliver exquisitely detailed sound at relatively low volume levels so that it's not necessary to blast/damage my ears to appreciate music.

Sure once in a while I like to turn the volume up but only once in a while. I've always felt sorry for people I see walking around with low quality headphones, blasting their ears at jet engine decibel levels, all the while thinking they are "enjoying" music. You've only got one set of ears - they are marvelous, delicate instruments and must be taken care of, not abused.

When I rip CDs into AAC I use 192 kbps which provides excellent quality. I agree that it would be nice if we could select different bit rates when downloading from the iTunes music store. The 128 kbps is not good enough for some musical selections.

[Savage Henry]

I agree, when I've listened to music at an ear-bleedingly loud volume, it's normally because the speakers and CD quality is little more than the old-fashioned standard of 'man shouting into cup on the end of taught string'.

Of course, the sooner they reach 320, and maybe even 640 [insane foaming drool at mouch corner] kbps, the better. :D :D

[asif3]

Yeah, I suppose the equipment makes a difference - then again, I dont really listen on cheap equipment, I use Bang & Olufsen headphones. I'm sure when I get my mac back the quality will be back to normal, - at the moment I have to use a PC :(

[chelka-poo]

whenever my dad would tell my bro that he was listening to music too loud
he would just be like:
'meh, by the time i'm old they'll probably just have a way to replace my eardrums anyway'
:D
...technology...

[Abstract]

I listen to music through quality equipment. I use Sennheiser HD580 or HD600 headphones which reproduce a wide spectrum of sound. My loudspeakers are JBL S312 at the front and JBL S310 at the rear. These headphones and loudspeakers deliver exquisitely detailed sound at relatively low volume levels so that it's not necessary to blast/damage my ears to appreciate music.

Sure once in a while I like to turn the volume up but only once in a while. I've always felt sorry for people I see walking around with low quality headphones, blasting their ears at jet engine decibel levels, all the while thinking they are "enjoying" music. You've only got one set of ears - they are marvelous, delicate instruments and must be taken care of, not abused.

When I rip CDs into AAC I use 192 kbps which provides excellent quality. I agree that it would be nice if we could select different bit rates when downloading from the iTunes music store. The 128 kbps is not good enough for some musical selections.

I don't know much about audio, but nice setup. Now the weakest point of your setup isn't your speakers. No, its your 192 kbps AAC file. What's the point! :p

Just encode it at the highest setting. I don't even have the best speakers and I do it anyway, so it should def be worthwhile for you, I'd think.

[vollspacken]

...you bet that I listen to my D'n'B tracks loud and with lots of bass :)

vSpacken

[Jetson]

I don't know much about audio, but nice setup. Now the weakest point of your setup isn't your speakers. No, its your 192 kbps AAC file. What's the point! :p

Just encode it at the highest setting. I don't even have the best speakers and I do it anyway, so it should def be worthwhile for you, I'd think.

Thanks for the compliment!

If I had unlimited disk space I would rip entire AIFF tracks, rather than compromise the sound by using codecs. Now the AAC codec does a fantastic job. I can't detect any difference with my ears between a 192 kbps file and the original CD track. The reason I don't rip the full track, nor use "lossless" or AAC bit rates higher than 192 kbps is that my iPod has a limited capacity. I bought a 10gb iPod 2 years ago and am not ready to shell out $500 for a 40gb iPod - not while my original iPod still works perfectly well. I can store about 1700 songs at AAC 192 kbps and it sounds great! The sound played through my stereo system is astonishingly good, so I see no reason to use the higher bit rates.

[Jetson]

I've posted this before, but if you haven't seen it, I think this is an outstanding article. It compares the quality of various codecs to the original CD signal.

This article is from "Tom's Hardware Guide".

Audio Comparison: Putting MP3, WMA, and AAC Under a Microscope (http://www6.tomshardware.com/consumer/20020712/2u4u-05.html)