What is Your Signal to Room Noise?

[Sonicularity]

I have taken great care to ensure that my listening environment is quiet.  The walls have a high STC rating, thick carpet with a premium underlay is used, and dense sound-absorbing blackout curtains are hung in a room far away from mechanical sounds of any appliances.  The computers used to play/stream the music were all chosen for their ability to operate in near silence.

 

I use a type II certified sound level meter (Reed R8060) that I keep calibrated with a tool (Reed R8090) that costs nearly as much as the meter.  I don't need a scientific class 1 rated SPL meter for my purposes since I am just using it for general reference and before/after comparisons, but it is reasonably accurate.

 

On a quiet morning, the room will measures below 35dBA (fast)  unless my chair creaks, a wall settles, or a bird chirps.  I'll read 32dBA, then a bird starts singing outside and I get a spike at 39dBA.  I'll sigh in disappointment and cause the meter to jump up to 53dBA, and then I'll mutter "crap", and see the reading indicate over 70dBA.  It's not a perfect environment, and it is susceptible to outside interference beyond my control.  The lawn service and garbage truck will create added noise, but generally, I enjoy a quiet room to enjoy my music.

 

As an example, listening to music as a background distraction, using Qobuz FLAC 96kHz 24bit song, ZZ Top's  "Tush" from The Complete Studio Albums 1970-1990; the maximum dBA recorded on the meter was 55.3dBA.  When I cranked up the volume level to where I felt was jamming to my ears, and not a level I would keep for more than a song or even part of a song, I only read 70.6 dBA on the meter.  Yes, I do go louder at times, but when the room is significantly quiet, I rarely feel the need to play the music any louder.

 

I was curious to know if others have taken any similar measurement and were willing to share this data.  The way I listen to music plays a major part in why I prefer to EQ in a "V"-shape or why I don't particularly give much consideration to any format above Red Book.

[Sonicularity]

Classical music is particularly difficult to enjoy at my normal listening levels.  With any high dynamic range music, listening levels typically have to be increased significantly.  If I know the music well, there are no surprises with the changes in volume level, and I can get into the piece.  However, I don't have a great deal of experience with classical music, and not knowing when or how loud some of the sections might be, I can find myself playing with the volume knob too frequently.  I call it fortissimOMG!

[Sonicularity]

My low reading is the ideal situation without the normal distractions from life.  That is the best it can be, but rarely what I can frequently enjoy.

[Sonicularity]

I find that sensory adaptations can swing both ways.  I start with a low volume and let my hearing "adjust".   Since our hearing adapts to the volume level over time, I feel like I'm just wasting decibels and possibly damaging my hearing if I start out listening with the volume level too high.  You can't start loud and then go quieter with much success, but you can always start quietly and increase the volume later if necessary.  

 

As an ex-Navy Sonar Technician, we were always trained to listen first at very low levels for a bit to give your ears some time to adapt,   and then only increase the volume level if the sound was still too quiet.

[Sonicularity]

Live levels from which perspective?  The piano player?  The listener?  In what environment?  

[Sonicularity]

I took some measurements again today, and realistically I am hitting peaks on my meter in the mid to high 80dBA area when I turn up the volume.  I'm certain with the right song and mood, I could see readings into the 90dBA range.  Using Roon to provide a lossless signal path, and listening to several different formats from various masters, a song that is more compressed might sound loud enough at a lower perceived volume level, while others might require a bit more power to make it sound loud to my ears.

 

Generally speaking, I mostly listen for extended periods of times under 60dBA according to my meter.

 

Full path:

Laptop as Roon core streaming Tidal or Qobuz using the highest quality versions.>

ASIO drivers provided by RME to connect via USB to an RME ADI-2 DAC with subtractive PEQ settings to lower dB of frequencies around 2500-8500 Hz gently, peaking at -3.5dB centered around 5500 Hz.>>  

The analog output level of the DAC is set to Auto reference with balanced XLR that has always been +1dBu, but can automatically switch to a higher output level of +7, +13, or +19dBu if necessary (though I have never seen this happen).  According to the specifications, +1dBu makes the signal-to-noise 115.4dB RMS or unweighted 118.9 dBA.>>>

My amp is a 2-channel Marantz MM7025.  Using the balanced inputs, the input sensitivity is 2.4V with the input impedance at 30 kΩ, a signal-to-noise ratio of 105 dB (IHF-A according to the specification sheet, but not sure if this means A-weighted or some other standard as it is a bit vague) and a damping factor of 100.  The rated power output is 140W/channel 8Ω.  The amp seems to handle peaks fairly well in my application.  It is a good quality amp, but nothing special about it, and it is affordable.>>>>

The speakers are Klipsch RP-280F tower speakers.  Sensitivity is rated at 98dB @ 2.83V/1m.  The nominal impedance is 8Ω  and they handle 150W RMS and 600W peaks.

 

The speakers are positioned 6.5 ft (2 m) apart and I sit centered between them about 7.5 ft (2.25 m) from each to form a triangle.  The speakers have a toe-in of only 1°-2°, or about .5 inch (13 mm) when measuring from the wall to the outside edge of the front and back of the speaker cabinet. 

[Sonicularity]

1 hour ago, daverich4 said:

 

Can I ask you what app this is? Is it for Android? I can’t find it in the Apple App Store. 

 

I know that this app for my iPhone 7 Plus is nearly identical to my $250 SPL meter that I keep calibrated with a $150 calibration tool.

 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/splnfft-noise-meter/id355396114?mt=8

 

If it works as well on other iOS devices, I don't think anything would be better.