Hear Today, Deaf Tomorrow?

[Remoteness]

How loud do you monitor? And for how long?

[Steve Smith]

What was that?

I generally Mix at about 90db.. and every little while drop that to barely audible just to check balances.

I track a little louder, esp if the player is in the control room..

MAx 10 hour day, 8 is more normal.

I listen too loud too long.

Trying to stop.

Had an ear test at an AES show a while back, it was fine they said.... I was suprised!

[JayCrouch]

While Mixing, I now like to start off my mixes on a set of Tivoli Audio Model II's (3" radio speakers). These actually sound pleasing as a consumer radio, and are only 20 watts a side. I start mixes on them at low levels to help get signals "ballsy" without breaking up, and also try to get equal clarity when there is minimal speaker realistate to work with.

I then switch over to my Genelecs to see how things are going, I sometimes switch back and forth, yet it really depends on the song/music/mood/day. Anyways, I definatly like to get things loud (usually on my consumer shelf system's AUX). When I monitor loud, I usually walk around the room - go into the next room, go upstairs - and see how things sound from those angles.

I rarely mix at loud volumes, not only for the sake of my ears, but also since I've found that I leave certain things unattended when I use a volume knob to bring everything "in your face". Just like everything else, there is a time and a place.

[Remoteness]

Huh, what did you say?

Yes, when you monitor loud, everything sounds good. Low level monitoring is the key to perfect balanced mixes.

I tend to mix the same way Steve has described, but I have been known to crank up the volume at times.

[Steve Smith]

Sometimes I wish I had the 30 - 50 K for a set of amazing bigs, although I know I would only use em 3 or 4 passes a mix...:)

anyone say gearslut?

[Jay Kahrs]

I usually monitor around 85-95dB. A lot of times I'll turn it way down and listen in mono to see if the important things like the vocal, bass, kick and snare are coming through. I'll also crank it up and listen from another room before I print a mix to try and emulate what it might sound like if it's played in a club. If I rip my ears off when I crank it up I know I need to go back to work on the 3-5khz range before I print it.

[planet red]

The room im in right now sucks, so the only way bands can hear a fairly balanced mix in the room is to turn up the monitors fairly loud. If you sit in the sweet spot or go outside its fine, but if you're in the back of the room I have to crank the mix for them, and blow my ears off while at it. So i always have to pop earlplugs in. I cant wait to have a nice sounding CR.

[Fibes]

I monitor around 80-90 for short periods of time and quiet for the majority.

If I'm tracking and have a band member in the control room that needs to "feel it" I throw on my target practice (30-40 db reduction) muffs for the loudtakes. If it works for guns...

[alphajerk]

did someone say something?

[Fibes]

If they said it at the same volume as my partner monitors I wouldn't have heard it.

[Tubelover]

After several recent live gigs I've had terrible ear fatigue, not something I want to get used to. Fortunately I've been working with a great drummer who has pointed out to me these plugs:

http://www.westone.com/music/elite.html#es49

He's a great player, his work has made it very clear to me that he can hear great detail while working with the plugs in.

[Remoteness]

Thumbs up TubeLover!

Great URL
http://www.westone.com/music/index.html

[C.Lambrechts]

I hate those things in my ears .... can't stand them. and whenever even using a headphone I will NOT allow anyone to control the volume for them. I had a very bad experience with some *sshole sending what seemed like a 5000 db signal into my headphones once.

As for monitoring, I monitor between 80 - 90 db for like 75 % of the time with louder peaks for short amounts of time during recording.

Mixing I tend to do a little bit louder but I change volumes all the time and hardly ever mix longer then 2 hours non stop without a break. And never mix longer then 8 hours a day. I will listen loud to very loud on the mainfields for a while and then switch back to lower volumes and continue on the nearfields.

[Remoteness]

Bump...

No 110 dB warriors out there anymore?

[Brad Blackwood]

Who left the oscillator on?

hehe

Seriously, I have an SPL meter on my console all the time, though it isn't always on. I have found that I am most comfortable monitoring at about 80-85. I monitor a little at 90 and usually crank it up to close to 100 for a couple of seconds for rock stuff to make sure everything still pops, but typically stay 15-20db lower than that...

[mdbeh]

What do you guys use for SPL meters? Would a cheapo Radio Shack one be fine?

[cleantone]

I have those plugs. I got them for $165 with the 25's for filters. They are good but not FLAT, they do take highs down and I could use MORE attenuation for the live gigs!! I think they let enough in to still be damaging. I decided to get them after years of putting it off. My ringing started to last no matter how long between shows. I think I have caught it in time to not cause lasting damage but I can use a little more attenutaion than the 25's offer.

[Fuzzy Logic]

I use the RadioShack analog spl meter.

Galaxy Audio now have a variety of SPL meters that look good. I have not worked with them yet.

[TinderArts]

When in an isolated environment, 85 is the average. Some remotes, like the HFStival require much higher levels due to the ambient sound around you. We split between 2 mixers for that gig and I wear plugs when not mixing to limit exposure.

Festivals that make you setup very close to the stage can often bring this issue up, I'm just glad I don't have to mix eight bands at 100+ dB. Ouch.

[Remoteness]

I also use the Radio Shack analog SPL Meter. It's cheap and effective.

...One more thing.

If you get the mix to sound incredible at a low volume, it will always sound great louder. It's not always the case in reverse.

[Musiclab]

I tend to break it up alot. But lately I've been mixing at much quieter levels.
I also listen on 3 different pairs of monitors. When I've got the mix where I want it, I'll check the mix for vocal level once fairly loud to make sure its not hurting anyone or too in the track. Also the longer I work on a mix the quieter
I listen or the more complex the mix is the quieter I'll listen .