[ashtonkem]

It always baffles me that concerts are allowed to get so loud. A few of my colleagues were complaining about their ears ringing after an AWS party, which is a strong indication they suffered some hearing damage!

Also worth pointing out that if you’re doing really loud stuff, you need to refer to NRR rating, not db. It’s a more precise way of measuring hearing protection against loud noises.

[function_seven]

> It always baffles me that concerts are allowed to get so loud.

Same here, and for more than one reason. Yeah, damaging the hearing of your audience is bad. But I could almost forgive it if it made the sound better. Like, "okay yeah I just lost 2% of my hearing for this one show, but it was amazing."

But that has never been my experience. When I was younger and going to shows (with no earplugs), not only was it painfully loud, but the sound was worse because of it. The frequencies muddled together. It was like my ears were clipping the sound or something. The bass was overwhelmed by the mid and treble ranges. There was this weird "swirling" sound like you'd hear from a low bitrate MP3. It just sounded like shit. Loud shit.

I will never go to a concert again without earplugs. The one time I did forget them, I went to the bar, grabbed some cocktail napkins, twisted those up and stuffed those into my ear canals. Anything to avoid that assault on my hearing. Or what's left of it.

[poloniculmov]

Some bands, like Swans or Sunn O))) for example, use the volume to amplify the experience, but it works because they actually think about how it sounds for the crowd. Having the volume available, especially for the low-end makes everything more massive, even if you really need earplugs to be able to survive.

[scns]

For lowend it makes sense. Getting massaged by the bass or feeling the punch of the kick in the stomach makes it a full body experience. Too much highs on the other hand destroys your ability to hear them, and you won't even notice that you are missing out.

[freeqaz]

If you know of any bands like Sun O))) that are touring still, I'd love to have their names. I'm in the Seattle area and very much interested in interesting live concert experiences! (With earplugs)

[Arcanum-XIII]

It’s sadly due to distance attenuation and obstacles (like our squishy bodies). So it’s too loud in front, not quite so at the back or the side. We can of course add more speaker… but then we have to fight with latency - we’re quite good at noticing them in live environment.

And, at least in most of the major European country, there are noise level ceilings which are checked. You’ll still need to wear hear plugs if you want to be comfy for anything bigger than a bar.

[scns]

Best sound? Near the mixing desk.

[amelius]

> It’s sadly due to distance attenuation

I thought it was due to the crowd making noise.

[circlefavshape]

I often find I need earplugs in a noisy bar even with no music

[morcheeba]

I went to a small show, and literally every single person there had earplugs.