What do you consider home/bedroom volumes?

[TSJMajesty]

I turn it up until my neighbor across the street starts texting me song requests.

You give your neighbors your phone #?

 

[TSJMajesty]

Last week was jamming with some dudes here in Denver - two 100W full stacks, drums, and an ampeg with a fridge. Ear plugs were a necessity.

But those walls...!

 

[northern_fox]

70-80 dB mostly as heard through monitors at my desk

 

[Snags]

Being UK-based, most houses that normal people can afford, even if detached, are fairly close to the neighbours and don't generally have much mass in the walls, so "bedroom level" is going to be about 50-70dB unless you're lucky, insensitive, or hate your neighbours.

I mostly play in a garden room that has some noise suppression treatment, but it's still basically a prefab in an open space with neighbours within a few feet either side. According to the cheapo dB meter on the wall, I try to keep between 70 and 80dB when playing, and maybe push it up to 90 to 100 dB if recording in brief bursts (or if I know the neighbours aren't around). At 70-80 it's only going to annoy them if they're outside. Once you crack 100, if they're in the house with windows open they'll probably get pissed off (but we're British, so far too polite to say anything, thank fuck).

That said, in a 14' x 9' space, more than 90dB for a long time doesn't half mess up the hearing.

 

[laxu]

I define bedroom volumes as something like 70-75 dB @ 1m. This is pretty quiet but might be a reality for people who get their playing time in when people are asleep, have family members who will complain about "that darned guitar racket" or have thin walls with neighbors who are annoyed by any sound that isn't Fox News blasting at full TV volume.

In my previous apartment, since I worked anything from 70-100% from home and had another guitarist living in the apartment below, I was able to play at around 85-90 dB @ 1m during the day, even with master volume tube amps. To me that is roughly the minimum volume where any tube amp will sound good to me. My ideal volume would be closer to 90-95 dB @ 1m, that's more like a "lowish stage volume but a lot of fun!" range.

In my current apartment I just don't have the room for guitar cabs so it's Axe-Fx 3 through my Genelec M040 studio monitors at around 80-90 dB @ 1m.

Getting a decibel meter has been pretty eye opening. It's such a great tool for determining things like "does it sound better or is it just louder?" and also understanding what you are experiencing. I quickly learned that getting great tones wasn't really about the type of speaker, getting powertube distortion or anything like that. It's literally how we hear things at different volumes.

If you were to set your amp to a whisper, record it, then turn it louder (but not into powertube distortion), record again and normalize the volume you might be surprised how close the two tracks sound. The quieter one would just be a lot noisier since you'd need a lot of mic preamp gain to get an acceptable signal level.

 

[the-trooper]

Being UK-based, most houses that normal people can afford, even if detached, are fairly close to the neighbours and don't generally have much mass in the walls, so "bedroom level" is going to be about 50-70dB

In UK bedroom level is zero.

 

[FuzzyAce]

I turn up til my ears distort and compress, then I back off the volume til I have enough dynamic range with a slight breakup.

 

[Stone]

Anywhere between ~70-90db

 

[Snags]

In UK bedroom level is zero.

Yeah, I remember that. Fortunately not everyone has neighbours who are total arseholes, and a local authority who need a good talking to. But it's certainly an issue.

 

[AutomationBias]

The noise issue is how I ended up with an Axe FX. I was about to buy a Hiwatt (as one does) and once I factored in the cost of a decent attenuator, the Axe FX was about half the cost. If it weren't for that 15 day trial, I'd still be flipping tube amps.

 

[Achilles]

I was about to buy a Hiwatt (as one does)

 

[paisleywookiee]

This is why I question why I still have tube amps. I rarely use them, and to get them sounding good, it's definitely above 90dB.

 

[Baba]

60-80db for my apartment dweller ass, and a lot of times, right into my IEMs.

Gigs are where I get to stretch out over the drummer, etc.

 

[Whizzinby]

You give your neighbors your phone #?

I bet half my block has my phone #

 

[Sascha Franck]

Fwiw, I can listen/play at 80dB/1m 24/7 if I wanted. Depending on my mood I may go lower or higher, during the day 90dB still seem to be ok - living here for 10 years and the neighbours haven't even complained once. But maybe that's because I'm a scary dude (see avatar).

 

[GreatGreen]

To me, the quietest home volume starts around TV or computer game volume, just loud enough to be able to clearly hear everything, and no louder.

The loudest "home volume" would probably be about as loud as you'd listen to an action movie you're excited about on a good stereo system.

 

[FuzzyAce]

I bet half my block has my phone #

yep, we do.

 

[fretworn]

 

[Sleezy E]

 

[PLX]

This is why I question why I still have tube amps. I rarely use them, and to get them sounding good, it's definitely above 90dB.