How loud do you play your music?
 

How loud do you play your music? Do you have to it only so it travels the room? Do you have it loud that it can be heard across the street? Or do you take it a step further with an amp, "BOOM"'ing the hell out of your next door neighbor? For me I ALWAYS listen to my music with headphones, and not so loud that my ears will rape me. I only take private sessions, so I can't llisten to those hot trance vocals around people...

On headphones or if I'm in direct line with speakers, I try to keep the sound fairly normal. After all, my life is my hearing (musician), and if I reduce it now I'll be in a who-ole heap of trouble when I get older.

But in the car I love to have music up quite loud, with the windows down. I believe that other people should hear whatever I'm listening to, because it's good. And it's much better than 99% of the crap that the general public has shoved down it's throat via TV/Radio every day. Might as well shove something good down it :D.

Depends entirely on what I'm doing while listening. If it's background music while I'm something else, I'll usually have it quiet. If I just want to sit down and enjoy an album, I'll use headphones and turn it up. Pretty self explanatory.

I couldn't agree with you more there. Whenever I'm in my car I always blast my music. I had a good stereo system put in so why not use it.

Whenever I'm not in my car I usually have my iPod nearby. When I'm in public and using the earbuds I try not to turn it up too loud because those things just force an unnecessary amount of treble into my ear.

When I'm home I use my "ear-covering" stereo headphones so I can usually listen to music louder.

At home, I tend to have the volume loud enough for me to hear the music since I have neighbors below me. The same can be said if I'm listening to music from an iPod while studying with other people in a quiet area. If I'm driving, I have the volume set at a medium level as well.

I use IEMs, so I keep the music down very low, because that's all it takes. (On a scale of 1-10, I keep my iPod's volume at 3 at the most.)

When listening to music with normal speakers, I usually have the volume at a fairly "normal" level so that the sound only travels to the next room. I tend to turn the volume even lower for rock and metal.

With headphones, I usually have my volume set a two or three notches above the minimum level on my CD player, which is probably around 10-20%, so if I'm in a completely quiet setting, I can hear myself tapping my fingers on a tabletop.

Additionally, if I have to turn my music on higher than 5 notches, which is still too quiet to be heard by people standing next to me, I probably won't listen to anything. This makes it pretty difficult for me to listen to music on a bus and many other public settings. :tpg: Of course, this only applies to songs at "normal" volumes. I truly value my hearing, and I think that playing in a band makes it even more important for me not to listen to music at high volumes.

I have this friend who listens to his iPod at ridiculously high volumes. I can always hear what he's listening to from across the room. Well, whenever I talk to him, I have to yell.

Trust me, doesn't matter what you're playing, nobody else is going to want to hear it while stuck at a red light.

I keep my Ipod music at less than half volume, because the In-Ear headphones block out most of the surrounding sound like earplugs, so it sounds pretty loud at lower levels.

At nighttime, I keep the laptop volume level at one notch, because when it's completely quiet, it still sounds loud. If I want to make it quiete, I plug in the headphones and turn the volume to about 75%-max.

Throughout the day, the laptop volume is at 25%-40%, but if I'm at the arcade with my friends, I won't even hear much at 100%.

On the PC, I have never turned up the volume past half a revolution. My music gets loud enough with the ITunes volume and enhancer effects. Anything past half a circle from the bottom is overkill.

Depends where I'm at. If I throw a party, it's going to be loud enough to hear, but soft enough to talk. Some of the things I hate most at parties is screaming to your friends just for them to even hear you. In my room, usually normal range? Headphones, it would be normal as well unless I'm in the gym, then I really need to pump the volume to hear. In the car I would like to bust out and play it loudly, but because I think hearing surroundings when you drive is kind of important, I play it normally.

At home, if i'm working (which is rare) I tend to have it at a lower-medium volume (10 out of 30). When i'm just listening to it and doing something that doesn't require too much concentration it goes up to 15, when I want to just listen to it loud it goes to 20, and up to 30 when the rents aren't home. You can hear my stereo from the bottom of my street so I tend not to play it that loud often.

As for my Zen, I tend to have it on full volume since my headphones are crap and I want to block out exterior noise (mainly people talking about crap). My bus journey can be quite long so if I don't have my Zen I tend to go out of my mind with what people talk about on that bus.

I play my music pretty loud. Not really that loud, but above the medium level. Except when I go into "thinking mode", where I play piano/orchestral pieces, that's the time where I lower down my music so that it would have an ambient feeling. But usually, I like my music loud enough that I can hear every instrument being played, from bashing drums, to screeching guitar riffs, to high pitched back up screams. Headphones or no headphones.

I like my music pretty loud when I'm in the car by myself. If my kids are with me, I turn it down so I don't damage their little ears, and also so we can talk.

I always turn my music down at stoplights, though. I know how much I hate to hear other people's music blasting from their cars and I don't like to inflict mine on anyone else. That's just rude as hell.

That's not good, you're going to blow your ears out. Turning up your headphones to block out external noise is bad, bad, bad. Your ears eventually adapt to the noise and you can't tell how loud it really is. Remember, initial volume is a better indicator of what a proper listening volume is. If it sounds too loud right off the bat, it is too loud. Try this some time; Go to a quiet place and turn your Zen all the way up and see just how loud it really is. You'll probably be surprised.

You should invest in some IEMs if outside noise is a problem. They sound great and block out noise like earplugs, and they will save your hearing in the long run.

When I listen to music on my headphones, it's always quite loud. Sadly, that will probably be horrible on my hearing in the future, but as of now I can hear fine.

When it's played on stereo, the sound is loud enough to escape my room for others to hear, but not even close to annoy anybody. I used to have a habbit with playing my music as loud as possible, but I remember one of my neighbors complaining.

When i listen to my music on my headphones i normally have it at a decent level. Loud enough for me to hear it clearly, but low enough to hear other people when they talk to me. When i have my music played through my speakers i only have it loud enough so that i can hear it, but no-one outside my room can, unless they are listening for it.

On headphones and my laptop I try to keep it at a moderate level so it stays in my room (or in the case headphones, not blow out my eardrums).

However, with the 5.1 surround sound on the desktop, everything is on max just for the hell of it. I dunno why, but every time I'm near surround sound speakers (my house, friend's house, even the store display models) I have to turn everything up to max.

If I am alone in the house, normally a fair volume from the Hi-Fi so I can still hear the music if I need to go upstairs. Otherwise, if on the computer, I try to keep it a fairly low measure on headphones. Have been known to have it blaring though and my ears paid for that in the morning.

im using headphones and im listening to my music pretty loud. i just love to pic some of my CDs and listen to them in super high quality really loud ^^

I try to keep music at a level just above what I need to clearly hear it. I really don't think that blasting some tunes through my headphones will do anything good for my hearing.

At home on my PC speakers it really depends on the day. I usually play it at a moderate level, but early in the morning and late at night when I'm the only one up I'll put it pretty low. It's rare for me to blast it.

I have a nice speaker setup on my computer, so I'll play that at a volume that suits me, but can't be heard outside my room. I generally hate drawing attention to myself, and I also have always hated loud noises, so I try to keep it quiet. There are times when nobody else is in the house and I'll crank it up a bit, if it's a particularly worthy song (Something by ES Posthumus, Track 15 off the Fahrenheit gamerip (or the one labeled Track 15, WTF messed-up tags), Consign to Oblivion, etc...something epic).

I did recently get a pair of Altec Lansing (couldn't decide btw. Grado/Sennheiser, so whaddya know, did neither) noise-cancelling headphones from ThinkGeek, which will be nice for immersing myself in FLAC soundtracks from the GFF tracker.

The only time I turn it up is when I'm riding the subway into the city. Those tunnels are fucking loud.

Hmmm, I guess for me I keep my volume on my iPod either at the middle, or use 3/4 of the volume bar, depending on how the iPod can handle the bass, sometimes it really can't and that's annoying.

When it comes to computer speakers and stereo speakers, I try and keep it to a music volume that only I can hear. However, when no one's home I will put the volume up, hehehe.


Oh and nothing against the two here who blast their music while in the car...but I think majority of the people who do that on the road, is purely doing it to be cool and be an attention whore. And also, like the other person said...not everyone wants to listen to someone's things at a red light. lol.

I have a strange fondness of my ears or something. Ever since childhood, I've liked to keep all audio at a low setting. Although it's quiet at first, my ears often adjust to the volume level shortly. It gives me a sense of security about my hearing, haha..

In louder areas, I tend to turn up the volume to block out the noise of other people or objects. After reading PiccoloNamek's post, though, I may just try to bring that habit down.

As for blasting sound in a car? I don't drive yet, but I can't envision myself doing such. The volume would probably be pretty low, as I usually do. However, only time will tell.

I have a theory that the lower the IQ, the louder the music required. While living on campus, I would hear ridiculous loud volumes coming out of dorm rooms that you wouldn't believe. And it was always the idiots. Before that, I didn't even think that people could hear at such levels but apparently, some require it. It's as obnoxious as the 'tard in the next car playing 50 cent so loud that it vibrates your car windows.

Put on some fucking headphones and blow your own ears out. No one wants to hear that shit. I was unforunately subjected to 2 roommates who listened to rap and mexican folk music so loud it literally broke one of our stereos. And it was always at early hours of the morning. I hated them.

As for me, I listen to music on a medium level. When I'm studying somewhere and don't want to be distracted, I increase the volume enough to drown out background noise but at home, on the computer (like right now), it's relatively quiet.

It depends what i'm listening to...

Rock music I love loud, but since there are children in the house, i will lower the volumn so they don't hear inappropriate lyrics.

Kids are messed up enough these days aren't they?

If it's like trance/techno/dance/whatever else in this category...I will just listen to it pretty loud. I don't like to disturb people though, so only when no one is home will i really listen to music loud. Otherwise, it's just at a medium level.

I gotta agree on that. Especially for psy/goa gotta keep that music up loud :tpg: even on headphones.

because people usually bitch about my music or how high the volume is or both I usually either keep it low, or blast it on my headphones until they can almost hear it.

I don't like wearing headphones while I'm in my room, so I keep music playing just for some ambience in the room. While I have the power to blast it, I usually try to keep it at lower volumes just enough to hear it and keep it in my room. The bass escapes out to other rooms anyway, so I have to adjust that sometimes. If I know the place is empty, that's when I'll blast it just for the fun, but even that annoys me sometimes.

As loud as possible. I have this secret desire for someone to overhear it and come up to me and say "hey dude, that rocks! what is it and where can i get some!?"

It depends what I’m listening to. If I'm listening to something lighter, such as Marit Larsen, the volume is quiet enough that you can't hear it upstairs. However, if I'm listening to something heavier, like Marion Raven, I'll turn up the volume and put my headphones on.

It also depends on what my mood is too, but I usually play music that fits my current mood.

It depends. 95% of the time i play it on a medium level. But then of course i have those days when there's nobody home and if the mood is right i might crank up the volume way above normal :)

I try to be considerate of other people when playing music. Unlike my brother who likes to turn up the bass to his god awful rap music (not all rap is bad, just the ones he listens to).

If it's through a speaker pretty low. Loud enough to where I can hear it but low enough to where no one else can. Tramatic childhood experience. It's pretty low when I use headphones as well mainly cause I don't want to loose my hearing.

When I'm in the car it's pretty loud.

I usually have it pretty noisy to compete with the rest of the household (try playing music quietly when one sibling is soloing on guitar and the other has the bass cranked up to unfathomable volumes). Listening to music loud gives me a headache and makes me feel ill, but I don't keep it too low.

Usualy at normal volume although others will say it's too loud anyways.
When nobody is home is a whole other story though...

I listen to my radio 24/7 and i mostly have the volume on 23 . With classic rock/soft rock/new wave classic 80s hits Good Stuff

This means nothing.

If I'm just walking around school or shopping, I play my music at a moderate volume, only loud enough so that you'd be able to hear what I'm playing while your ear was right next to mine. I'm almost always using headphones anyway because I don't want to disturb people.

Most of the time, when in the car with my parents, I'm forced to blast my music as loud as possible to drown out the shit they play, and they play their music very loud. Especially my dad, I can hear when he comes home before he even pulls up to the house because his numetal crap is so friggin loud. Him and my brother are just the same, no consideration for others when it comes to volume. I hate it, because I don't like when my iPod volume is so loud that the ear buds start to buzz, but I almost always have to endure when other people are playing music.

I think I play relatively soft compared to a lot of people. But as of late spending lots of time with people who play music loud (ie Kairyu) I think I am turning my music higher and higher in order to listen to it.

Depends. I try to limit the volume to a strict minimum when i'm using the bus or around people, but I'm pretty much leaving it at 3-5 on a 10-scale. That is when my sister isn't watching TV with maxed volume...

If i'm in the mood for extremely loud music you can usualy hear it throughout the entire house and sometimes on the street if i have the window open. I'm surprised my computer speakers haven't just blown up because of the loudness of my music.

I keep my Sony Walkman at a reasonable volume (I use AVLS). As long as I am in a reasonably quiet area, I can hear my music just fine. I don't want to hurt my hears because I want to hear ass thumping bass; if I need to do that, I use my PC's speakers when the situation proves appropriate (but since I live in an apartment, those moments can be far an few between).

I often play music very loud at home (even when driving car) or go outside with my Nano+shure 5c earbuds, but at night I sometimes use headphone.

It depends on the situation. While walking on campus I tend to have my music playing full blast. And I'll glance around for curiosity to see at what distance people turn their heads.

At the apartment is a bit of a different story. My roommate this term is a bit of a stickler on noise, so I have to have the headphones on whenever he's around. If you want an idea how much of a stickler, I have to shut off my computer at night because the quiet little fan apparently keeps him awake. It's either that or I have to listen to him trying to explain in English how I don't understand his situation, or how this is not my own room but our room (or just his at this rate), etc. Because he is still learning English, this takes around 10-15 minutes as opposed to just one or two. Not that I have anything against people here in the US that don't have English as their native language, but it just doesn't help on matters like this. [/rant]

In the past, I have my speakers up a little, but not very often to the point of blasting.

i hear it with headphones on so i can listen to it as i like and not be controled by who is annoyed and who isn't around me!

I think i listen to my music relatively softly, my ears are sensitive thanks to a little inner ear problem at birth. But thanks to Kairyu who just blasts his music, I think I am going deaf so now my music is getting louder and louder.

Cursed with increadably sensitive ears. (It can be a good thing too tho) I listen at the lowest volume I can get my stereo/ipod to go. As for loud parties, I tend to avoid them, both for my hearing and for my voice, which is pretty quiet.

Blasting car stereo's is pretty darn inconsiderate, every one has different taste so not only are you forcing your own personal taste of music on them, (that they probably don't like) you are also damaging the hearing of every one on the street.

-Consider this: It would be like my sister turning up her stereo with Destinys Child, so that you, in the car next to her are forced to listen to it through the stop light... Thankfully she does not do this..:)

-And people wonder why our generation is going deaf...

It really depends on the type of music.

And not even that aggressive music should be listend to loudly... Most of the punk rock I listen to I listen to pretty low. Some soft songs, especially Talking Heads songs, are just meant to be blasted.

I blast my music in my car, but that's because I have a ridiculously over powered car stereo that was bought from Best Buy with my employee discount.

I guess I just don't care about people. It's not like I am breaking the law either.

I like to use headphones usually, but sometimes I don't. When I don't, it's usually only loud enough so you can just hear it in my room. I guess I don't like to bug people with useless sound? *shrugs*

Well, for me how loud i listen to my music entirely depends on the type. If I'm trying to relax or go to sleep, I play the songs at a barely audible level, while if I'm driving down the street I keep it at about the same level as a jet engine.

It all depends on what I am doing, really. If I am at home I usually keep the volume low since I use headphones while at the PC. I can't stand having music loud when I have headphones on since my hearing has suffered enough already. Speaking of suffering, when I am in the car I usually listen to music around volume level 50...out of 60. That's right about the level where I can't hear shit unless it is a siren.

I've already raped my ears with my stupidity in the past. Now a normal listening level (a level where I can hear the music, but isn't loud) for me is deafening for others. If people set it at THEIR preferred listening level, I have to strain to hear it.

I've been working on slowly lowering the volume with which I listen to music on average with small success.

I almost always blast in a car, unless I'm going through town, then I turn it down a couple notches. It's more because I can't stand silence while driving than anything else. I need to work on that too, it isn't helping any to do that.

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Headphones I used to mow lawns with them turned up loud enough to drown out the lawnmower. (tractor mower, not a pushmower). Probably one of the dumbest things I've ever done. I have minor tinnititus, or however you spell it. It isn't life-altering, and I don't notice it unless I really listen for it, but its there. I'm starting to wisen up and take preventive measures before it gets any worse.

Late reply, but...

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