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(Dick Pierce) wrote in message ...

Some years ago I did an informal but enlightening experiment. I
was given the opportunity of measuring sound pressure levels at
several different positions in audience and at the conductor's
podium, and was able to record a lot of good data. At the same
time, a colleague was recording the concert. The material was
classical orchestral music, Beethoven and the like.

I took the opportunity to conduct an experiement: I asked people
who had attended the concert and were seated close to where my
measurements were taken to adjust the volume control so that it
was as loud as they remembered it during the performance. Remember
that they were not only playing back the same music, they were
playing back THE EXACT SAME PERFORMANCE.

Just curious. The conductor was the only participant to get it right.
Just curious. Did any of the other musicians participate?

I definitely agree with your general findings. I believe many
audiophiles/music lovers can suffer from this "hi-fi" affliction
(playing recorded music louder than reality), whether or not they
regularly attend live music events. Being attuned to live music and
using it (as much as possible) as a point of reference are two very
different things. Certainly musicians I know play their music at sound
pressure levels that are all over the map. I regularly attend live
music events and rarely ever a week goes by that I don't experience
first hand live music, whether it be street musicians at, UC Berkeley,
Union Square San Francisco, various Bay Area symphony concerts,
Yoshi's in Oakland, Mass on Sundays, etc.

Nevertheless, I have to periodically make a self-examination to
preclude the "hi-fi" malady. It is easy to lose touch as to how loud
the music is *really* playing whether it is at a jazz club, or
symphony. Sometimes (may be often) I have had a tendency to play the
music in my system significantly louder than music is played in live
event. And frankly, sometimes I have *knowingly* done this, because
the mood strikes me that way on that particular day. But other times I
play the music at levels closer to reality (but probably still a
little bit louder than reality). On some occasions, such as last
weekend, I will bring along my Radio Shack sound level meter to a
musical event just for a reality check of sorts.

A big factor (the variables when discussing hearing are so
immense!)for me and for a lot of people that I know is age. I have
found that the older people get the lower they play the music. Almost
all elderly people that I know (in fact, *all* elderly [over 70?]
people that I know play their music *lower* than reality. Middle age
listeners that I know tend to more like "get it right". Younger people
play it the loudest. But regardless of age shows that when people are
asked to adjust levels to what they *remember* they will probably go a
lot higher.

One thing for certain I have found that as I have learned to turn the
volume down (although still a little louder than reality in most
situations) my system becomes seemingly even more resolving and I
enjoy the music more.

Robert C. Lang