I would love to listen at reference levels, but since I live in a tight-spaced neighborhood as well as with a downstairs neighbor, that’s not possible. I usually listen at -35dB to -25dB on my receiver for movies/Tv and around -20dB for music if I’m listening to music on the louder size.
So, what level do you guys normally listen at?
I’ve found that I listen to private music at 70 to 75dB and movies with my family at 65 to 70dB (both excluding bass frequencies from the baseline). Glad to hear I’m not the only one who isn’t listening at reference.
Couldn’t tell you in dBs since I switched from the Denon AVR, that noted the volume in dBs, to a Rotel amp that only goes from 0 to 100% volume. Usually at 45-50% volume listening to music in 2 channel. Usually need it louder when steaming Hi Res and lower with CDs to get the same loudness in the room. Used to crank it up louder but trying to preserve my hearing now that I’m older. Watch movies and TV with the family and it’s always at a lower volume than my music.
Strongly depends on the source material, but usually i listen around ~ -30DB +-10
Besides the fact i would start a war with my neighborhood, i cannot stand reference level over a longer period of time, especially for gaming.
Btw: Dynamic EQ or equivalent is mandatory imo when listening below reference level, else you will miss on details and you won’t hear the intended / balanced soundscape.
On my Yamaha on the 0-98 scale.
46 is what I often do. Sometimes up to 50 or even higher if it’s lower volume at the source.
That’s for movies and tv series
Some interesting takes here! I also tend to use YPAO volume on my receiver (basically Yamaha’s version of dynamic EQ), the sound can be rather flat without it at lower volumes.
Yeah basically what those ‘loudness’ features do is to dynamically alter frequency response depending on volume to achieve evenly perceived loudness over the frequency spectrum.
After switching from a FireTV Stick to a FireTV Cube, I immediately noticed a significant difference in sound levels. When using the Stick, I found that -30dB provided the perfect balance of volume—loud enough to enjoy but not overpowering. However, with the Cube, I now have to increase the volume to around -20dB to achieve a similar level of sound. This situation has left me a bit perplexed because I had assumed that the AVR would automatically adjust the sound levels to match a reference level scale, regardless of the source. I expected everything to be equally loud. Now it seems that your -20dB might be different from mine, highlighting a discrepancy in sound calibration.
Hello Deyan,
I don’t have any particular experience with the FireTV gear, but I read a few things online that might help: Maybe either the FireTV stick or Cube had the volume leveler enabled? It could also be one of them used a different audio format than the other which could affect the level. Please check out this article I found that might help with the issue.
Thank you for your helpful reply. I have grown accustomed to the new level. It simply serves as a reminder of how the source itself can have an impact on sound level. I did take the time to review my Cube’s settings and even experimented with toggling the volume leveler on and off, but unfortunately, I didn’t observe any noticeable difference. As for the audio format, it is set to auto/best possible (or whatever the specific term may be).
