First recording - and it sucked

[nickgregory]

damn, perhaps the specs are wrong on the mics? 125db is like a cannon going off... 115db is an extremely loud rock show, 125db is damn near the threshold of pain I believe

specs are absolutely wrong...actually let me correct that...they are right if powered correctly, the SoundPros version powers them with a 9 Volt battery box which does not allow them to perform to spec....I ran into this at a chili peppers show, wrote it off as being 15 feet from the bass cabinet, but then again at kid rock.....50 ft from the stacks...sold them soon after

[leegeddy]

yeah, i highly doubt a venue will allow 125dB of spl. that's painful and dangerous.

marc

[Bdifr78]

yeah, i highly doubt a venue will allow 125dB of spl. that's painful and dangerous.

marc

Yeah I don't think that there is much chance it was anywhere near 125db.  I remember at the old Capital Center in MD, they had a decibel board that would show the current decibels,and I don't ever remember it going over 110db.  Even for Monster Truck events, and loud rock concerts.  I don't have much experience myself but I would bet its the power issue. 
Joe

[Karl]

Actually, it was very likely louder than 125 db.

I'm calling bullshit on that

30 some feet from the stage and it was louder than 125db? No way...

sounds like brickwalling to me, your levels were low yet the recording was distorted. try line in and see what happens...

I guess I could be wrong on that one.  I took an spl meter into my car once, and measured my car stereo at 132.  Maybe it was miscalibrated.  But I've been to quite a few concerts that are definitely louder than my car stereo.

[it-goes-to-eleven]

My suggestion is that you try and get out and get some testing in at shows you don't care about.

That way, you'll know where you stand when something you really care about comes up.  And since you won't care about the show, you can record from different distances to the stacks, stop in the middle and go listen to what you have recorded (assuming you have headphones and a quiet spot).

[Depechemode1993]

Hi Ryan, nice to see you! Quite obvious what I'm practising for, innit? 

I have no idea what your practicing for? 

[Brian]

135dB, i think, is the threshold for pain. most concert levels are around 110-115 dB.  of course if you get to the stacks it could be louder.  I used to have a chart that said how long the human ear could undergo such high SPL's before hearing damage at different loudness levels.  At the threshold of pain damage is instantaneous.  at concert levels, i think our ears can only handle like 20-30 minutes before damage ensues.

as a side, geeky note,  I measured the SPL levels of our dryers at the carwash.  from 60ft outside of the tunnel it was still 80dB.  standing at the center point of the dryers it was 100dBs.  When i put the measurment omni in the motor part of the dryer it was 140db's.....whoa

so yeah.....wear earplugs

[SparkE!]

yeah, i highly doubt a venue will allow 125dB of spl. that's painful and dangerous.

marc

Back in 1979, I took an acoustics engineering course at the University of Kansas.  Part of our coursework was to take a sound pressure level meter to a live concert and monitor the SPLs.  I took it to a Cheap Trick show at Allen Fieldhouse where I was able to get within about 30 yards of the main stacks and about 10 yards to the left side of the left stack.  At that position, I was getting nearly constant readings of 123 to 124 dB on the C weighted slow scale.    I saw a couple of readings on that setting at 126.  On the A weighted fast scale, I saw 128.  Had I been able to get closer to the stacks, I probably would have had higher readings yet.  I thought I was going to turn in the record SPLs for the semester, but someone else went to the Molly Hachet show at Hoch Auditorium and came back with readings in excess of 136 dB on the C weighted slow scale (Yikes!).  He was not wearing ear protection and his ears were ringing for over a month afterwards.  Even that was not the all-time record.  Two semesters previous to that, someone went to the Yes concert at Hoch Auditorium and came back with readings of 142.  The rumor was that they were running a PA system that was capable of 200 kW total output power and that they kept blowing fuses during soundcheck, but hooked into their own trailer-mounted generator for the main show.

So, yes... Some shows are dangerously loud.  125 dB is generally accepted as the threshold of pain.  FWIW, I always wear earplugs unless I can comfortably talk with people at a socially acceptable distance (3 or 4 feet).  I'm guessing that I never hear a show at greater than 100 dB without earplugs.