Sound pressure level questions

[Andrew]

I had to leave a venue recently because the sound was w-a-y too loud. Even when I retreated to a relatively quieter part, it was too loud. I managed to escape with my hearing but as for those other patrons...I am not sure! I lasted about 5 minutes in there!

From this unpleasant experience, I have some questions...

1. What is the maximum Sound Pressure level that is deemed safe by Health Standards? Is it expressed always in db's & what else could you compare that to?

2. How is this policed, if at all?

3. How much of a difference does a crowd of 200-300 make if the space is quite full?

4. As a patron, would you tell the owner? There were only a few patrons there and they did not seem to mind!

Thank you if you can help.

[David]

The max, if I remember, is around 80 to 90 db. Anything over that becomes irritating to the inner ear. We check our sound with a db meter. Our threshold limit is 100 db at the dance floor. IF we get complaints, we take action. I would venture a guess that the DJ's monitor wasn't as loud as the floor speaker volume.

There are many variables that contribute to the quality and quantity of the sound in a club. People are differently a factor. The more people, the more sound waves that are absorbed by their bodies and clothing. The furniture, carpet, wall construction and if there is any glass or metal in the club will also act as a hinder or a help.

This type of thing happens all of the time. It is also one of the things that can send your crowd to the club down the street. If you are upset with the volume of the sound that is being produced, mention it to the manager. It's quite possible that he/she might agree with you.

[happybaboon]

The biggest factor will be the number of people in the club - if it was starting to empty out, and say 1/4 of the patrons had left yet the sound system was set to the same volume, it would be much more intense.

You said there were only a few patrons - so my guess is, thats entirely the case.

If you were to check the levels of the DJs monitor/headphones, you'd find they were significantly lower - so they probably just didn't notice.