SPL or dBA Levels

[CraigP]

At what levels, SPL dBA do you play at home, in studio, or live (when that used to be a thing)?

My meter shows 84-111 dBA, but, I am not sure how accurate it is or how it compares to others' levels.

And what about live perfs in small, med, large venues???

 

[lqdsnddist]

Usually around 70-80dB at home/studio aka the home studio lol

loud enough to have a fairly linear frequency response, quiet enough to not cause hearing damage or annoy the neighbors.

 

[ScotHessler]

I try to keep it 85 dBA or below.

 

[jlpete87]

I'm in a condo unfortunately, so I usually keep it between 55 and 65 dBA.

 

[chris]

around 60 at home for practice. making presets i can get to about 80 for 30 minutes or so.

live restaurant gigs i try to be at 80 or below for venue requirements. sometimes i'm at 60 there too.

gigs with drums are easily 90 - 100 or more.

 

[RamboMadCow]

Anyone here have any recommendations on decent SPL meters? I tried using an android app, but it seems it didn't go any higher than 85 no matter how massively loud I cranked my matrix 1600 gt amp into 2 matrix 2x12 cabs. It made me strongly suspect that my phone's microphone was just in capable of accepting any more pressure.

Also, when measuring, do you measure from where you sit or put it right near the cab. If it's where you sit, that seems to imply the distance you measure will change if you're performing on a stage, is this correct?

 

[Muad'zin]

When I was still doing stints as a FOH soundguy I used to keep my FOH mix at around 95dba, by the meter that I had at the FOH mixing desk. Unlike the others manning the desk I didn't subscribe to the idea that since 100dba was the max for the venue, that was where mix should be kept at. And I noticed that when I kept it at 95 audience member were far more likely to come forward to the stage. What the bands were always asking the audience to do.

I don't know what my levels are in rehearsals. But we tend to keep the levels at a reasonable level. And that's the advantage of having the Axe-Fx. None of this 'I got to push my tubes or else it won't sound good' bullshit. As long as I can hear what I'm playing, I'm okay now with turning it down a little.

 

[RamboMadCow]

When I was still doing stints as a FOH soundguy I used to keep my FOH mix at around 95dba, by the meter that I had at the FOH mixing desk. Unlike the others manning the desk I didn't subscribe to the idea that since 100dba was the max for the venue, that was where mix should be kept at. And I noticed that when I kept it at 95 audience member were far more likely to come forward to the stage. What the bands were always asking the audience to do.

I don't know what my levels are in rehearsals. But we tend to keep the levels at a reasonable level. And that's the advantage of having the Axe-Fx. None of this 'I got to push my tubes or else it won't sound good' bullshit. As long as I can hear what I'm playing, I'm okay now with turning it down a little.

I typically agree with the sound volume while practicing/rehearsing. This is more of a question based on tone sculpting. Should I sculpt my tone with an SPL meter at the guitar cabinet and 95 db, or at 10 feet from the speaker @ 95 db, etc. There's a lot of variables at play here. I can always play around with distances if the general consensus is to do it at "some" distance.

Also, any SPL meter recommendations? There's so many on Amazon I don't know where to start.