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[Kent Thompson]

At that level I'd be blowing the drivers out of our M2D's and probably getting complaints form a hundred people a minute. You should practice mixing at 90 average and peaking near a hundred. You'll be less deaf in ten years and your muso's won't ask for that much more volume in ten years. If your system is set up right you don't need damaging SPL levels to get loud sound.

You might want to re-evaluate your mix and maybe ask the muso's to use less level in the monitors. Try aux fed subs, this can bring a lot of clarity to your mix depending on your system setup. Don't pump up the bass when the people come in either, you will stop the old lady in the front seats' pacemaker with too much bass.

80 Db/SPL-A is plenty to set up a mix in. A note for the future aswell, paragraphs are nice.

While I appreciate the concern about hearing and do agree to some extent. There are many cases where it is impossible to even get to 80db with acoustic drums, 2 guitars, 1 keyboard 1 piano, percussion, choir, 4-5 horn players and still have the vocalist heard out of the main PA. It's not gonna happen...


before we took all the amps off stage and went to in ears I took several readings on stage that were in the 100 db-A range. It was loud but, if they did not have it that loud they had problems hearing what they were doing. So what this meant is that the front row next to musicians had to have around 100db A just to hear the vocals.


I guess the short version of this is db readings are relative to the space your in and what sound you have going on. I can't impose my decibel limits on another church setting and have it mean anything.

[Jean-Pierre Coetzee]

While I appreciate the concern about hearing and do agree to some extent. There are many cases where it is impossible to even get to 80db with acoustic drums, 2 guitars, 1 keyboard 1 piano, percussion, choir, 4-5 horn players and still have the vocalist heard out of the main PA. It's not gonna happen...


before we took all the amps off stage and went to in ears I took several readings on stage that were in the 100 db-A range. It was loud but, if they did not have it that loud they had problems hearing what they were doing. So what this meant is that the front row next to musicians had to have around 100db A just to hear the vocals.


I guess the short version of this is db readings are relative to the space your in and what sound you have going on. I can't impose my decibel limits on another church setting and have it mean anything.

It's called correct monitor eq, give them 3k and they will want it softer. Don't ever turn up a monitor if they want more.

Right now you have electric drums and if you have wedges roll of the bottom end for them, it's a church not a rockfest. You can get down to 85. I mix 87 peak with acoustic drums and valve amps on stage, and I insist on decent tone from an amp so they are cranked.

It's not impossible, it just needs a little effort...

[Kent Thompson]

It's called correct monitor eq, give them 3k and they will want it softer. Don't ever turn up a monitor if they want more.

Right now you have electric drums and if you have wedges roll of the bottom end for them, it's a church not a rockfest. You can get down to 85. I mix 87 peak with acoustic drums and valve amps on stage, and I insist on decent tone from an amp so they are cranked.

It's not impossible, it just needs a little effort...

I mixed a Pentecostal regional conference the other day. The crowd was peaking at 92 db  at the sound booth in the back of the building in a very tame room, no music no instruments just the crowd. 80db was impossible to do if you wanted anything to be heard.

[Jean-Pierre Coetzee]

I mixed a Pentecostal regional conference the other day. The crowd was peaking at 92 db  at the sound booth in the back of the building in a very tame room, no music no instruments just the crowd. 80db was impossible to do if you wanted anything to be heard.

I entirely agree there are exceptions but 92 DbA is damn loud, 87 DbA is our limit after 9 at night here in a 'noise' area (I think I hate the city). I have run sound at above 90 DbA for a large show, needless to say I kept my ears in silence for much of the weekend thereafter.

[Taylor Phillips]

I think Jean-Pierre missed that I was measuring SPL in dBC, rather than dBA.  dBC gives a much higher reading that dBA because dBA doesn't respond to the bass frequencies.

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