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[John L Nobile]

My guess is way too f'n loud. But I just got a rider that says:

"A Stereo sound system capable of delivering an undistorted, full bandwidth SPL of 115dB (Aweighted)
to the entire audience area."

I do my metering with a C weight and average 105 dB at FOH with a room full of people ( 900). My PA can't do that. I can't even imagine how loud that is.

[Tim McCulloch]

My guess is way too f'n loud. But I just got a rider that says:

"A Stereo sound system capable of delivering an undistorted, full bandwidth SPL of 115dB (Aweighted)
to the entire audience area."

I do my metering with a C weight and average 105 dB at FOH with a room full of people ( 900). My PA can't do that. I can't even imagine how loud that is.

IT'S REALLY DAMN LOUD!

[Brian Jojade]

It's stupid loud.  BUT - a system capable of that can be turned down to a reasonable level.

Silly specs like this don't put enough information to actually be useful. What's 'full bandwidth' and what's the duration that you need to achieve that SPL?  Is a sine sweep good enough to pass the test?

Just for raw numbers sake, if you are using point source speakers and have a room 100 feet deep, not taking into account room reflections, et al, your point source speaker would need to be capable of producing 145dB at 1 meter.  There aren't too many speakers that could offer that sort of sustained volume on the market.

[Ivan Beaver]

My guess is way too f'n loud. But I just got a rider that says:

"A Stereo sound system capable of delivering an undistorted, full bandwidth SPL of 115dB (Aweighted)
to the entire audience area."

I do my metering with a C weight and average 105 dB at FOH with a room full of people ( 900). My PA can't do that. I can't even imagine how loud that is.

I am sure they got their weighting mixed up.

115A is beyond painfully loud.  And it can't be because of lots of bass-because the bass is rolled off in the A scale.

I like it loud, but I could not stand to be around 115A.  At least without good ear protection.

[Helge A Bentsen]

Well, 115dBA isn't that loud.
Because it lacks a time and distance reference, it could be a snare drum (130dBA ish) at 5.6m. So, a small club can easily be 115dBA from the snare drum.

Now, if we're talking 115dBA Leq15 for instance, it's seriously loud.
I provided for a show once that hit 108dBA Leq15 at FOH (20m from stage outdoors), didn't have any foam ear plugs so I had to wear my Ultraphones over molded ear plugs.

[John L Nobile]

IT'S REALLY DAMN LOUD!

LOL. Saw that headline in my mind when I read it.

Time to trade in the SH96's for J8's. Looks like even J7's wouldn't cut it.

Let's see if they accept my humble PA system though we will have to rent FOH/Monitors at the very least. It's not a big space.

[Merlijn van Veen]

My guess is way too f'n loud. But I just got a rider that says:

"A Stereo sound system capable of delivering an undistorted, full bandwidth SPL of 115dB (Aweighted)
to the entire audience area."

I do my metering with a C weight and average 105 dB at FOH with a room full of people ( 900). My PA can't do that. I can't even imagine how loud that is.

We have published an open‑access AES Engineering Brief during the recent 152nd Convention titled "Designing sound system in‑band headroom based on expected difference between C‑ and A‑weighted levels" that reports on the relationship between C‑ and A‑weighted levels for various music genres.

[Ivan Beaver]

Well, 115dBA isn't that loud.
Because it lacks a time and distance reference, it could be a snare drum (130dBA ish) at 5.6m. So, a small club can easily be 115dBA from the snare drum.

It said over the entire listening area

True that the time makes a lot of difference.

For example I have measured my hand clap @1m of 130dB peak, unweighted.

I can snap my fingers around 115dB peak unweighted.

But I am sure they are not talking peak.

They simply have no idea what they are specing.  Very standard for riders.  Heck most of the time they can't even get the number of people in the band correct  HAHA  At least the actual band that will be performing that night-------- 

[Justice C. Bigler]

115db A weighted is pretty fraking loud.

I routinely measure and log* the SPL levels for my show. The loudest parts of our show will hit 114-115 db C weighted. At the same time, those same parts are usually in the 96-98 dB A weighted. And the long term 90 minutes average for the show is below 90dB. We have a venue coming up which claims to have a hard limit of 95 db, which just makes me laugh, since they don't specify a time duration or weighting curve.

We run 14 Karas per side with 12 Karas at Center and 6 SB18 subs (3 per side) plus front fills. The loudest parts of our show are breathtakingly loud. It would take a lot to get the SPL levels up to 115 dB A weighted, and frankly I would be wearing hearing protection if it did get that loud.

*All measurements taken at the FOH mix position, which can be ~100 feet from the front of the stage and often times under a low balcony, with Earthworks M23R mics, calibrated with an Isemcon SC-1 calibrator and Smart v8 running on my Roland Octacapture; measurements taken every 1 second.

[Paul Johnson]

The mention of this as a rider requirement would instantly make me say sorry, our system isn't that loud. You will need to bring one in if that requirement is serious. We may also have contractual issues with staff if the show is going to be that loud.

My experience is that if they say they will use your system, then they will push the levels and possibly destroy things. Had it happen last year - my system is pretty potent in volume and paperwork Watts, but I have never seen so many red lights. At the end, one sub rattled - over excursioned I think. It did not need to be that loud, everyone was wearing ear plugs and the audience complained. The sound guy was called "deaf Jeff" - which summed it up. They came back 6 months later and brought their own rig. It was even louder. They are not coming back any more.

[ProSoundWeb Community]