Decibel Level of Vertigo Tour

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cmb737

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Take this all with a grain of salt, as I saw them in the barn that is San Diego, but I feel like the Vertigo tour is signifigantly louder than the Elevation tour. I am curious if anyone felt the same way. I obviously would love to bring my SPL meter into a show, but I don't think security would let me. I wear musicians custom molded ear plugs with 25 db filters and my ears were still ringing after these two shows. I can't imagine those that wore nothing at all.

Keep in mind for those that are concerned about their own hearing or especially if they are bringing children...these shows are VERY VERY loud and WILL cause hearing damage if you aren't wearing hearing protection.

Those that saw them in the more modern arenas in LA and SJC do you think its louder? At points during San Diego 2 I was watching my t-shirt actually flap during Love and Peace from the subwoofers beneath the stage. The sub's were that hot. I could feel the breeze caused by them on the outside of the ellipse. Awesome.

WEAR EAR PLUGS!
 
The shows in Monteal during the Elevation Tour were extremely load. Both in May and October. It doesn't bother me, I like the loudness.

SMB
 
My ears are still ringing and its been 3 days :huh:

The bass was so intense that it felt like my chest was just going to explode. lol.

But it was great :D
 
Depends on where you are really, as I had a front row seat the first night, and my ears were fine after a few hours. I had a floor ticket for the second night and my ears were ringing for about a whoel day.

However, I don't know if we can say it's that much louder than the Elevation Tour. You have to remember that the San Diego venue has a low ceiling, so the sound really echoes a lot there, making things much louder.
 
i agree, i was at sd 1 at the tip and thought it wasnt any louder than normal, maybe even a little less than elevation

im sure it varies depending where youre standing though
 
hmm this higher db level excites me:drool: I saw 7 elevation shows and felt it was high enough (then again 4 were at the gigantic UC in Chicago).
Can't wait to feel that bass on the floor! :rockon:
 
ayearwome said:
hmm this higher db level excites me:drool: I saw 7 elevation shows and felt it was high enough (then again 4 were at the gigantic UC in Chicago).
Can't wait to feel that bass on the floor! :rockon:
Click to expand...

Hehe, on the floor...I was in the bleeders and I felt the bass!, especially on Love and Peace.
 
Yeah, there were definitely a few pants-flapping bass moments there. :rockon: I thought the sound was noticeably louder at the San Jose show than any of my previous Elevation shows. It took almost the entire first number for my ears to get used to it, but after that I didn't mind. :D
 
High db level isn't always good. For me at SJ2 it was hard to pick out Bono's lyrics from the overall mix.
 
My ears still have a little ring from SJ2. My ears rang on the night of an elevation show. The ring was usually gone by morning. Actually, I think what killed my ears may have been Kings of Leon. There were a couple times where I had some weird sounds in my ear b/c it was so loud. Who knows?

It's still nothing compared to an Oasis concert 5 years ago. I seriously lost hearing from that one and the concert wasn't even good. :rolleyes:
 
:ohmy: Losing hearing from a concert that wasn't good...ouch..not fun.

Glad to hear the bass was felt in the bleeders, I'll be sitting there for Chicago 1 :up:
 
I have seats for all the shows I am going to; some sidestage and some straight on? Is the sound loud all around the arena in the upper bowl, or just near the stage?
 
It is amazing how much hearing loss can occur at a rock concert (or several if you are touring). Check this out:

OSHA Noise Exposure Limits:

90 db - 8 hours
92 db - 6 hours - Hearing Protection Recommended.
95 db - 4 hours
97 db - 3 hours
100 db - 2 hours
102 db - 1.5 hours
105 db - 1 hour
110 db - .05 hour
115 db - .25 hour
120 db - Hearing Protection REQUIRED by Federal Law and ZERO exposure allowed without hearing protection.. Also the volume of the average Rock Concert.

I would love to get an accurate measurement from the Vertigo Tour. Hearing damage can occur with as low noise levels as an open window during driving.
 
For a year after I saw the Who in '77, change jingling togther sounded like aluminum to me. The world's loudest band indeed. I don't regret it. it was my first concert, and I loved every damaging minute of it. What fun is a concert if is isn't really loud?
 
The dB level has been dependent on the venue for the most part, and location secondly.

The speaker setup they are using are long-throw setups, which are very popular with touring acts these days. They are able to carry the sound well to the rear of the arena, but tend to be a bit less full.

There are places where the sound quality and volume are dramatically different within the arena.

The volume level for San Diego night 2 was louder than night 1, but it also sounded better. San Diego sports arena has literally some of the worst accoustics of any venue in America. There was so much slapback and mud I was really quite surprised that the sound engineers actually did a pretty descent job compensating during night 2.

That said, San Diego was still much quieter than San Jose. A bigger arena, better accoustics, allowed the engineers to crank up the volume a bit. I'd be very interested to hear the average dB on some of these shows.

Also, its really tough for the sound engineers to tune the system just right in an empty arena. Bodies greatly impact how the sound is absorbed.
 
I don't think earplugs are a necessity, but if you are going to get earplugs, these are the ones to get. They're engineered to basically reduce the sound level but keep the clarity, and they work pretty darn well. More expensive than the foamies? Yup ($12/pair), but they're made to be durable, reusable and don't muffle up the sound. :up:
 
Diemen said:
I don't think earplugs are a necessity, but if you are going to get earplugs, these are the ones to get. They're engineered to basically reduce the sound level but keep the clarity, and they work pretty darn well. More expensive than the foamies? Yup ($12/pair), but they're made to be durable, reusable and don't muffle up the sound. :up:
Click to expand...

Thanks. I am considering them but I really love being totally blasted with loud music!
 
jammin909 said:


Thanks. I am considering them but I really love being totally blasted with loud music!
Click to expand...

Those will have no affect on the most powerful part of the performance, what you feel rather than hear. You will actually hear the whole thing a lot better, with acute detail, by reducing all those brittle high ends and woofing lows that echo around the arenas. I actually enjoy the show 10x more wearing ear plugs.
 
here here!!
i second that notion cmb737
i am adrummer and have been an advocate of earplugs, especially at concerts for years. you DO hear the concert better. the earplugs round off the high and lows that provide no positive quality to your sonic experience.
thanks for the tip about driving with the window open. i always had my suspicions about that. looks like i'll have to get AC installed in my car for the summer.
there's my 2 cents
 
Go for earlugs

Been to many concerts. After one particularly loud show the ringing in my ears did not stop.

My audiogram (hearing test) shows a definite + permanant noise induced dip. I still get tinnitus at times. I always wear earplugs now.

People have different sensitivities to noise. It is possible to get significant hearing damage after a single loud show.

Trust me I,m a doctor!

ps Pete Townshend is as deaf as a post
 
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