I hooked up my trusty old Logitech speakers to see if they still worked. They did, so I booted a game and sheepishly turned the volume way down in fear of annoying my neighbors, immediately remembering why I had these stuffed in a closet for almost 10 years.
Even if I lived in a soundproof house in the middle of nowhere I'd still be self-conscious enough to just use headphones instead 
Even if I lived in a soundproof house in the middle of nowhere I'd still be self-conscious enough to just use headphones instead
This sounds like a result of childhood abuse, ngl.
Some people don't have courtesy to their neighbors, and some do but still feel permitted to use sound. The people who don't feel permitted to broadcast sound even in the privacy of their own homes (myself included) are a small minority.
Word. Slamming the noise when I got out of my bad house was a joy. I was conscientious of my neighbors but many times as a young adult I realized I didn't have to be silent anymore. I eventually trained myself to make noise when I walked around bc I kept spooking people. Having a 6+ foot tall man appear behind you is apparently very disconcerting.
I'm almost forty and still have trouble remember to make sound when I walk around other people. Some childhood survival skills never go away.
Me too. People say "you scared the shit out of me" a couple times a month, and I'm usually not trying.
I had a roommate who almost requested that I wear a bell around my neck.
Having a 6+ foot tall man appear behind you is apparently very disconcerting.
the only good scene from it follows
my grandma likes them with the volume turned all the way up as she's watching youtube shorts on desktop
I've got 7 inch studio monitors and a subwoofer hooked up to my PC at all times. My living situation sucks balls but at least I can blast music as loud as I want
I got some nice monitors for working in the DAW... and then the only time I have to make music is while the rest of the family is asleep
i would like to remind folks that long term exposure to even comfortable levels of sound can cause cumulative hearing damage! Please be kind to yourself to maximize your chances of being able to rock out when you're 143 and living on the moons of Saturn. I turn my system volume down to ~15 on my headphones.
Apparently your ears adapt to sound levels the way your eyes adapt to light levels. After like 15-30 minutes you'll get used to relatively low sound levels. More useful on headphones since you can carry them with you.
And always wear ear plugs at the show! And double up - ear plugs + ear muffs, when using power-tools or firearms! I'm sure we'll have cheap and easy implants that can restore hearing by by-passing the ear entirely at some point but we're not there yet.
And always wear ear plugs at the show!
If you care enough about music to spend money on shows, then buy & use quality hearing protection that doesn’t make it sound like you’re underwater. They’re not even that expensive.
I had no idea those existed, so many concerts would have been better with them.
One thing that gets in the way of adapting to a sound level is traffic.
If you're walking or biking, the sound of a car going by will completely drown out the 45 dB audio you're playing.
Noise cancelling is the best but you have to be more observant walking and biking since it'll be harder to hear surroundings. Anker makes kick ass headphones for cheap with nose cancellation. I don't work for Anker, promise. I got new over ear headphones to replace ones I had for about 2.5 years (and counting, prolly use them for working out or something or maybe just retirement until there's an emergency since they've split open from all my sweat all this time) and buds as well so I don't die trying to enjoy my bike ride during a blistering summer day. Spent 80 on both with a sale but otherwise they can be cheap especially compared to air pods and the like.
What's the point of desktop speakers anymore
Meanwhile, me who blasted nasheeds out my window all day yesterday (December 25)
No kidding. I got one of those bluetooth gadgets a month back that lets you connect regular stereo speakers (the old-school kind that take two wires each in little spring-loaded clips) to bluetooth sources. After a single test the very next thing I ordered online was an adjustable audio attenuator to sit between the bluetooth gadget and the speakers because that setup was incredibly loud on its own, even at minimum volume from whatever bluetooth source I connected.
I have an am transmitter I keep in my room that I use to broadcast to restored antique AM radios. They were incredibly loud and I had to get one of those as well until I got a different transmitter that allowed me to modulate the output power.
It's good to care about bothering other people, but there's plenty of reasonable levels to set your speakers at that no one else will ever hear unless they're in the room with you.
Have you tried not giving a fuck? Personally, I just give my contact details to the neighbors, and I assume they're fine until they tell me to turn it down.
Receiving no complaints doesn't mean much unless they are confrontational people who like complaining.
I set my speaker baseline by putting some music on, going outside and if it's louder than ambient noise I go back inside and turn it down. Once I'm comfortable it's not loud enough to bother anyone I leave the speaker setting put and use headphones on the occasion I want a more immersive experience.
i use desktop speakers 90% of the time and i only use the headset if im voice communicating with friends because i generally dislike headphones on my ears. one day ill get a stand mic but eh
Headphones make me anxious cos I can't hear my surroundings. I just use a sound bar and keep it low volume. Unless you have paper thin walls its not an issue, even when i lived in a house share my speakers didn't cause a problem.
I have a 50W Marshall amp with a stack speaker plugged into my computer
But I generally keep the volume "as low as possible while being able to understand what's being said", because I used to work around aircraft and I'm keenly aware that I've lost some hearing and want to protect the rest of it.
My partner and I play a lot of games either co-op or taking turns using her PC, so we need speakers. She doesn’t have desktop speakers though so we just use a portable Bluetooth speaker we already had
I used to have speakers plugged in all the time when I was still living at home and used to play games with siblings and friends in my room, so that checks out.
Even if I lived in a soundproof house in the middle of nowhere I'd still be self-conscious enough to just use headphones instead
I wouldn’t be, so I’d ball out on speakers if I could. Need that surround sound in every corner of my house for my music and riffing podcasting needs
Sometimes I am sweaty or my hair is too wet and I need to use speakers. But otherwise,
Talk to your neighbors and say you wanna see how loud is too loud at a good time for them. They can go to their place you can crank it, they can report back, you can adjust. Most people want to as accommodating as possible in an apartment but have a tendency to only interact after there's an issue. Just be proactive. I like listening to really not accessible using super loud and I just let people know it's a thing I like to do when I move in and let people know they can just come ask me to turn shit down whenever and I'd appreciate the same favor in return, please come knock if you need anything, if they seem cool visit each other. But yeah, just talk to people beforehand and nip it in the bud. I like room sound and headphones make me paranoid
