Listening Level

Because music is often a complex signal with temporal fluctuations, the listening level needs to be averaged. The listening level, provided in the Results page, is an (energy-based) sound level averaged over the duration of the recording (at least 30 seconds).

It is expressed in dBA which is an abbreviation for A-weighted decibel.

• The dBA is the most common unit used to characterize sound level and noise exposure.
• The A-weighting is a frequency filter that tries to mimic the effects of human hearing .

The listening level can be used to compare listening levels from different song and/or music and from different volume settings on your personal audio device.

Together with the number of listening hours per week, the listening level is critical data for the calculation of the age of ears, for the noise exposure (and the comparison with the Word Health Organisation criteria).

Noise exposure & WHO standard level

"Safe listening levels depend on the intensity (loudness), duration (length of time) and frequency (how often) of the exposure. These three factors are interrelated and contribute to the overall sound energy level that a person’s ears are exposed to. The total amount of sound energy a person can safely receive is effectively constant. We can be exposed to the same amount of energy at lower volumes listened to over long periods of time as we might receive when louder sounds are heard for a short duration. Permissible levels of daily exposure to noise have been identified accordingly, taking into account the total permissible 'dose’ of sound. Permissible exposure levels have been calculated for occupational settings and are extrapolated to recreational settings." Make Listening Safe, WHO

A World Health Organisation standard (WHO–ITU H.870) recommends two criteria for avoiding unsafe listening, one for adults (80 dBA for 40 hours per week of exposure) and one for children (75 dBA for 40 hours per week of exposure).

A 80-dBA limit for 40 hours per week corresponds to:

• 83-dBA limit for 20 hours per week
• 86-dBA limit for 10 hours per week
• 89-dBA limit for 5 hours per week
• 92-dBA limit for 2h 30 minutes per week

Based on the measured listening level and the listening hours per week, the software assesses if your listening habits meet the WHO criteria. If not, we calculate your permissible exposure time, i.e. how many hours per week you can listen your device at this listening level before exceeding the WHO criteria.

Hearing loss and unsafe listening with personal audio devices

• 50% of people listening to music on personal audio devices do so at levels which put their hearing at risk.
• 5–10% of listeners are likely to develop hearing loss due to the volume level of their personal devices and the duration of their listening.
• Noise-induced hearing loss is irreversible.

Source: Toolkit for safe listening devices and systems. World Health Organization & International Telecommunication Union. (‎2019)‎. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/280086.