How long can you listen at that volume?
The safe exposure time halves for every 3 dB. At a concert it is measured in minutes.
Almost exactly an at 94 dB
3,600 s is longer than 4 of the 8 references on this page.
Reference figures are measurements and are rounded; the unit conversion behind them is exact.
| Reference | Size | Yours ÷ theirs | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| at 118 dB | 14 s | 257× | |
| at 112 dB | 56 s | 64.3× | Under a minute |
| at 106 dB | 225 s | 16× | |
| at 100 dB | 900 s | 4× | Fifteen minutes |
| at 94 dB | 3,600 s | 1× | |
| at 91 dB | 7,200 s | 0.5× | |
| at 88 dB | 14,400 s | 0.25× | |
| at 85 dB | 28,800 s | 0.125× | Eight hours |
Worth knowing
- At 100 dB — a typical club or loud gig — the safe daily exposure is fifteen minutes.
- Hearing loss from noise is cumulative and permanent. The hair cells in the cochlea do not regenerate in mammals.
Frequently asked
How long can I safely listen to loud music?
Eight hours at 85 dB, halving for every 3 dB above that. Most headphones reach 100 dB or more, where the limit is fifteen minutes a day.
Do earplugs ruin a concert?
Musicians’ earplugs attenuate evenly across frequencies, typically by 15–25 dB, so the mix stays intact. Foam plugs cut treble far more than bass and do sound muffled.
How to read this
Based on the NIOSH 3 dB exchange rate. OSHA uses a 5 dB rate, which is more permissive.