Speaker SPL for Drums?

M

MadMaxNightRider

Member
How Loud would a Speaker System have to be in order to be heard over a Drum set being played? Would a 105 decibels be loud enough for a Speaker System to heard over a drum set being playing like an average drummer & not hitting really hard? Or would I have to get a Louder MAX SPL Speaker System for my Drum set? Thanks. Does anybody here play along with Speakers? If so what do you use & What Decibel do you think they are being played at? Thanks
 
I'm sure this answer isn't helpful, but one time when I was playing with my old rock power trio, I set up my SPL meter right next to me, and was registering 115 dB during our rehearsals. That's with it closest to the drums, but also a Marshall half-stack and bass half-stack blaring in the room as well.
 
You don't have to buy special speakers. Yes 105 decibels would be loud enough. Loud enough to warrant hearing protection so too loud. There's always headphones too.
 
For reference, I have used a pair of 12 inch self powered JBL EONs and they are barely adequate. I Recommend a pair of 15 inch speakers.
you can get a pair of very cheap self powered speakers if you buy used or you can get the Rockville Pyle or Behringer speakers, for cheap, Of course I recommend spending more and getting JBL or EV or one of those good brands for longevity and reliability..
 
larryace said:
You don't have to buy special speakers. Yes 105 decibels would be loud enough. Loud enough to warrant hearing protection so too loud. There's always headphones too.
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That also depends on where the speakers are to be placed, if they are behind you, definitely too loud but yet might still be lacking against a 4x12 guitar cab and 2x18 bass cab.. Ideally bass and guitar should connect direct to the mixer (for rehearsals) and the only thing needed to be miced are the drums... and only so that it can be part of that mix... then all of you should have headphones/in ears and work with a much lower volume and much better overall mix.. The only advantage of having big speakers is that you can take them on live situations and use them at least as monitors should you not have access to in ears or headphone feeds. Plus I like to have as much control of my mix as possible since a lot of in house "engineers" could care less about the band sounding good and just do bare minimum which ends up affecting the quality.
 
I don't think there is a blanket answer to this question. It will depend and be affected by, the environment and size of the room you are playing your drums in.
If it's just you playing, you could just get headphones/iem's and use the headphone jack on your module for your samples. I do this when I'm working on heel toe, and the band isn't there.
 
The Room I have my Drums in is a Closed in Double Carport that is about 500 Square Feet with Solid Carpet. 2 Walls are Solid Brick & the other 2 Walls are just Regular Wood Veneer with a lot of Windows. Wall are not very well insulated. So some of the Sound can get out of the Room Pretty Easily & in between the Windows.

I am thinking of buying 2 Yamaha DBR 10's with an 18 inch Sub which would be about 1 Grand Total Cost. Would I have to buy a Mixer? Would I be able to hook my Laptop or TV up to these Speakers through one of the Inputs or would I have to buy some kind of Splitter?
 
You coud hook up directly to the speaker if you had an aux cable and one 1/4 inch adaptor for the speaker side, but if you have a mixer is much better to connect to the mixer since you get much more control over the sound.
 
Save your hearing and use headphones made for drummers.

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MadMaxNightRider said:
The Room I have my Drums in is a Closed in Double Carport that is about 500 Square Feet with Solid Carpet. 2 Walls are Solid Brick & the other 2 Walls are just Regular Wood Veneer with a lot of Windows. Wall are not very well insulated. So some of the Sound can get out of the Room Pretty Easily & in between the Windows.

I am thinking of buying 2 Yamaha DBR 10's with an 18 inch Sub which would be about 1 Grand Total Cost. Would I have to buy a Mixer? Would I be able to hook my Laptop or TV up to these Speakers through one of the Inputs or would I have to buy some kind of Splitter?
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Anyone within a quarter mile of you wont be happy. Get some earbuds/headphones. Your ears and neighbors will thank you.

Unless you want to hear ringing in your ears for the rest of your life this is a horrible idea, especially being in an enclosed box with numerous reflective surfaces.
 
Second MrInsanePolack here, you want to play over acoustic drums...with a speaker..Yes it can be done, but you will be better off just getting a mixer, some mics for the drums and a decent set of headphones/in ears. with that setup you control the volume going into your headphones and get to mix it with the music. As additional bonus, if you were to insulate/sound proof the room a little better, your drum sound wouldn't suffer (much) because it's captured from the mics and not what you hear from the room (I am aware that the mics do capture some of the room qualities but in this context it would not matter much). Save the $$ from the speakers to get better recording gear...
 
MrInsanePolack said:
Anyone within a quarter mile of you wont be happy. Get some earbuds/headphones. Your ears and neighbors will thank you.

Unless you want to hear ringing in your ears for the rest of your life this is a horrible idea, especially being in an enclosed box with numerous reflective surfaces.
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I agree with this. I played my first many years along with loud speakers. If I could go back I wouldn‘t have done it. IEMs are the way to go.

If you’re buying items to utilize as a PA later, by all means knock yourself out. But it sure seems like overkill to play along to music.
 
Specs for my old Audio System?
  • Signal-To-Noise Ratio
    55 dB
  • Dynamic Range
    90 dB

35 Watt - 8 Ohm - 100 - 20000 Hz - THD 10% - 2 channels (front)
65 Watt - 16 Ohm - 5000 - 20000 Hz - THD 10% - 2 channels (rear)
400 Watt - 6 Ohm - 50 - 120 Hz - THD 10% - 1 channels (subwoofer)

What do you think the MAX SPL would have been on it? Would 90 dbl be the MAX SPL on that System or would it have been Louder? Any Guess. 175 Watt Amplifier with a 120 Watt Powered 10 inch Sub.

Specs on the Audio System that I was Using:

www.cnet.com

Sharp CD G10000P Specs

Sharp CD G10000P overview and full product specs on CNET.
www.cnet.com www.cnet.com
 
I just am looking for a Sound System that sounds decent at high volume & that can last for years
MadMaxNightRider said:
Specs for my old Audio System?
  • Signal-To-Noise Ratio
    55 dB
  • Dynamic Range
    90 dB

35 Watt - 8 Ohm - 100 - 20000 Hz - THD 10% - 2 channels (front)
65 Watt - 16 Ohm - 5000 - 20000 Hz - THD 10% - 2 channels (rear)
400 Watt - 6 Ohm - 50 - 120 Hz - THD 10% - 1 channels (subwoofer)

What do you think the MAX SPL would have been on it? Would 90 dbl be the MAX SPL on that System or would it have been Louder? Any Guess. 175 Watt Amplifier with a 120 Watt Powered 10 inch Sub.

Specs on the Audio System that I was Using:

www.cnet.com

Sharp CD G10000P Specs

Sharp CD G10000P overview and full product specs on CNET.
www.cnet.com www.cnet.com
Click to expand...

I did have a real old Receiver that I hooked up this Old Sharp Sound System to & the MAX SPL was about the Same as the Original Sharp Amplifier. I know both these Systems are on the Low End. I am looking for something with some more Volume & Quality but I want to know what kind of Volume my Old Sharp Mini Component System was putting out before I Upgrade to a better system. If the Dynamic Range is 90db, Does that mean 90db is about the Max SPL that it can put out or can it go a littler Louder than 90db? Just need an Educated Guess here.
 
The Fuses are Blown out on my Sharp 10 inch Subwoofer & I had took them out years ago but lost them. What is the Usual Fuses that go in a 10 inch Sub or Are there a Ton of Different Fuses for Each Subwoofer? I also lost the Subwoofer Plug-in that goes into the Amplifier. What kind of Cord would I have to Buy for the Subwoofer to plug into my Amplifier?
 
Max SPL depends on the components of the PA, the size of the room and how reflective it is. It's very difficult to say if it would be loud enough.
For example one PA may not be loud enough in a larger room but be perfect in a small room. An analogy for what I'm talking about, ear buds aren't loud when placed next to your head, but can be deafening when you put them in your ears (this isn't a perfect analogy but you get the point).
Have you gone to a music store and asked someone in the pro sound department? They probably know the answer to your questions. Maybe one of the pro sound guys on here will chime in at some point.
 
A vintage stereo system is what you need. An older receiver/amp pushing minimum 30 watts per side (1970's real watts, not the nonsense home theatre numbers advertised today) and BIG speakers with 12" woofers.

Look for older Pioneer/Sony/Marantz/Technics receivers and vintage speakers whose foam surrounds haven't crumbled. Better still get speakers with pleated paper or rubber surrounds. You need ones with big woofers.

The recommendations to protect your hearing are wise. I played to systems as described above for years and damaged my hearing though concerts probably did the most damage. I STILL play to a monster system but I wear hearing protection now.
 
MrInsanePolack said:
Unless you want to hear ringing in your ears for the rest of your life
Click to expand...
I have this issue, it sucks donkey balls. You do not want tinnitus. When it flares up, I get angry and frustrated at not being able to hold a simple conversation because I can't hear voices as they tend to be in the same frequency range.
Protect your hearing at all costs, it can't be fixed later.
 
You are all Exactly right about Protecting your Hearing. Being able to Hear is one of Our Most Important Senses next to Seeing I would say. I wouldn't be playing at high volume for long periods of time. I would just be playing maybe for a few songs & then take a 5 minute break & then a few more songs but never more than that. I have played for 15 years with my Old Sharp System at Full Volume while Drumming but haven't noticed any hearing loss yet HUH WHAT? Yea right. I know I have some hearing loss after playing drums for 15 years at full volume but just don't know how loud it really was. Could have been like just 80dbl don't know because my drums could easily overpower the System if I played hard. I had to play sort of light in order to hear the Music while playing.

I am just trying to figure out what the MAX SPL of my Old Sharp Mini Component System was & then I can have an Idea of what I need to Shoot for For an Upgrade in Volume & Quality. I know nearly nothing about Audio. I am Slowly Learning a little bit at a time.

Can anybody just give me a ballpark Figure of what you think my Old Sharp Mini Component System's MAX SPL would be near? Do you think it would be over or under 100 Decibels?

Total Output of Receiver is 175 Watts it says on the Back of it with a 10 inch 120 watt Active Sub, 2 135 Watt Speakers & 2 65 Watt Speakers.

I have used an Old RCA Receiver to Power my Speakers & Sub & it was the Same Exact Volume as the Sharp Receiver.

Specs for RCA Receiver
www.cnet.com

RCA RT2250 - home theater system Specs

RCA RT2250 - home theater system overview and full product specs on CNET.
www.cnet.com www.cnet.com
 
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