Hmmm... a Camille saint-saens Organ Symphony at louder than life levels.. there are possibilities there, though I have an unwritten rule that orchestral music only sounds believable at precisely the original performance level. Pipe organ can get away with being louder.
But pop/rock/electronic music falls into another category, being there is no established expected level that it's realistic at. Louder is usually better. There are some schools of thought supporting the idea that, due to the resonance of the ear canal being favorable to mid/upper frequencies, the most danger to the ears is middle frequencies. Bass frequencies can be quite a bit louder before the same hearing damage occurs, due to the ear canal's inefficiency at low frequencies.
At elevated levels, electronic/pop music becomes a whole-body experience. Some folks don't like it, while others find it an unexpected epiphany which totally changes their way of thinking about sound reproduction. A lot of Japanese and Korean pop music has copious quantities of bass below 20Hz. While nearly inaudible alongside the rest of the program material as a masking effect, they are felt strongly, which opens a new dimension in the experience. It goes beyond listening and involves the entire body, not just the ears. For some of us, it's like a much-needed drug fix.
But pop/rock/electronic music falls into another category, being there is no established expected level that it's realistic at. Louder is usually better. There are some schools of thought supporting the idea that, due to the resonance of the ear canal being favorable to mid/upper frequencies, the most danger to the ears is middle frequencies. Bass frequencies can be quite a bit louder before the same hearing damage occurs, due to the ear canal's inefficiency at low frequencies.
At elevated levels, electronic/pop music becomes a whole-body experience. Some folks don't like it, while others find it an unexpected epiphany which totally changes their way of thinking about sound reproduction. A lot of Japanese and Korean pop music has copious quantities of bass below 20Hz. While nearly inaudible alongside the rest of the program material as a masking effect, they are felt strongly, which opens a new dimension in the experience. It goes beyond listening and involves the entire body, not just the ears. For some of us, it's like a much-needed drug fix.
