Also worth pointing out that if you’re doing really loud stuff, you need to refer to NRR rating, not db. It’s a more precise way of measuring hearing protection against loud noises.
Same here, and for more than one reason. Yeah, damaging the hearing of your audience is bad. But I could almost forgive it if it made the sound better. Like, "okay yeah I just lost 2% of my hearing for this one show, but it was amazing."
But that has never been my experience. When I was younger and going to shows (with no earplugs), not only was it painfully loud, but the sound was worse because of it. The frequencies muddled together. It was like my ears were clipping the sound or something. The bass was overwhelmed by the mid and treble ranges. There was this weird "swirling" sound like you'd hear from a low bitrate MP3. It just sounded like shit. Loud shit.
I will never go to a concert again without earplugs. The one time I did forget them, I went to the bar, grabbed some cocktail napkins, twisted those up and stuffed those into my ear canals. Anything to avoid that assault on my hearing. Or what's left of it.
And, at least in most of the major European country, there are noise level ceilings which are checked. You’ll still need to wear hear plugs if you want to be comfy for anything bigger than a bar.
I thought it was due to the crowd making noise.