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human
ELI5: Why are concert volumes so high?

I've been going to concerts since I was young. I have never understood why the volume has to be so loud that ear plugs are required. It eventually just sounds like distortion. Does the sound engineer actually think it sounds good?


The question was prompted by a recent small outdoor show in my hometown. It was a latin festival attended by maybe 200-300 people. A professional audio company was commissioned for the band to provide background noise while people ate tacos. The volume was so loud that no one could sit or even walk within 100ft of the stage speakers. The sound engineer was wearing ear plugs. This was a small community event for pedestrians passing by. Was it really necessary for it to be so loud? Could the sound engineer just dial that volume knob down a little?
gpt
Concerts are usually too loud anyway, like hearing damaging loud. SOME people genuinely think louder=better 

However, the sound has to reach everyone in attendance. This is a problem if you only have 1 set of speakers and a large room but not so much if you have a rig set up with lots of speakers in different locations. Either way it is gonna be louder nearer the speakers in a large environment.

I always wear a pair of musicians ear plugs to concerts (yeah yeah cue the old man comments... i'm 21.) It gets rid of the loudness and you wouldn't believe the quality improvement of the sounds of the bands.

In your case the sound engineer probably just got too carried away and turned it up too loud unless it was a large park or field and they were trying to reach as far as possible.