Live Sound Loudness: LUFS and Ear Fatigue

We often think "Rock and Roll must be loud". But the human ear has a natural compressor mechanism. If you hit an audience with 110dB SPL continuously, their ears will shut down after 15 minutes. The show will sound dull.

Dynamics are Key

To make the loud parts sound HUGE, you need quiet parts. Drop the level during verses or banter. This allows the ears to reset/recover. Then, when the chorus hits, that 105dB impact feels massive again.

Protect Your Ears

As a mixing engineer, if you mix at 105dB every night, you will lose your high-frequency hearing by age 40. Mix at a reasonable level (95-98dB at FOH is plenty for most clubs) and use the system's headroom for transient impact, not constant noise.