Do cheap, portable sound pressure monitors exist?

Factual Questions
1

I find myself wondering if I listen to headphones with too much volume. I have a pretty good sense of what dangerous volume levels are for sound levels I encounter in the world, but having headphones on (especially isolating ones) makes it hard to put the sound levels in perspective.

So I was wondering, do they make anything like, say, a thermometer-sized object that measures sound pressure/volume? That way you could slip it into your headphones (and car with the stereo on, and whatever else concerns you) and see what the actual sound pressure is so you can keep it below a threshold any spare your hearing.

2

I don’t know about that small, but Radio Shack has one that’s about the size of a…um…a… well let’s just find a picture.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103667&cp=&kw=decibel&parentPage=search

3

Measuring dB level inside the ear canal with headphones is very different animal than measuring it in an open environment.

The rule I use with headphones is - If you think it’s too loud, it probably is.

4

Yeah, I think they’re called microphones.

5

The Radio Shack/Realistic dB meter is one I’ve used for more than 20 years (in earlier incarnations) and it has worked very well and repeatably, save for the battery compartment lid being funny at times.

6

Ditto, except I don’t recall the battery compartment lid on mine ever having a sense of humor. . . .

7

I’m having trouble figuring it out. I got new closed headphones that are very isolating - and so I can’t compare their volume to outside sources. Missing those audio cues makes it really difficult to figure out how loud is too loud.

My instinct tells me that the volume level isn’t dangerous, but I’m somewhat paranoid about long term hearing loss (once it’s gone, it’s gone) so I thought I might buy something to help me figure it out.

Do you have any suggestions on how I might go about figuring it out in a more objective manner?

8

I would suggest getting the dB meter that I linked to, and holding it up against the ear piec (which is right where your ear would be).

9

I may. Astro said that measuring it that way won’t necesarily give an accurate reading…

Especially since I’m using closed, circumaural headphones - I’m guessing they have to seal around the monitoring device to get an accurate sound level, so I may need a small probe or something that I can slip under one of the pads.