Something that has helped me a great deal with this is volume leveling (e.g. ReplayGain). With all my music at the same level, I can set my volume very deliberately at the beginning of a listening session and then never touch it again. Prior to using volume leveling, I constantly fiddled with the controls, turning up the volume when a quieter song came on. Invariably, I would forget to then turn the volume down again, or just not turn it down as far as I turned it up to begin with 
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I too started using it recently but was cautious at first of losing any dynamic range from the sound. Though it seems fine to me.
-Paul-
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I had the opportunity to have an audiologist check my hearing. I was having some balance issues. I was relieved to be told I had slight upper frequency issue in one ear. Given my age at 68, I felt quite good, given the huge strain Iāve put on them over the years. I know today when volume level is too high. Itās when I begin to hear a very small ache in them. Loud volume for me makes the notes bleed into the black space (silenceI), which is as important to me as the notes. For me it begins to lose detail. My ears know the right volume when I set the volume know just right.
I highly suggest going to an audiologist and check out your ears. Itās better to know if ones volume needs toning it down. This way I can continue to go on with my " Happy Listening "
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I feel like I have lost a little upper range hearing. I havenāt been to see an Audiologist. I think going to the an Audiologist isnāt as common as it is in the US. Unless you use your ears as part of your job itās something that most people wouldnāt do over here in the UK. In the UK youād only go see one if you suffered from hearing problems at were getting symptoms. I donāt know what my GP would say if I asked him to refer me to an Audiologist just to check my hearing out. I mean it is possible that you can do this and that I am ignorant of the service that the NHS provides. I think that our respective Health Services work differently. My Wife is a senior nurse in the NHS and at present itās being cut to the bone. Itās really struggling at the moment.
Anyway the fact is that I could do with my hearing getting checked out. I havenāt had it done since I was a child age 8-10 years old and thatās over 40 years ago.
-Paul-
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I accidentally ran into it because of walking balance issues. If thatās any kind of issue for you an ENT Dr. Might refer you.
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Thanks for the reply. I donāt really have any pressing medical issues with my ears. Just that I havenāt had them tested in so many years. Taken online tests, although not very accurate I suppose. But I canāt seem to hear past 13khz.
-Paul-
I just ordered a cheap DB meter off of Amazon and I will be curious to how it comes out. Normally I listen lower than anybody else. Whenever someone borrows my rig to try it out, the first thing they do is turn it up.
Shane D
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I average out at 75db-80db ā¦ but I have noticed lately to skew 70db-75dbā¦it is very convenient having a dB measurement tool on hand.
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I was just thinking that you put it in between the two pads, but I read the cardboard idea.
Shane D
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I put mine right inside of the pad, with the mic facing the speakerā¦mostly because that is how my ear is when they are on my headā¦but that was just using my own common senseā¦and not scientific at allā¦
A quote I came up with while doing search and rescue fits here.
āOne mans common sense, is anotherās insanityā ~ Tyler M. Lol
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I just figured you would put the mic between two ear cups that are gently pushed to gather. Do you take the foam off or leave it on? Would it measure louder because it is reading two āspeakersā at once?
Shane D
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You should measure the output from ONE ear-cup, not both, at a distance roughly equivalent to how the driver will be positioned relative to the opening of your ear-canal.
Pushing both cups together around the microphone will result in different measurements, depending on the music involved and the distance the drivers are a) apart and b) from the microphone, due to a combination of either phase-additive or phase-subtractive interactions.
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Exactly this! I am glad I was correct in my assumption of the proper way to do it lol
@ShaneD I leave the foam onā¦not sure if that overly factorsā¦ I can test laterā¦
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My toy should be here tomorrow. Here is what I bought:
Really curious to see what I am doing to myself.
Shane D
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Got my meter! How do I calibrate it? I keep reading the paper over and over, but I donāt get it?
Help?
Just use it as is - itāll be within 1-2 dB out of the box in most cases. Calibration is either to get extra precision or to compensate for drift over time.
If you insist on calibrating it, youāll need a standard reference sound source (like this, though most are more expensive) with a 1/2" microphone hole.
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Also ā¦ how about downsizing pictures before you post them? Thereās nothing in those images that needs the full size image.
Understood. Just posted phone pics as they happened.
Shane D