Yea, I'm 49 and I catch myself bumping up the volume. But I mute ALL commercials, I don't care WHAT the stations claim, the commercials are clearly MUCH louder than the regular programming. I'll have the sound up to hear the dialog, and the commercials will come on and blast my eardrums out.
“I don’t care WHAT the stations claim, the commercials are clearly MUCH”
standard practice to boost the sound frequencies in the 1 to 4 kiloherz ranges to force the ears to zero in on the product they are selling(especially for those who might have mild hearing loss). The whole commercial “sounds” louder despite the audio limiters used at the tv stations because of the radar stearing effect a boost in those frequencies has on the ears...The hearing apparatii once fully engaged causes the listener to experience the full effect of the sound coming out of the speakers all in an instant. The over all sound is not “louder” in terms of total amplitude...it’s the sudden increase of amplitudes in the 1k to 4 k ranges that end up “blasting” you!