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Sound does more than just fill a silence. It can influence how we behave, feel, and even think.
From songs on the radio while you’re driving to white noise that helps you get to sleep, the right sounds can play a significant role in shaping your mood and mindset. While we’ve only just scratched the surface in studying the impact that sound can have on our brains and bodies, it’s clear that the way we listen is just as important as what we listen to.
Portable speakers are a great choice for music lovers who want to get the most out of their audio and tune into the moment wherever they go. In this article, we’ll explore how sound, music, and your speaker setup can influence your mental and physical state.
How Music Affects Your Body
Music is a great regulator of human emotion. It can stimulate your brain to release dopamine and serotonin, which are tied to mood, motivation, focus, and stress.
The speed at which music plays, as well as how often sounds repeat, both affect your feelings. According to research published in Nature, high-tempo music tends to boost energy levels and feelings of joy. Conversely, a lower tempo is linked to calmness.
This is one of the reasons why retail stores often play low-tempo music over their sound system. It slows your perception of time, encouraging you to linger longer and potentially go home with more goods than you intended.
The effects go beyond the emotional, too, influencing heart rate, blood pressure, and breath rate. The faster the beat, the higher the readings for these vital signs will be.
Music across all frequencies also has an impact on the body. A study into the effect of broadband sound—music played at audible frequencies (20 Hz to 20,000 Hz) and inaudible frequencies (greater than 20,000 Hz) — found it activated the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting a lower heart rate and heightened relaxation.
Low or bass frequencies often resonate physically in the body, creating feelings of power, suspense, or even exhilaration. A bass-heavy sound profile can help boost energy and alertness. That’s why it feels so motivating to listen to music with deep, low frequencies while you’re working out or studying.
These effects aren’t limited to music alone. Sounds from nature, like the wind rushing through trees or a thunderstorm, often fall within similar frequency ranges but have distinct effects.
For example, ocean waves mimic slow, low frequencies and promote relaxation, while bird calls echo higher tones associated with alertness and mental clarity. Unlike music, these sounds don’t usually have rhythmic structure, which may explain why they have a calming rather than stimulating effect.
Up until the 2010s, quality sound equipment was pretty expensive and bulky. That meant it was more difficult to reap the rewards of listening to music of different tempos and frequencies when you were at home—or on the go.
Things are far easier now. Even a mid-range portable speaker will offer good enough sound quality to allow you to take full advantage of the positive mental and physical effects that listening to sounds of different tempos and frequencies can provide.
If you want to create a sense of calm at home, set a relaxed tone at social events, or ease tension while working, simply pick an ambient playlist. For a more energizing experience, pick something with a higher tempo and a little more bass, like electronica.
Before you press play, though, you’ll need to get your hands on a good portable speaker. Selecting the right one is about more than brand names and power output. You’ll want to ensure that the device you choose can play the frequencies of the music that you’ve selected.
For uptempo, higher frequency music, you’ll want a speaker with strong, clean bass response and a fair bit of power so that you can turn the volume up if you want to. Slower, softer sounds will need a speaker with clear midrange and treble, especially if you’re going to play it at lower volumes.
A Sound Triangle: You, Loudness, and Your Speaker
For decades, musicians, music producers, and music lovers thought that louder equaled better when it came to sound. This belief led to the start of the ‘loudness war’, a push to make songs as loud as possible by compressing their dynamic range.
Beyond the loudness war, there are also cultural preferences. A study from the University of Connecticut found that Latin college students in the U.S. felt more comfortable in noisier environments than their white peers. Researchers linked this to the fact that these students often came from larger households and were more inclined to socialize in large groups.
Increasing the volume of whatever you’re listening to is also a way to drown out external noise and enhance immersion. In noisy environments, like cities, parks, or busy public spaces, turning up the volume can help to block out traffic, wind, and other ambient sounds, making it easier to focus on the music and create a sense of solitude.
Ultimately, volume and enjoyment are as specific to the listeners as their choice in what they listen to. Many heavy metal fans say that window-rattling volume is the way to go, while classical fans or those who use music for more meditative purposes might favor lower, gentler tones.
While there’s definitely a time and a place for loud music, the listening experience is influenced by much more than volume alone. In fact, in many cases, too much volume distorts the quality of the music and negatively impacts sound.
There isn’t a magical decibel reading that can be tied to music and feelings, but the general consensus is that, at healthy levels, music played at higher decibels will make you feel more energized, while lower-decibel sounds will be more relaxing.
Most portable speakers are great for softer sounds. But to play music at a high volume, you’ll want to choose a model that has more powerful drivers. This will help to ensure that your speaker puts out a clear, balanced sound even when you’re blasting your favorite song.
It’s good to note that your speaker isn’t the only factor that will affect your listening experience if you’re planning on turning up the decibels. The space you’re listening in and how close you are to your speaker will also make a difference.
Smaller rooms make sounds, well, sound louder because of how sound waves bounce off the walls, floor, and furniture inside them. In larger, more open spaces, on the other hand, sound will dissipate more quickly. That will likely mean you’ll need more volume to achieve the same effect.
The Health Impacts of Loud Music
The body’s response to sound is evolutionary. Loud noises signal danger and require us to be more responsive, while quieter sounds can be more calming and stress-reductive.
When you hear loud sounds, your amygdala (the part of your brain responsible for survival) kicks into gear, releasing adrenaline, increasing your heart rate, and boosting your alertness. This can feel energizing in the moment, but it can increase stress levels, disrupt mood regulation, and contribute to elevated blood pressure in the long term.
As a result, listening to music at high volumes — especially through headphones or powerful speakers — can have serious effects. Hearing fatigue can set in after long sessions without rest, leading to drops in concentration, persistent headaches, and cognitive strain.
There’s also Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL), which is caused by prolonged exposure to high-decibel sounds. One of the most common symptoms is tinnitus, a constant or often permanent ringing or buzzing in the ears that’s frequently linked to overexposure to loud music.
While loud music has therapeutic positives, listening at a safe volume can protect your hearing and promote a healthier mental state in the long term.
Using Sound to Improve Your Mental Health
Music is an effective therapeutic tool for pain reduction, both physical and emotional. That’s one of the reasons why sound therapy is gaining traction as a mental health treatment.
It involves using specific types of rhythmic tones (think binaural beats, white noise, and nature sounds) to influence brain activity, enhance emotional regulation, and reduce stress.
Music’s ability to distract the brain and stimulate the release of dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin means that it’s being used as a therapy in clinical settings to support healing and even reduce the need for certain medications.
Below are some sounds commonly used in sound therapy, their frequencies, and the effects that they’re said to have on the brain.
Like the effects of music, the outcomes of sound therapy will be influenced by the quality of sound that you listen to during your session.
Using portable speakers with a broad frequency range, including inaudible frequencies at the high and low ends of the spectrum, and minimal distortion provides a better sound quality that will enhance the effects of sound therapy.
It’s important to calibrate your speaker in a way that allows you to get the most out of each listening experience. Be sure to fine-tune the settings in a way that will enhance the music or sounds being played.
How to Choose the Right Portable Speaker
The speaker you listen to will shape how you experience the sounds you hear. The design, sound profile, and technical features will all influence the effect that your music has on your mood.
Besides the impact that you want the music’s sounds to have on your mental state, how you listen will also impact what you need your speaker to do. Here are some technical specs you’ll want to keep in mind when choosing a portable speaker:
- Portability: Smaller, lightweight speakers are easier to carry, which makes them better if you plan on listening in a variety of places.
- Battery life: Longer battery life (10+ hours) means that you can listen for longer without needing to worry about finding a power source.
- Connectivity: Having the option to connect via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi gives you the flexibility to use your speaker with a range of devices and for a variety of purposes.
- Bluetooth codec: Look for at least Bluetooth aptX, which allows you to play sounds at a higher bitrate for better quality.
- Durability: Features like water resistance give you more options as to where you can use your speaker.
- Sound controls: Equalizer settings, bass and treble control, and other mixers can help you tailor the sound to your preferences and environment.
Considering factors like where you listen most and what you listen to, along with the technical specs above, will help you choose the best portable speaker for your purposes.
Make Sure It’s Music to Your Ears
Listening to sound at the right frequencies and volumes can boost energy, reduce stress, and even support pain relief.
Whether it’s sounds from nature, music, or white noise, our responses to audio are shaped by the content, our environment, and how it’s being delivered. That’s why choosing the right portable speaker directly impacts how we interact with the sounds it plays.
High-quality speakers deliver clarity, range, and frequency balance, allowing you to get the most out of your audio experience. The best option for you will be the one that enables you to unplug and listen to the music you like at the volume you prefer.