Hello, I did not read the article, but did read the thread. The bulk of my mixing and what not, are performed at 70-80 db. I find that level to be quite comfortable. I do follow Jeff's advice that sometimes you need to pump it up to 95 db to hear the sticky outy things, but that is never for to long.
For me, and I don't really have any data, just anecdotal deduction, I follow this. Because we live in a "loud" world, noise everywhere,( unless you live in a rural setting,) I need to factor in the amount of loudness I've encountered throughout my daily activities, lawn mowers power tools, autos, loud shopping environments, busy streets and restaurants... These all have a cumulative affect on my hearing organs. In an effort to preserve those precious little parts, I wear earplugs a lot when I am out in the world.
We know that our ability to hear certain frequencies is impacted by many things, and to me the sounds in my "hermetically sealed studio" are not what I worry the most about. It is the cumulative affect of noise throughout the day that contributes the most to my ear fatigue.
But, as I said 70-80 db for me, with dedicated spl meter at my fingertips, seems to be the sweet spot in my room.
JQS