Scotland's biggest rock festival has been ordered to cut its volume level amid fears that fans, bands and roadies could suffer permanent hearing damage after standing by giant speaker stacks for hours.

Peak noise levels at next month's T in the Park have been reduced from something similar to a jet aircraft taking off to the equivalent of an orchestra at full volume.

The cut ordered by environmental health officers means the intensity of noise produced by bands such as REM and the Stereophonics will drop by half.

Health experts last night welcomed the move and said even with the reduction, noise levels near the stage will remain potentially harmful.

But die-hard music fans condemned the move, saying anything less than "pinned to the wall" volume could rob the event of its excitement.

This year's T in the Park is expected to attract 250,000 music fans over three days to hear 114 bands on six stages. Since the first festival in 1994, the event has become one of the UK's biggest and most successful.

But health experts worldwide are increasingly concerned about the increase in hearing damage suffered by young people as a result of listening to MP3 players and live music. A new study from Australia says that 70% of 18 to 34-year-olds reported tinnitus-like ringing in their ears, compared with 50% of the over-55s.

Now Perth and Kinross Council, the body responsible for licensing T in the Park, has decided to impose the first noise cut in the event's history following talks with hearing safety experts.

The maximum level has been cut from 140 decibels (dB) to 137dB. While a 3dB cut may seem minor, sound experts said it amounted to a significant and noticeable reduction. The reduction means the intensity of noise – and the resulting potential for hearing loss – will be cut by about half.

A spokeswoman for the council confirmed: "Discussion with the organisers in relation to audience exposure to noise and employee exposure to noise, which is covered by the Noise at Work Regulations, has led to agreement that the maximum peak level should be reduced to 137 dB."

She added that health and safety experts will be checking noise levels at the event on July 11 to 13.

A spokeswoman for the Royal National Institution for the Deaf, said: "It's good news but we still advise that music lovers should take earplugs with them and take breaks from listening to music which is too loud."

But music writer Colin Somerville questioned the move. "Music is supposed to be loud. The best gig experiences are in clubs with sticky floors and the sound levels so loud you're being pinned to the wall. And with outside festivals you often find that the sound can be blown away by the wind, even when they get it up to 140 decibels. The festival vibe is about huge speakers cranked up to the maximum levels."

Craig Hunter, a sound engineer at Edinburgh rehearsal studios Banana Row, said: "The difference in volume between 140 and 137 is actually pretty substantial. The difference between 70 and 73 decibels is not that major, but once you're at the very high volumes, three decibels is a very big difference."

In 1989, Pete Townshend of the Who admitted he had sustained "very severe hearing damage" over his career. Canadian singer Neil Young, Beatles producer George Martin, and Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood have all spoken of hearing problems.

In 2004, a German concert promoter was ordered to pay £3,000 damages for "pain and suffering" to a woman who alleged that her hearing was damaged during a Bon Jovi gig.

The woman stood about three to five metres from the speakers during the band's Nuremberg concert.

But many T in the Park regulars are unhappy at the change. Martin MacLeod said: "I don't think I'd like the volume turned down. I have been there and found that when I was far away from the stage I couldn't hear a thing.

"I suppose some of it is loud though. I have been in one of the venues there, the Slam Tent, and when I came out my ears were ringing."

No one from T in the Park was available for comment.

Amplifiers that go all the way up to eleven

Rob Reiner's 1984 comedy Spinal Tap lampooned rock music's obsession with volume.

In one of the movie's most famous scenes, Spinal Tap guitarist Nigel Tufnel discusses his favourite amplifier with "filmmaker" Marty DiBergi.

Nigel Tufnel: The numbers all go to 11. Look, right across the board, 11, 11, 11 and...

Marty DiBergi: Oh, I see. And most amps go up to 10?

Tufnel: Exactly.

DiBergi: Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder?

Tufnel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not 10. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at 10.

You're on 10 here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on 10 on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?

DiBergi: I don't know.

Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?

DiBergi: Put it up to 11.

Tufnel: Eleven. Exactly. One louder.

DiBergi: Why don't you just make 10 louder and make 10 be the top number and make that a little louder?

Tufnel: (pause] These go to 11.