Decibels For Listening

Music
22

Thanks for the Niosh sound app tip!

23

But for measuring ambient room noise (different subject), I thought Iā€™d read that A weighting was the choice?

24

This one?:

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TIA

25

Since A-weighting reflects how loud a noise appears to us, and takes account of the lower sensitivity of the human ear at high and, particularly, low frequencies then it would be good to assess how subjectively noisy a room was.

26

Unfortunately only available on IOS

27

NIOSH Smart Phone App. For acoustic jazz typically 65-70 dbA average with peaks at 80-82dBA.

28

I normally play music in the 65-75db range.

29

My high values mentioned above were linear, as I just found out. A or C weighted seems to give 10-20 dB lower readings.

30

That seems to imply that, unsurprisingly, the music you typically listen to has a higher proportion of bass than the baroque chamber music that I typically listen to. :slight_smile:

31

Yes, the one with those peaks in any case!

Just listening to Fink since an hour. A-weighted this time, but anyway104 dB peaks and itā€™s still not what Iā€˜d call my loudest sessions. It still sounds absolutely pleasant but already has something of a live feed concert atmosphere :wink:

By the way I noticed that the three best Fink LPā€˜s I often listen to are 1k on Discogs meanwhile. Records are better than stock funds, itā€™s crazy. More than half of my LPā€˜s seem to be between 100-400$ each, partly more meanwhile. Canā€™t believe it.

32

I will have to find my trusty old RadioShack meter.

33

With limited dynamics poo Iā€™m usually between 65 and 70. With wide dynamic classical stuff Iā€™m averaging 70 with peaks of 82. I tried out 90. Holy crap thatā€™s loud.
Interestingly, I seem to ride the volume album to album, finding the spot where it pressurises the room and then backing off one or two clicks.

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34

I think what chrisj said is rightā€¦it strongly depends on the recordings tonality and the bass potential of the setup and the recording, whatā€™s possible to achieve without being stressed. We shouldnā€™t compare apples with oranges.

I heard Fink yesterday, but the tracks of Hugh Masekela/Hope, which everyone knows, can also be played very loud with fun and high dB reached (for those who want to check).

And then the SPL meter should display digitally the peaks reached (peak hold). With an analog one, you wonā€™t see the peaks.

35

I really despise having to ride gain. Thankfully it doesnā€™t happen often. Itā€™s usually only on Classical or Cowboy Movie soundtracks.

36

Rather than ā€žhaving to (increase gain)ā€œ, my impression is ā€žone doesnā€™t notice how loud measurements getā€œ.

By the way, funnily in mastering talk, ā€žgain ridingā€œ is the oppositeā€¦limiting peaks :wink:

37

I know. When I gain ride I mean turn it up for the quiet portions.
(For when they did the opposite j/k)

38

Ah then I misunderstood you and agree now.

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39

Yes. This is the right one. Sorry, I thought it had been released for android.

40

Take a look at the A scale curve applied to all sound it measures. Then the Z (or C) scale. The A scale has been highly modified for human aural protection. But pure ā€œnoiseā€ is measured on Z. ( I dont seem able to pull the graph into my post)

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41

Thank you.

SEE