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Old 02-03-2015, 11:17 AM   #2430
rphillips
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 2
Default dB measurements

First, like a lot of others, thank you, Yep, for a very useful thread. Second, I deal with dB measurements some in my line of work. The technical definition of a dB measurement includes the distance. Officially, dB measurements are made at a distance of one meter. As to the comment about listening position, I am not disagreeing. Let's say your speakers are playing at 83 dB. You will probably find the sound to be most listenable at a distance of one meter from the speakers. If you are two meters away, you will probably turn the speakers up until the sound pressure level at your location is 83 dB. At one meter, the sound level will be more like 86 dB. Of course, the further away you are, the more likely you are going to be to over-drive your speakers and introduce distortion. However, if you double the number of speakers, you increase the sound level. This is how stadium sound system produce high volumes with clear sound, lots of speakers. Also, be aware that there are at least two definitions of dB. One of them is used with a flat EQ. The other, and more useful one for our purposes, is EQ'd to provide a better match to the human ear's EQ response. I forget, at the moment, the designations of the two systems. One is called dBA. I forget what the other is called, or which is which. If you want to learn more, I'm sure a short search on the internet will give you more resources.
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