The Magic Number- 83dB

[lionfang]

"It's purpose all ties into the Fletcher Munson Curve and how the human ear perceives sound. To give you a real quick run down. At lower amplitudes(volume) the human ear picks up on mid-range frequencies much better than it responds to low and high frequency information. This is because we've evolved to hear human speech which lies in the mid-range of the frequency spectrum. Communication is how we've been able to get to where we are as a species and our ear's perception of sound is just another confirmation of this thought. Conversely, at high amplitudes, we hear the mid-range with less accuracy. At high volumes the ear picks up on the low end and high end of the frequency spectrum with much more intensity than at lower volumes. Long Story short, when it's quiet you don't hear the bass and highs, when it's loud the bass and highs are so loud they drown out the mid-range. 83dB is said to be the ideal monitoring level to take advantage of the most accurate level of our ears perception." -- http://zesoundsuite.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-bass-boost-button-is-really-for.html

[Jonathan Anspach]

That may be true, but I want my speakers to be able to put out 100dB without breaking a sweat.

[Sydney]

At approx 4db higher ( 87 db ) muscles in the ear engage to protect the aural nerves.

[billfitzmaurice]

At lower amplitudes(volume) the human ear picks up on mid-range frequencies much better than it responds to low and high frequency information. This is because we've evolved to hear human speech which lies in the mid-range of the frequency spectrum.

Not quite. We're more sensitive to the midrange at low volume levels so we can hear human voices, especially female and children's voices, at long distances. There's no advantage to being more sensitive to mids at higher levels, so we aren't. And when you think about it, why would you want to hear the wife and kids any louder than absolutely necessary when they're in the same room?

[rudyjakubin]

.

That may be true, but I want my speakers to be able to put out 100dB without breaking a sweat.

Good point! Pro-Audio speakers follow that F-M curve. That's why Rock & Country sound so good from them speakers. Feed them with over 700 watts and that'll satisfy any drum & bass player that listens to them. This post is from personal experience

[flatfinger]

If I have allot of listening and/or mixing to do in a day I try to keep things around 79db before lunch ; If I go at it at 83db all morning I get fatigued late in the day ......

( that's besides taking frequent breaks as weel !)


Whilst you're contemplation the good ole Fletcher Munson and loudness curves ; here's a super cool article on how the mids are compressed by yer built in systems and the bass is thus very dynamic !!

http://customanalogue.com/elsinore/elsinore_16.htm

Cheers

[ROTECH]

Not quite. We're more sensitive to the midrange at low volume levels so we can hear human voices, especially female and children's voices, at long distances. There's no advantage to being more sensitive to mids at higher levels, so we aren't. And when you think about it, why would you want to hear the wife and kids any louder than absolutely necessary when they're in the same room?

Bill,

I think you actually completely agreed with the OP in your reply. The only "not quite" would be that you added in distance to the equation.
Distance is a whole 'nother animal.

[Whitneyville1]

The Conductor of a symphony orchestra under an acoustic shell is often hearing 120dB "A" weighted (been there, done it, got the degree to prove it!) In rehearsal, it may be as quiet as 20-25dB on the stage, so the dynamic range is 95-100 dB or more. The opposite is the Second Movement of "From the New World" Symphony by Dvorak. 90% of it is as quiet as turning a page in a book in a silent library, ppp.If you aren't playing, you hold your breath. The Fourth Movement of Beethoven's Fifth, the French Horn player's stand-up and turn their backs to the audience, raise the bells of their horns above their heads and play FFF along with the trombones and trumpets. The first three notes could drown out The Who at their loudest in concert with all their stacks of amps. As a clarinetist whose head was 4 feet from the French Horn players, 6" from the trumpet player's bells, my ears rang for hours after a performance. The "wind pit" of an orchestra is a very crowded place, because we don't have to have room to move our arms to bow our instruments, and it's a very small "band".

[mzisserson]

Not quite. We're more sensitive to the midrange at low volume levels so we can hear human voices, especially female and children's voices, at long distances. There's no advantage to being more sensitive to mids at higher levels, so we aren't. And when you think about it, why would you want to hear the wife and kids any louder than absolutely necessary when they're in the same room?

Begs the question does a BBC dip make sense at *normal* (65-85dB) listening levels and is that why it works well in home audio?

Just thinking, but t is not often the physiology between design vs. how our ears work is discussed.

[billfitzmaurice]

Bill,

I think you actually completely agreed with the OP in your reply. The only "not quite" would be that you added in distance to the equation.
Distance is a whole 'nother animal.

You need to consider distance as that influences level, especially with non-amplified voices. Able to hear the wife's call from a few hundred yards away if she's threatened by a sabre-toothed tiger is beneficial to the species. Hearing her yelling from the kitchen to take out the garbage, not so much.