Audio Levels

[claxius]

Hello. Real quick, what should the appropriate audio levels be at for to to be considered "normal". At 0, -6, -12, where should the bars top off at for it to be considered the correct audio level? Thanks

 

[Kevin Dorsey]

-12db.

 

[moonlitnite]

Hi Claxius,

I'm not sure if I understand "top off" but typically somewhere around -12 db average (RMS) is fine, with the highest peak at -1 db. If you're really into audio engineering and care to learn all the theory behind this, listen to Bruce William's recent podcast/audiocast #44:

http://www.audio2u.com/sinelanguage.htm

Enjoy, Michael

 

[wseng]

Hi Claxius,

I'm not sure if I understand "top off" but typically somewhere around -12 db average (RMS) is fine, with the highest peak at -1 db. If you're really into audio engineering and care to learn all the theory behind this, listen to Bruce William's recent podcast/audiocast #44:

http://www.audio2u.com/sinelanguage.htm

Enjoy, Michael

Hi.. I've been looking for this answer quite some time.. You mean that most of the conversation should be put at -12db, and then for loudest sounds like firecrackers should be put max at -1 db ....

in this case the viewer will not have to adjust the volume during the firecracker and then during the conversation part ?

I will listen to the podcast.. then .. thanks ..

 

[moonlitnite]

Hi.. I've been looking for this answer quite some time.. You mean that most of the conversation should be put at -12db, and then for loudest sounds like firecrackers should be put max at -1 db ....

in this case the viewer will not have to adjust the volume during the firecracker and then during the conversation part ?

I will listen to the podcast.. then .. thanks ..

Not exactly, but you're on the right track. This gets into Analog to Digital conversion based on signal quantization. Without getting into a lot of theory, in essence we want to ensure the audio provides an exact reproduction between the input and output. That means we set the signal levels for optimum fidelity. Again, listen to the podcast or look this up at Wikipedia, etc.

Regards, Michael