Sorry to bring up the topic of the dreaded decibel again but I’m a bit stuck on the subject regarding amplifier power and volume (SPL).
I have been told that you need 10 times more power to double the volume of a speaker but I don’t quite understand why. I know ears work in a log scale but I can’t seem to link everything together.
Could anyone please help me out? A quick example and explanation would be great.
It does but thats part of the problem. Ive alsways understood that a 3dB increase is double the original. But going back to needing 10 times more power, 10 log (10/1) = 10 not 3.
so the gain 10, 100 etc are getting multiplied by 10 each time while the ear detects the gain in dB which is 1, 2 etc...
i.e for the sound to be twice as loud the actual gain must be increased 10 folds; 10 times the initial power is required
Sorry to bring up the topic of the dreaded decibel again but I’m a bit stuck on the subject regarding amplifier power and volume (SPL).
I have been told that you need 10 times more power to double the volume of a speaker but I don’t quite understand why. I know ears work in a log scale but I can’t seem to link everything together.
Could anyone please help me out? A quick example and explanation would be great.
The perception of sound levels is quite subjective. Most studies indicate that a 3dB change is barely perceptible and a 10dB change causes a doubling of the perceived level.
That is why a 3dB variance in a speaker response with frequency, although appearing to be significant, is not that noticeable to the average listener.
The perception of sound levels is quite subjective. Most studies indicate that a 3dB change is barely perceptible and a 10dB change causes a doubling of the perceived level.
That is why a 3dB variance in a speaker response with frequency, although appearing to be significant, is not that noticeable to the average listener.
Actually double the power 3db increase is barely louder to a human, 1DB is considered the lowest amount you can increase acoustical power before a human can detect it. So 3 is only slightly above what someone will notice, Humans have logarithmic hearing. Which is why we can hear such infinitesimally small sounds. In the case of a 100 watt speaker, you would have to increase the power to 125 watts JUST to get a human being to notice that you increased the volume at all. Exponential diminishing returns on power vs perceived volume.