Explanation of reverb for an audio layman?

[EERecordist]

I did look at the NIOSH app, unfortunately stuck on Android and the device variability you mention is why I never bothered with the plethora of other apps available.

Appreciate the reply though!

I understand what you are saying. It may be cheaper and better to find a used iPhone or iPod Touch and connect to the app store by WiFi than a questionable Amazon sound level meter. I don't know how far back in generations the app goes. The choice is yours.

 

[DVDdoug]

The 'Inverse Square Law' link DVDdoug has provided makes sense in how the principle does not apply as much in an enclosed space which prevents drop off,
[/qutoe]
That was EXACTLY my point. The sound isn't dropping off because it's reflected. If you are outdoors or in a more sound-absorbing space it will be quieter.

 

[Ropeburn]

Many excellent points and answers already, let me add my two cents:

Reberb, as in the acoustically reflective behaviour of a physical environment, is highly useful information for our brains to calculate directivity and distance. If a dry sound is highly familiar (eg voices, animal sounds, footsteps etc.), we can estimate direction and distance of that sound by the way it reflects from the surroundings. This works so well and our auditory centers are sophisticated enough, in a highly reflective, artificial environment such as hallways of buildings, you can effectively hear around corners and estimate position and distance of a sound source that is out of sight. Very useful for police and military in urban combat for example. In music production, you can use the same brain capability to give sounds and instruments a certain sense of distance, and "place" them on the virtual stage back and forth, simply by adjusting the relation between the direct, dry sound and its artificial room/reverb effect. Very useful and highly effective for expanding the virtual stage by depth, rather than just left and right. If you adjust it dynamically over time, you can give it a sense of 2- or 3-dimensional movement even.