Help ? Deciphering the charts and graphs, db readings and all that falls in between in Amirm`s reviews.

[Earwax]

Hello I`m new to the forum and have no Science of Audio technical background or any related education, so I`m your average oppressed,,, Canadian looking for assistance in the world of online research.

The information appears outstanding from an engineering perspective.

Is there any chance of a version for those of us with no audio science background who are confused about the db ratings as the sound meter app on my cell states 90 db from my speaker but my amp volume states -30 db so it`s all clear as mud.

I`m also confused about the -115 db in his reviews being audible to our ears but -120 db is not. So anything lower than -115 db ( -110 db ) is going to be heard ?

What do these charts mean for actual music enjoyment and perfect blending of harmonics ?

And at what volume level is it the best the amps can provide ? ( Leaving speaker quality out of it )

Any assistance would be much appreciated, I`m sure there are 100`s of 1000`s of people who are trying to grasp what all this information means when it comes to actual speaker output only to give up and not bother purchasing something they do not understand fully.

Why would anyone spend money to upgrade if you not sure it`s an upgrade or even purchase to try out enjoying music they will just go to BestBuy or visions and hope they get helped.

Especially in the times of hardship that has us all a bit more frustrated then we need to be....

A general understanding is all I ask thank you for your time,

I have gained much insight and perspective so far from this forum so thank you.

 

[Scrivs]

This should help get you started:

Understanding Speaker Measurements (Video)

Per popular demand, I recorded a long (1 hour) video on how to read speaker measurements but also, the underlying research (and physics) that mandate some of those concepts. Also covered is equalization and listening tests (briefly). As usual, my videos are "one take" directly recorded and...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Jim Taylor]

Have you seen this page? There's a lot of explanation here.

Master List of Instructional Teaching Video presentations (How to read and interpret/understand all the Graphs and Charts!

Collection of Amir’s instructional Videos for reference, refresher and new members: (“Behind the Curtain @ ASR University”) Welcome New and returning Members of ASR. Our Host Amir has put together a collection of comprehensive instructional videos that might help new and returning Members...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Scrivs]

Some gold in this one too. It's amazing what that lil' search window's capable of

Speed Reading DAC Audio Measurements

I am baaaaaaack!!! :) A new video in a series to become proficient in reading measurements, in this case, DAC measurements. The video itself is rather long but hopefully once you watch it, you can scan a text review in a minute or two.

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Multicore]

This lecture is good

 

[BDWoody]

I`m also confused about the -115 db in his reviews being audible to our ears but -120 db is not. So anything lower than -115 db ( -110 db ) is going to be heard ?

This thread may help:

Audibility thresholds of amp and DAC measurements

Introduction A recurring theme on ASR is whether or not the various measured qualities of the devices are audible. In this post, I'll present some clear and visual thresholds for when those imperfections can be considered a potentially audible concern. I will not explain the basics of amp/DAC...

www.audiosciencereview.com

A general understanding is all I ask thank you for your time,

All of the material to be understood is almost surely already here. The understanding part comes from a lot of reading and effort, at least that's what I had to do, and continue to do. Asking for understanding is like asking someone to digest your food for you.

Settle in and take some time to just do a lot of reading. The pieces will start to come together, but there isn't some easy short-cut that makes it all suddenly clear. That's why most would rather take the easy route and just believe what the nice salesman tells them. Ignorance can be expensive, so it's good to see that you are wanting to get beyond the nonsense so you can confidently focus on what matters.

 

[Earwax]

Probiotics will help you digest your food, eating a green leaf or 2 with them will help boost the affects. Best done 1st thing in the morning before unadulterated coffee ( Americano).

Just some help from someone who has 15 years real life experience eating healthy on a level that most average people will never understand or be able to research online without much frustrations.

No need to thank me it`s part of being civilized.

 

[MaxwellsEq]

Hello I`m new to the forum and have no Science of Audio technical background or any related education, so I`m your average oppressed,,, Canadian looking for assistance in the world of online research.

The information appears outstanding from an engineering perspective.

Is there any chance of a version for those of us with no audio science background who are confused about the db ratings as the sound meter app on my cell states 90 db from my speaker but my amp volume states -30 db so it`s all clear as mud.

I`m also confused about the -115 db in his reviews being audible to our ears but -120 db is not. So anything lower than -115 db ( -110 db ) is going to be heard ?

What do these charts mean for actual music enjoyment and perfect blending of harmonics ?

And at what volume level is it the best the amps can provide ? ( Leaving speaker quality out of it )

Any assistance would be much appreciated, I`m sure there are 100`s of 1000`s of people who are trying to grasp what all this information means when it comes to actual speaker output only to give up and not bother purchasing something they do not understand fully.

Why would anyone spend money to upgrade if you not sure it`s an upgrade or even purchase to try out enjoying music they will just go to BestBuy or visions and hope they get helped.

Especially in the times of hardship that has us all a bit more frustrated then we need to be....

A general understanding is all I ask thank you for your time,

I have gained much insight and perspective so far from this forum so thank you.

Decibels (dB) are tricky. This is because they are ratio between two things. They are then converted into a logarithmic scale to make them comprehensible and also so they can be drawn on graphs.

Many things in life have a logarithmic aspect. For example an earthquake of 4.0 is 10x more powerful than an earthquake of 3.0. There are also often ten times as many 3.0 earthquakes as there are 4.0.

Usually with dB you need to reference the logarithmic ratio to something, so 50dBA on an SPL meter is how much louder something is than "extremely quiet" using an "A" weighting. Meanwhile, -50dBFS (note the negative !) is 50dB below the maximum possible output of a DAC. Similarly, dBU and dBV are different again.

How come I know this stuff? I was tinkering with electronics for at least a decade before university where I studied electronics. Unfortunately, some of this stuff is not something you can pick up a few weeks. It takes a lot of study to be proficient. But there's so much good, free material available that you can get going pretty fast these days.

 

[tomtoo]

You see a lot of info.

 

[Jimbob54]

Probiotics will help you digest your food, eating a green leaf or 2 with them will help boost the affects. Best done 1st thing in the morning before unadulterated coffee ( Americano).

Just some help from someone who has 15 years real life experience eating healthy on a level that most average people will never understand or be able to research online without much frustrations.

No need to thank me it`s part of being civilized.

Let's not go so off topic even though you started the thread . It's jarring .

 

[audio_tony]

Is there any chance of a version for those of us with no audio science background who are confused about the db ratings as the sound meter app on my cell states 90 db from my speaker but my amp volume states -30 db so it`s all clear as mud.

There is no relationship between what you measure with the app on your phone and the (un)calibrated scale on the volume control on your amp.

Looking at things like this only adds confusion, especially when working with decibels.

Additionally, the sound meter app on your phone is also unlikely to be calibrated.

 

[Earwax]

Thank you for the helpful replies.

Any chance someone can tell me how to calibrate the DB meter on my cellphone ?

It looks easy if I only understood the conversions... ?

Thank you for your time.

 

[kemmler3D]

Thank you for the helpful replies.

Any chance someone can tell me how to calibrate the DB meter on my cellphone ?

It looks easy if I only understood the conversions... ?

Thank you for your time.

To calibrate that, you would need another calibrated mic to compare. The UMIK-1 is popular around here because it's pretty affordable for what it is.

As for getting a grip on all the measurements, the links already posted are good, here are a few rules of thumb in the meantime:

For changes in level, +1 db is barely noticeable, +3db clearly noticeable in most cases, +10 or more is a big jump in volume.

For absolute levels, 0db SPL is considered silence, ~30db SPL is comparable to normal background noise in a room, 75-85db SPL is a pleasant listening level for most people and 95-100db is getting into "way too loud" territory.

When looking at graphs of frequency response, generally smoother and flatter is better.

When it comes to distortion, less is better, -60dB below the signal is where it gets very difficult to hear distortion.

There is a lot of nuance in this stuff, but to answer your question about "perfect blending of harmonics"... You're going to want flat/smooth frequency response and low distortion. Of course this is a quick and incomplete description of most technically performant speakers, but I guess the good news is you aren't looking for anything a normal good speaker doesn't do.