[Question?] I don't know if I'm hallucinating, but does speakers sounds louder than headphones even at the same dB(A) Level?

[yqwrb]

I've tried to do a simple experiment with my phone. there's an app called Decibel X on google Playstore. It works like a Decibel meter. I've watched a video on youtube and it seems kinda accurate or at least close to accurate. I tried to play music with my headphones and the music averaged at 75 db(A) and Max at 80 or 88, and i tried to play some local News channel in the Tv with the same avg dB(A) lvl which was 75, but it sounded louder than headphones. Why is that?

 

[NTK]

Welcome to ASR!

I don't know if you are actually experiencing this. But in tests of loudness perception versus sound pressure at the ear drums, there is this "missing 6 dB" effect, where headphone listening is very often perceived to be less loud than loudspeaker listening with the same sound pressures at the ear dums. With extremely careful experimental controls, it has been shown that this effects can be eliminated.

The Missing 6 dB: Perceptual or Procedural Effect?

Several studies have shown that, to produce the same loudness, a sound must be played 6 dB louder by headphones than by loudspeaker. Thus, a sound is louder when reproduced by loudspeaker compared to headphones, while the level at the ears are the same in both cases. This phenomenon was called...

hal.science

 

[yqwrb]

Thanks for replying! didn't expect that there was actually something like this. I think it will be an interesting read.

 

[Keith_W]

This is why @NTK is so respected and loved on ASR. I did not know about the "missing 6dB effect". However, that paper only proves its existence, it does not explain why. Do you know the cause?

 

[NTK]

This is why @NTK is so respected and loved on ASR. I did not know about the "missing 6dB effect". However, that paper only proves its existence, it does not explain why. Do you know the cause?

Oh man! I don't know if I can handle any more of this But Thanks!

The effect had been known for almost a century. Rudmose (1982 paper) found out that with very careful experimental control, the effect vanishes. But its exact origin is still not known for sure.

Frontiers | The “Missing 6 dB” Revisited: Influence of Room Acoustics and Binaural Parameters on the Loudness Mismatch Between Headphones and Loudspeakers

Generations of researchers observed a mismatch between headphone and loudspeaker presentation: The sound pressure level at the eardrum generated by a headpho...

www.frontiersin.org

 

[MaxwellsEq]

I learn something new every day!

 

[Thomas_A]

Have not read it yet but is the 6 dB effect present att various SPL levels? One thing that is lacking in headphones is the rest of the body.