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I 0 is the reference sound intensity; 1 Np = 1 is the neper; 1 B = 1 / 2 ln(10) is the bel; 1 dB = 1 / 20 ln(10) is the decibel. The commonly used reference sound intensity in air is [5] = /. being approximately the lowest sound intensity hearable by an undamaged human ear under room conditions.
Historically, loudness was measured using an ear-balancing method with an audiometer in which the amplitude of a sine wave was adjusted by the user to equal the perceived loudness of the sound being evaluated. [6] Contemporary standards for measurement of loudness are based on the summation of energy in critical bands. [7]
Equal-loudness contours. The phon is a logarithmic unit of loudness level for tones and complex sounds. Loudness is measured in sones, a linear unit.Human sensitivity to sound is variable across different frequencies; therefore, although two different tones may present an identical sound pressure to a human ear, they may be psychoacoustically perceived as differing in loudness.
It is well established that human hearing is more sensitive to some frequencies than others, as demonstrated by equal-loudness contours, but it is not well appreciated that these contours vary depending on the type of sound. The measured curves for pure tones, for instance, are different from those for random noise.
If the sound pressure p 1 is measured at a distance r 1 from the centre of the sphere, the sound pressure p 2 at another position r 2 can be calculated: =. The inverse-proportional law for sound pressure comes from the inverse-square law for sound intensity: I ( r ) ∝ 1 r 2 . {\displaystyle I(r)\propto {\frac {1}{r^{2}}}.}
Dynamic range is a measure of how small you can measure a signal relative to the maximum input signal the device can measure. Expressed in decibels, the dynamic range is 20 log (Vmax/Vmin). For example, a device with an input range of ±10 V and a dynamic range of 110 dB will be able to measure a signal as small as 10 μV.
The smallest sound that a person can hear, known as the threshold of hearing, is nine orders of magnitude smaller than the ambient pressure. The loudness of these disturbances is related to the sound pressure level (SPL) which is measured on a logarithmic scale in decibels.
Sound travels at about 1,100 feet per second (340 m/s), so a room 20 feet (6.1 m) long will have resonances from 27.5 Hz upwards. These resonant modes cause large peaks and dips in the sound level of a constant signal as the frequency of that signal varies from low to high.