DBL for Reviews

[Dargent0628]

Hey, All--Please forgive what may be a stupid, perhaps silly question, but this has perplexed me. When reviewing a speaker, or for that matter, any piece of audio gear, at what volume is the reviewer listening? Is this information located in some obscure chart that I'm somehow missing, and if not, isn't this a significant omission? DBL has a big influence on how we perceive sound quality, doesn't it? Is there an accepted standard, such as a reference level of 75db, that all reviewers use when conducting listening tests?

 

[macddmac]

Not sure about others, but 75 for music and 85 for theater work well for me
Cheers, Mac

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

...at what volume is the reviewer listening?

The reviewer should mention in his/her review the approximate average and peak volume he/she is listening to when giving the subjective opinion.

If he/she does NOT mention this, then he/she just forgot to mention it. We would assume it is the reviewer's subjective comfort listening level. Very subjective opinion.

Now in terms of calibration, home calibration is usually set to 75dB because most people find pink noise above 75dB to be very loud and annoying. Commercial theaters usually calibrate to 85dB level. But that is just for calibration.

For measurements, you can see the graphs on the Y-axis in terms of volume level in decibel (dB).

But, again, for the actual subjective listening impressions, the reviewer needs to mention the volume he/she is listening to.

 

[Dargent0628]

The reviewer should mention in his/her review the approximate average and peak volume he/she is listening to when giving the subjective opinion.

If he/she does NOT mention this, then he/she just forgot to mention it. We would assume it is the reviewer's subjective comfort listening level. Very subjective opinion.

Now in terms of calibration, home calibration is usually set to 75dB because most people find pink noise above 75dB to be very loud and annoying. Commercial theaters usually calibrate to 85dB level. But that is just for calibration.

For measurements, you can see the graphs on the Y-axis in terms of volume level in decibel (dB).

But, again, for the actual subjective listening impressions, the reviewer needs to mention the volume he/she is listening to.

I am relieved that you agree that this is a very pertinent piece of information that really should be included within the reviewers subjective listening comments and impressions. If it is safe to say that in a lot of cases folks reading reviews do so as to narrow a list of potential candidates for personal audition, then knowing at what volumes the reviewer is listening would certainly help to duplicate the auditioning environment, the myriad of other factors aside.

 

[Sheep]

Studio reference volume level for mixing is 85dB (where the human here is flattest in it's own response), So if you want to hear music as it was mixed, you should be starting there. Where reviews listen to, no idea. If they're getting paid enough they're probably spending their time looking up metaphors and adjectives they can use to push a product rather then actually listening to it and being honest.


http://www.nonoise.org/library/animals/5.gif

SheepStar