im sure this has been gone through but I see people talk about reference volume being 0. My pioneer starts at -60 and goes to +40 (I think).
Rick, according to the Pioneer Elite VSX-21TXH manual (page 95), it's volume range is -80.0dB to +12.0dB. It's a THX certified AVR, so when the auto-calibration is complete, 0dB master volume represents
Reference Level.
The loudest I have gone with music is -15 and that is very loud but without distortion.
Yes, to most people reference level playback is subjectively considered VERY LOUD. This is particularly the case within the confines of an average sized domestic room, which are often relatively acoustically "live". This liveliness means that loud program peaks take (slightly) longer to decay and "pollute" the quieter parts, increasing our perception of how loud the program it is. (We perceive loudness as sound power over time.) Speaker distortion also contributes strongly to the "too loud/turn it down" perception.
What does reference volume really mean? Is this just a measurement of a speaker set up or receiver? Please fill with insight on this. Thank you.
The Acoustic Frontiers link provided by Fuzz explains it fairly well. In short though, a
reference calibration is really just a simple, reproducible method of setting up the total gain structure of the system [system = source > processor > amp > speakers > receptor (ears/meter)]. So in theory, it takes everything into account including pre-amp and amplifier gain, speaker sensitivity, listening distance and to an extent, the acoustic properties of the room.
The AVR's auto-calibration routine achieves this by setting the individual speaker trim levels (-/+dB) such that a digital
input signal of known amplitude (say -30dBFS), when fed to
each channel measures a target
output SPL (say 75dBC) at the main listening position. The result is that, if your system is calibrated to reference, your favourite Blu-ray movie will play back at
roughly the same SPL at a given master volume setting as the next blokes properly calibrated system.
Quit dragging it out
Sorry about that mate!
