This is nothing to do with a build thread.
Anybody know of a subjective level chart for bass decibels?
I know loudness charts exists but they are mainly for high frequency sounds.
For instance 85dB in the highs might cause a slightly achey ear over time (think of a loud-ish bar with lots of conversation or a cranked TV set, or turning the stereo up a bit to do the vacuuming, or jamming with headphones at a "fairly loud" level) but 85dB of bass you could probably talk over. The level of bass rumble in a moving car is probably this much (assuming you don't have one of those really quiet posh cars)
I heard 105 dB of bass in a corner of a club in Coventry which sounded pleasing but not "loud". E.g. having free reign of a volume control and no one else wanting it quieter I would probably crank bass louder on my favourite tunes at home. Probably enough to go with the 85dB type level I mentioned above. The music was pleasant to dance to all night - not the fill your head with noise level and I want to leave and go to the bar after half a song and I have to shout as loud as I can to have a conversation level.
What level does "ear poppin'" bass happen? I've been assuming the level you can start to feel bass in your ears (as if going through a train tunnel, or the feeling you get closing the last door in a car) is in the mid 120s but I could be wrong (it also depends on the person's ears). I've got an SPL meter but it only does dBC and would probably pee off the neighbours during lockdown trying to test this. (Unless I can build a subwoofer cab I wear on my head with the mic inside it)
Ear tickling is around 120 apparently for strictly mids and highs (dBA), and 115 is about the level which goes right through you (think obnoxiously loud rock concert vocals you can feel tightening in your skull, or someone wanging a snare drum from a meter or two away).
Though if some of these enormous car stereos are hitting over 160 dB of bass within the confined space the woofers are used. If "ear poppin'" bass happens at say 130 and loudness doubles every 10dB then how are people sitting in cars subjectively 8 x the bass loudness you can feel in your ears? I mean imagine one of those old school receivers with the big dial from "0" to "10" and on "1" the bass is loud enough to feel funny in your ears and you still crank it to "10"! They don't seem to have earplugs in, or are they tightening the ears manually with muscles, or just stupid.
But saying "a Jet engine is 160dB" is meaningless because jet engines have unbearable squealing highs at 160 decibels (again imagine the big old school receiver where "0.5" is a really loud rock concert and between "1" and "2" is someone shouting into your ear and it's cranked to "10")
The one time I've heard "unbearable bass" was when I built an Autotuba and was testing for leaks inside the horn mouth. I put a plastic tube in the horn mouth and the other end in my ear but when I turned up the test tone, the bass travelled down the tube and was making my ear feel tickly. I took the tube out and could feel the movement of the air with my finger. It wasn't a good way to find leaks - only on the outside of the cab. Another is sticking my head in a Funktion one folded horn, you could feel bass in your ears as pressure and the kick felt like someone hitting you lightly in the head with the palm of the hand!
It's just people post of subwoofers doing 130 dB or whatever at 1 metre and I'm not sure how loud this is supposedly in the real world subjectively unless I can find a big open space to blare subwoofers.
For instance a Danley TH812 subwoofer can produce 148 dB at 1m, I assume this to be very loud but saying something like "this subwoofer produces a blocked ear feeling at 10 metres away" would give a bit of a real world though highly subjective indication.
I know this comment isn't very objective, but a subjective loudness chart for bass only (Frequencies from 25 to 75 Hz) would be useful.
Anybody know of a subjective level chart for bass decibels?
I know loudness charts exists but they are mainly for high frequency sounds.
For instance 85dB in the highs might cause a slightly achey ear over time (think of a loud-ish bar with lots of conversation or a cranked TV set, or turning the stereo up a bit to do the vacuuming, or jamming with headphones at a "fairly loud" level) but 85dB of bass you could probably talk over. The level of bass rumble in a moving car is probably this much (assuming you don't have one of those really quiet posh cars)
I heard 105 dB of bass in a corner of a club in Coventry which sounded pleasing but not "loud". E.g. having free reign of a volume control and no one else wanting it quieter I would probably crank bass louder on my favourite tunes at home. Probably enough to go with the 85dB type level I mentioned above. The music was pleasant to dance to all night - not the fill your head with noise level and I want to leave and go to the bar after half a song and I have to shout as loud as I can to have a conversation level.
What level does "ear poppin'" bass happen? I've been assuming the level you can start to feel bass in your ears (as if going through a train tunnel, or the feeling you get closing the last door in a car) is in the mid 120s but I could be wrong (it also depends on the person's ears). I've got an SPL meter but it only does dBC and would probably pee off the neighbours during lockdown trying to test this. (Unless I can build a subwoofer cab I wear on my head with the mic inside it)
Ear tickling is around 120 apparently for strictly mids and highs (dBA), and 115 is about the level which goes right through you (think obnoxiously loud rock concert vocals you can feel tightening in your skull, or someone wanging a snare drum from a meter or two away).
Though if some of these enormous car stereos are hitting over 160 dB of bass within the confined space the woofers are used. If "ear poppin'" bass happens at say 130 and loudness doubles every 10dB then how are people sitting in cars subjectively 8 x the bass loudness you can feel in your ears? I mean imagine one of those old school receivers with the big dial from "0" to "10" and on "1" the bass is loud enough to feel funny in your ears and you still crank it to "10"! They don't seem to have earplugs in, or are they tightening the ears manually with muscles, or just stupid.
But saying "a Jet engine is 160dB" is meaningless because jet engines have unbearable squealing highs at 160 decibels (again imagine the big old school receiver where "0.5" is a really loud rock concert and between "1" and "2" is someone shouting into your ear and it's cranked to "10")
The one time I've heard "unbearable bass" was when I built an Autotuba and was testing for leaks inside the horn mouth. I put a plastic tube in the horn mouth and the other end in my ear but when I turned up the test tone, the bass travelled down the tube and was making my ear feel tickly. I took the tube out and could feel the movement of the air with my finger. It wasn't a good way to find leaks - only on the outside of the cab. Another is sticking my head in a Funktion one folded horn, you could feel bass in your ears as pressure and the kick felt like someone hitting you lightly in the head with the palm of the hand!
It's just people post of subwoofers doing 130 dB or whatever at 1 metre and I'm not sure how loud this is supposedly in the real world subjectively unless I can find a big open space to blare subwoofers.
For instance a Danley TH812 subwoofer can produce 148 dB at 1m, I assume this to be very loud but saying something like "this subwoofer produces a blocked ear feeling at 10 metres away" would give a bit of a real world though highly subjective indication.
I know this comment isn't very objective, but a subjective loudness chart for bass only (Frequencies from 25 to 75 Hz) would be useful.
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