#IS DECIBEL SCALE LINEAR HOW TO#
#IS DECIBEL SCALE LINEAR FULL#

dBFS: Recording level of the audio interface DAW channel volume.

dBVU : Pointer display of your analog or external peripheral equipment.

Highly used in calculation, due to the 1V reference.

dBv: Line level of semi-professional or vintage equipment.

dBu: Line level of professional equipment, fader level in a mixing board, potentiometer of some power amplifiers.

dBSPL: Charts comparing volume in different situations of our daily life decibel meters, recomendation of mixing volume levels car audio championships.

But here is a list of where decibels are easy to find: We will explain further on what each type of dB really is. The different types, what is used to compare and the unit used to measure that: If you have no idea what's going on above, stay calm! Let's move on to a deeper explanation about what those affirmations mean exactly.

Any value of decibel is equivalent to a REAL value in the unit that the dB is comparing it with.

If we say something has X decibels, we are already comparing two things - in this case the actual number with the unit of reference of the scale we are using. When we talk about dB, we are talking in comparison.

All kinds of decibels have their own unit of reference.The dB will always be comparing something to a unit of reference. and what defines that is what's written after dB. It has to be applied to things like tension, voltage, sound pressure, etc. Meaning that this unit alone doesn't represent anything. There is more than one kind of decibel. In fact, there's a bunch.This is a brief list of things you should keep in mind about decibel: That way, more than just explaining the subject, you'll end up with more skills to record and mix with better results. Today we are going to understand its different types and the practical use of it. But because in audio we measure in smaller scales, the 'deci' was adopted for practical reasons. And what not many people know is that a decibel is, in fact, the tenth part of a Bel (that's why 'deci'), a unit of measurement created by Bell Labs, telephony company owned by Graham Bell, to measure loss in transmission lines. Even then, very few people understand effectively it importance.

#IS DECIBEL SCALE LINEAR FULL#

Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Waqas Akram with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.If you have ever discussed any audio theory, this certainly was involved - either you acknowledged it or not. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and owner is strictly prohibited. In the computerized world of today (or when no one brings a calculator to the lab), these mental shortcuts can be very useful as a quick sanity check.Ĭopyright © 2008 – 2012 Waqas Akram. Alternatively, we can use 30 dB = (40 – 10) dB, which converts to (100 ÷ 3) = 33.3 (the magnitude of the approximation error is about the same as that of the first answer)

Convert 30 dB to the linear scale: note that 30 dB = (20 + 10) dB, which is equivalent to (10 x 3) = 30 in the linear domain (the answer should be 31.6).

Convert 7x to the dB scale: note that 7 = √49 ≈ √50 = √(100 x ½), which is equivalent to ½ x (40 – 6) = 17 dB (the answer should be 16.9).

Convert 54 dB to the linear scale: note that 54 dB = (60 – 6) dB, which is equivalent to 1000 x ½ = 500 in the linear domain (this is a good approximation to the actual value of 501.2).

Note that in the list above, the 3x ↔ 10 dB conversion is the greatest source of error in the final approximation.

Using these basic rules, it is easy to quickly compute the linear ratios corresponding the dB value. The square-root is equivalent to a power of half, and in the log domain, this simply halves the dB value.

A tripling (3x) of linear signal amplitude can be approximated by using 3 ≈ √10.

A doubling or halving (2x or ½x) of linear signal amplitude results in a +6 dB or -6 dB change on the decibel scale, respectively.

A ten-fold (10x) increase or decrease in linear signal amplitude results in a +20 dB or -20 dB change on the decibel scale, respectively.

One needs to only remember a few values in order to compute most conversions: Remember that multiplication (division) in the linear domain is equivalent to addition (subtraction) in the log domain. A full-scale signal has a ratio of 1:1, and is expressed as 20.log(1/1) = 0 dB. The amplitude or power of a signal is typically quantified relative to a fixed reference.

#IS DECIBEL SCALE LINEAR HOW TO#

When working in the lab, or viewing the output of any measurement device, it is useful know how to make quick mental conversions between the linear and dB scales.

For example, the dynamic range through a system is measured by the signal-to-noise ratio in decibels, or dB. The use of the decibel scale is ubiquitous in electronic systems.

Is decibel scale linear