What is a decibel (dB)?

The decibel is a logarithmic unit for ratios that is used in a number of scientific disciplines. Other examples are the Richter scale for earthquake event energy and pH for hydrogen ion concentration in liquids. In all cases the logarithmic measure is used to compare the quantity of interest with a reference value, often the smallest likely value of the quantity. Sometimes that reference can be an approximate or average value. Most often in common acoustics, the decibel is used to compare the sound pressure level (SPL) in air with a reference pressure. The reference level for sound intensity (I), sound power level (PWL) and sound pressure in water are amongst others that are in common use:
Reference sound pressure (in air) = 0.00002 = 2E-5 Pa (rms) " " " " intensity " power = 0.000000000001 = 1E-12 W/m^2 = 0.000000000001 = 1E-12 W

" pressure (water) = 0.000001 = 1E-6 Pa

Acousticians use the dB scale for the following reasons:

1) Quantities of interest often exhibit such huge ranges of variation that a dB scale is more convenient than a linear scale. For example, sound pressure radiated by a submarine may vary by eight orders of magnitude depending on direction; expression in linear uniits carryies with it the confusion of the location of the decimal point. Decibels vaues are characteristrically between only -999 to +999. 2) The human ear interprets loudness more easily represented with a logarithmic scale than with a linear scale.

How is sound measured?

A sound level meter (SLM) is the principal instrument for general noise measurement. The indication on a SLM (aside from weighting considerations) indicates the sound pressure, p, as a level referenced to 0.00002 Pa, calibrated on a decibel scale. Sound Pressure Level = 20 x lg (p/0.00002) dB Often, the "maximum" level and sometimes the "peak" level of the sound being measured is quoted. During any given time interval the peak level will be numerically greater than the maximum level and the maximum level will be numerically greater than the (rms) sound pressure level; peak>max>rms.

What does dB(A) or "A-Weighted" mean? CWeighted?

A sound level meter that measures the sound pressure level with a "flat" response will indicate the strength of low frequency sound with the same emphasis as higher frequency sounds. Yet our ear perceives low frequency sound to be of less loudness that higher frequency sound. The eardrum- stapescircular window system behaves like a mechanical transformer with a finite pass band. In EE parlance, the "3 dB" rollover frequencies are approximately 500 Hz on the low end and 8 kHz on the high end. By using an electronic filter of attenuation equal to that apparently offered by the human ear for sound each frequency (the 40-phon response curve), the sound level meter will now report a numerical value proportional to the human perception of the strength of that sound independent of frequency. Section 8.2 shows a table of these weightings. Unfortunately, human perception of loudness vis-a-vis frequency changes with loudness. When sound is very loud - 100 dB or more, the perception of loudness is more consistent across the audible frequency band. "B" and "C" Weightings reflect this trend. "B" Weighting is now little-used, but C-Weighting has achieved prominence in evaluating annoying community noises such as low frequency sound emitted by artillery fire and outdoor rock concerts. C-Weighting is also tabulated in 8.2. The first electrical sound meter was reported by George W Pierce in Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, v 43 (1907-8) A couple of decades later the switch from horse-drawn vehicles to automobiles in cities led to large changes in the background noise climate. The advent of "talkies" - film sound - was a big stimulus to sound meter patents of the time, but there was still no standard method of sound measurement. "Noise" (unwanted sound) became a public issue. The first tentative standard for sound level meters (Z24.3) was published by the American Standards Association in 1936, sponsored by the Acoustical Society of America. The tentative standard shows two frequency weighting curves "A" and "B" which were modeled on the response of the human ear to low and high levels of sound respectively. With the coming of the Walsh-Healy act in 1969, the A-Weighting of sound was defacto presumed to be the "appropriate" weighting to represent sound level as a single number (rather than as a spectrum). With the advent of US FAA and US EPA interests in the '70's, the dBA metric was also adapted by them. (Along with the dBA metric has come an associated shortfall in precision in accurately presetning the capacity of a given sound to produce hearing loss and the capacity to create annoyance.) [Editor's Note: A single number metric such as dBA is more easily understood by legal and administrative officials, so that promulgation, enforcement and administrative criteria and actions are understandable by more parties, often at the expense of a more precise comprehension and engineering action capability. For instance, enforcement may be on a dBA basis, but noise control design demands the octave-band or even third-octave band spectral data metric.]

The most commonly referenced weighting is "A-Weighting" dB(A), which is similar to that originally defined as Curve "A" in the 1936 standard. "C-Weighting" dB(C), which is used occasionally, has a relatively flat response. ""U-Weighting"" is a recent weighting which is used for measuring audible sound in the presence of ultrasound, and can be combined with A-Weighting to give AU-Weighting. The A-Weighting formula is given in section 8 of this FAQ file. In addition to frequency weighting, sound pressure level measurement can be time-weighted as the "Fast", "Slow" or "Impulse" response. Measurements of sound pressure level with A-Weighting and fast response are also known as the "sound level". Many modern sound level meters can measure the average sound energy over a given time. this metric is called the "equivalent continuous sound level" (L sub eq). More recently, it has become customary in some circles to presume that this sound measurement was A-Weighted if no weighting descriptor is listed.

How are decibel sound levels added?

If there are two uncorrelated sound sources in a room - for example a radio producing an average sound level of 62.0 dB, and a television producing a sound level of 73.0 dB - then the total decibel sound level is a logarithmic sum i.e. Combined sound level = 10 x lg ( 10^(62/10) + 10^(73/10) ) = 73.3 dB Note: for two different sounds, the combined level cannot be more than 3 dB above the higher of the two sound levels. However, if the sounds are phase related ("correlated") there can be up to a 6dB increase in SPL

How does sound decay with distance?

At distances large compared to the size of the source, sound intensity diminishes according to the inverse square law. I = Io/D^2 This is relatively simple to reliably calculate, provided the source is small and outdoors where no echoes occur. (But indoor calculations in a reverberant field are rather more complex. ) If the noise source is outdoors and its dimensions are small compared with the distance to the monitoring position (ideally a point source), then as the sound energy is radiated it will spread over an area which is proportional to the square of the distance. This is an 'inverse square law' where the sound level will decline by 6dB for each doubling of distance. Line noise sources such as a long line of moving traffic will radiate noise in cylindrical pattern, so that the area covered by the sound energy spread is

directly proportional to the distance and the sound will decline by 3dB per doubling of distance. Close to a source (the near field) the change in SPL will not follow the above laws because the spread of energy is less, and smaller changes of sound level with distance should be expected. If the observation position very close to the source, at a distance that is small compared to the size of the source, the sound level changes very little with location in that source area. One may be able to determine the "virtual center" of the whole sound field, whence inverse square law calculations can proceed in reference to that distance, for locations outside the source area. The surrounding environment, especially close to the ground, and in the presence of wind & vertical temperature gradients, has a great effect on the sound received at a distant location. Ground reflection affects sound levels more than a few feet away (distances greater than the height of the sound source or the receiver above the ground). Wind and air temperature gradients affect all sound propagation beyond 100 meters over the surface of the earth. Sound propages well downwind (traveling with the wind), and very lirrle upwind. When the ground surface is cooler than the air just above it ("inversion"), typically late at night and just before dawn, sound will travel great distances across the landscape even without any wind. In addition it is always necessary to take into account attenuation due to the absorption of sound by the air, which may be substantial at higher frequencies. For ultrasound, air absorption may well be the dominant factor in the reduction.

What is the sound power level?

Sound power level, Lw, is often quoted on machinery to indicate the total sound energy radiated per second. It is quoted in decibels with respect to the reference power level. The reference level is 1pico-watt (pW) [1x10^(-12) watts]. One watt of radiated sound power is represented as "Lw=120 dB re one picowatt". If the reported sound power is in terms of A-Weighted spectral weighting, a suffix, A, is applied to form dB(A). The sound pressure level (SPL) resulting from sound power (Lw) being radiated into free space, e.g. over a paved surface, is computed from
SPL = Lw - 20*log(R) - 11 dB re 20 uPa (R in meters) SPL = Lw - 20*log(r) - 0.7 dB re 20 uPa (r in feet)

If instead the sound is emitted over a reflecting plane such as a hard surface, three (3) decibels are added to the SPL.

For example, a lawn mower with sound power level 100 dB(A) will produce at a sound pressure level (SPL) of about 89dB(A) at the operator (you) position over grass and 92 dB(A) when the mower is operated over a hard surface such as your driveway. At your neighbor's yard 50 feet (15m) away, the SPL will be is 65 dBA.

How is sound power measured?

Sound power is usually measured indirectly as the sound pressure level found at a specific distance and in every direction that sound can be radiated. The sound power emitted by Items that can be carried to a laboratory is usually measured in a hemi-anechoic room or a reverberation room. Either the "comparison" or the "direct" method is used. In the comparison method, the SPL that the item causes in that room is compared the SPL created by a standard "Reference Sound Source" (see the 'Acculab' portion of this web page) to determine the sound power emitted by the item. This is the most common and economical method. In the direct method two processes may apply. For the hemianechoic method, the SPL is measured in every direction on a surface encompassing the test item. These measurements are then combined to compute the emitted sound power. For the reverberation room, the SPL is measured at several locations in the that room, then averaged. The sound power is computed from that average as: PWL = SPL + 10Log(A)-C. A = absorption in the reverberation room, sabins or square meters. C = 16.3 for A as sabins (square feet) C = 6.2 for A in square meters.

What is meant by loudness?

Loudness is the human impression of the strength of a sound. The loudness of a noise does not necessarily correlate with its sound level. Loudness level of any sound, in phons, is the decibel level of an equally loud 1kHz tone, heard binaurally by an otologically normal listener. Historically, it was with a little reluctance that a simple frequency weighting "sound level meter" was accepted as giving a satisfactory approximation to loudness. The ear senses noise on a different basis than simple energy summation, and this can lead to discrepancy between the loudness of certain repetitive sounds and their sound level. A 10dB sound level increase is perceived to be about "twice as loud" in many cases. The sone is a unit of comparative loudness with
0.5 sone = 30 phons, 1 sone = 40 phons, 2 sones = 50 phons,

4 sones = 60 phons etc.

The sone "10dB rule" is inappropriate at very low and high sound levels where human subjective perception does not follow it. Loudness level calculations take account of "masking" - the process by which the audibility of one sound is reduced due to the presence of another at a close frequency. The redundancy principles of masking are applied in digital audio broadcasting (DAB), leading to a considerable saving in bandwidth with no perceptible loss in quality.

Why does blowing over a bottle make a note?

Resonance in acoustics occurs when some mass-spring combination is supplied with energy. Many musical instruments rely on air resonance to improve their sonority. If you blow across the mouth of a bottle you can often get a note. The bottle behaves as a Helmholtz resonator. The main volume of air inside the bottle is analogous to a spring, whilst the "plug" of air in the neck acts as an attached mass. The resonant frequency is roughly given by: f = { c sqrt (S/LV) } / 2pi c is velocity of sound S is the surface area of the neck opening V is bottle volume L is the effective length of the neck i.e. the actual length plus ends correction. Ends correction ~ 1.5 times radius of neck opening Example: A 75 cl (7.5E-4 m^3, approx. a "fifth") sized wine bottle with neck diameter 19 mm, bottle neck length 8 cm, air temp = 20 degrees C. The calculated resonant frequency is 109Hz, actual resonance was 105Hz. Helmholtz resonators are sometimes employed as a means of passive noise control in air conditioning ducts. They may also be hidden in the wall design of auditoria and offices in order to improve the acoustics.

What is pitch?
The term "pitch" has both a subjective and an objective sense. Concert pitch is an objective term corresponding to the frequency of a musical note A (at present 440Hz). Using such a standard will define the pitch of every other note on a particular musical scale. For example, with Equal Temperament each semi-tone is higher or lower in frequency than the previous semi-tone by a factor of 2^(1/12). An octave is a pitch interval of 2:1. Many sounds with no obvious tonal prominence are considered by musicians to be of indeterminate pitch; for

example, the side drum, cymbals, triangle, castanets, tambourine, and the spoken word. Pitch is also a subjective frequency ordering of sounds. Perceived pitch is dependent on frequency, waveform and amplitude or changing amplitude. Numbers can be assigned to perceived pitch relative to a pure frontal tone of 1000Hz at 40dB (1000 mels) thereby establishing a pitch scale.

8] Weighting Tables
*** 8.1 A-Weighting
A-Weighting can be found from the following formulae For A-Weighting: A(f) =
12200^2 f^4 -----------------------------------------------------------------(f^2 +20.6^2) (f^2 +12200^2) (f^2 +107.7^2) ^0.5 (f^2 +737.9^2) ^0.5

The weighting in dB relative to 1000Hz is now given by

A(f) 20 lg ------A(1000) where A(1000) = 0.794

It is convenient to list A-Weighting at nominal octave or 1/3-octave ("thirdoctave") frequencies, for example 1250 Hz or 2500 Hz. Ideally weightings should be calculated for the exact frequencies which may be determined from the formula 1000 x 10^(n/10), where n is a positive or negative integer. Thus the frequency shown as 1250 Hz is more precisely 1258.9 Hz etc. At these precise frequencies, the A- and C-Weighting values are as follows:

*** 8.2 A, C & U Weighting Table (dB)

Nominal Frequency Exact Frequency A-Weight C-Weight U-Weight * 10 12.5 16 20 10.00 12.59 15.85 19.95 -70.4 -63.4 -56.7 -50.5 -14.3 -11.2 - 8.5 - 6.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

25 31.5 40 50 63 80 100 125 160 200 250 315 400 500 630 800 1000 1250 1600 2000 2500 3150 4000 5000 6300 8000 10000 12500

25.12 31.62 39.81 50.12 63.10 79.43 100.00 125.9 158.5 199.5 251.2 316.2 398.1 501.2 631.0 794.3 1000.0 1259 1585 1995 2512 3162 3981 5012 6310 7943 10000 12590

-44.7 -39.4 -34.6 -30.2 -26.2 -22.5 -19.1 -16.1 -13.4 -10.9 - 8.6 - 6.6 - 4.8 - 3.2 - 1.9 - 0.8 0.0 + 0.6 + 1.0 + 1.2 + 1.3 + 1.2 + 1.0 + 0.5 - 0.1 - 1.1 - 2.5 - 4.3

- 4.4 - 3.0 - 2.0 - 1.3 - 0.8 - 0.5 - 0.3 - 0.2 - 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 - 0.1 - 0.2 - 0.3 - 0.5 - 0.8 - 1.3 - 2.0 - 3.0 - 4.4 - 6.2

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 - 2.8

16000 20000 25000 31500 40000

15850 19950 25120 31620 39810

- 6.6 - 9.3

- 8.5 -11.2

-13.0 -25.3

-37.6 -49.7 -61.8

* There is some reason to believe that a very low frequency rollover frequency of 4 Hz may be appropriate for instruments that are to be used to measure sound affecting humans.