10 dB = Twice as loud

[MTXman 10+ year member]

If I remember correctly, if you double your power, box size and cone area you only get a 3 db increase.

 

[stuckinok 5,000+ posts]

I have done this more than once in a sound test used with noise canceling bluetooth for cell phones.
Using a radio shack meter and noise to simulate a truck engine running, the average of 6 people (not knowing the dB level they were listening to) when asked to tell me when the sound level was cut in half was 8.5 dB.

I have used my TL for hours looking for mic placement, door open vs. window down, left side vs. right side, best song for street beat, etc. . . .3 dB does not sound 2X louder to me.

Brian

i second that.. i went from a 139 to a 143 and it really didnt sound much louder but the mic works differently from the human ear

 

[Brian Owens 10+ year member]

If I remember correctly, if you double your power, box size and cone area you only get a 3 db increase.

one or the other is +3, both is +6.

Funny thing is this is all in theory. . .once you get woofers in a car, you will not see these results. Speakers are not true linear devices, power compression, phase issues with multiple speakers, etc.

But the theory is true. . .

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

I am not going to argue against science. But i believe there is a factor x that nobody is seeing. cause 10 db sounds a HELL of a lot louder not double. Actually if you want to do an experiment. (for whomever has termlabs PLEASE conduct this experiment) It isn't perfect science but it will be good enough to tell if the 10 db rule is correct. meter your car around 135 on up per say. so lets ay it hits a 136.3. Then don't look at the display at all and go by your ears and turn it up till it sounds about twice as loud. then remeter at that volume click bet it comes close to 3db. AND also thought of another thing. When i am adjusting my amplifiers why barely touching the gain I can hear a difference. I mean ANY movement on the gain. if you could only hear 20 percent difference at 3 db it would n't be true. but anyways PLEASE PLEASE somebody with a meter conduct this test

Substantiate 'twice as loud' for us.

 

[vehementSPL 10+ year member]

Well depends if you metered same freq and same spot mtx cause that would be different. And yes it can be accurate even with the human ear.The test may be 20 percent off but that is fine. as long as it proves 10 db doesn't sound double. now if they turn it up double and it goes up 9 db then ther eyou go. but if it goes up 2.5 to 4 my point is proven

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Id listen to Brian Owens if I were you guys. He knows his stuff, and he has the experience to back it up.

 

[Foote 10+ year member]

Um I dont know the answer. But I am sure that everyone posting shit on this thread is bull shitting out their teeth to the max.

Everyone trying to sound smart spitting off random bs. Especially audioholic.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Um I dont know the answer. But I am sure that everyone posting shit on this thread is bull shitting out their teeth to the max.
Everyone trying to sound smart spitting off random bs. Especially audioholic.

Yes, we are all just bullshitting, especially me. What an amazing revelation from a guy who admits he doesn't have a clue about the topic at hand. Good call dude. lawl //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif
Or, would you like to actually refute anything Ive said here? No, I didn't think so...

 

[donpisto 5,000+ posts]

I am not going to argue against science. But i believe there is a factor x that nobody is seeing. cause 10 db sounds a HELL of a lot louder not double. Actually if you want to do an experiment. (for whomever has termlabs PLEASE conduct this experiment) It isn't perfect science but it will be good enough to tell if the 10 db rule is correct. meter your car around 135 on up per say. so lets ay it hits a 136.3. Then don't look at the display at all and go by your ears and turn it up till it sounds about twice as loud. then remeter at that volume click bet it comes close to 3db. AND also thought of another thing. When i am adjusting my amplifiers why barely touching the gain I can hear a difference. I mean ANY movement on the gain. if you could only hear 20 percent difference at 3 db it would n't be true. but anyways PLEASE PLEASE somebody with a meter conduct this test

I have a Term Lab. I can do that test, but I will fail. Trying to guess something that is twice as loud is very difficult. I personally don't know what twice, 3x, 4x, or 10x as loud sounds.

I got some more info from the individual and what he said makes sense now. It is just in the terms it was being use didn't. Here is what was mentioned.

The decibel is a unit of measurement relative to a specified level.

3 dB is not twice as loud.

3 dB is approximately double power.

-3 dB is approximately half power.

10 dB is twice as loud.

-10 dB is half as loud.

150 dB is twice as loud as 140 dB.

140 dB is twice as loud as 130 dB and so on...

I do notice alot of people stating what they have heard rather than their direct experience. I too was going off of what I have heard from many power and what I perceived is that 3 dB is twice as loud and can be obtained by doubling the cone area, or by doubling power (provided other variables remain constant).

 

[Gary S 10+ year member]

The 3db and 10 db generalizations have been around for a long time.

Here is a new one... an increase in SPL, even under a 3db increase, can be perceived as sounding better.

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

This thread is full of stupid.

nG

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

Learn how logarithms work people.

WINNAR!

nG

 

[RAM_Designs 5,000+ posts]

As Brian has already said, IN THEORY:

1)Doubling power will give you a 3db increase.

2)Doubling cone area will give you a 3db increase.

3)Thus, "twice as loud" is stated as being a 6db increase.

Makes sense, right? When you have one woofer off of 100 watts, twice as loud would be having two woofers, each off of 100 watts...

It doesn't matter how it sounds to your ears. It doesn't matter how you perceive it. A 6db gain is considered to be twice as loud, due to the numbered statements above. Now you may need either more power or more cone area to achieve the 6db, due to other constraints(ie: power compression, cancellation, etc.), but it doesn't change the fact that it's a 6db increase, which is twice as loud.

 

[ThomasG 5,000+ posts]

Double power, double cone area?

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif:laugh://content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

 

[vehementSPL 10+ year member]

and the test will work it . They dont' have to have perfect hearing. Just saying as long as it ends up in the 2 to 4 range that 10 is crap for double. And it will work. the best way would be to test it reality style (at the head same freq everything to be fair about it). Think about it like this. Same wave same spot same movement and you double pressure yet you can't tell around double the difference. And by everybody's theory. 160 only sounds 4 times louder then 140 which is CRAP. I take it not many people have heard the two differences on here