08 Jun 23



he ear perceives level changes in a logarithmic, rather than linear, fashion. Consequently, it makes a lot more sense to measure audio signals using a logarithmic scale, rather than as straight signal voltages. In the case of professional audio signals, decibels and signal voltages are related by the formula:

Signal level in dBu = 20 x log (signal voltage / 0.775)

Semi‑pro levels can be calculated with the following formula:

Signal level in dBV = 20 x log (signal voltage)

by martz 2 years ago

However, the linear scale of +/- 1 is not arbitrary. For 32-bit float PCM audio, the linear scale values correspond with the actual numeric values of the samples, and for 16 / 24-bit integer formats, the integer values are scaled to a range of +/- 1.0, so regardless of the format, the +/- 1 linear scale corresponds to actual numeric values of the audio samples.

by martz 2 years ago