Decibel scale zero professional#

Another might label the control going from 0 to 100.Ī little bit of history helps to explain how the concept of 0 dB and its negative and positive values migrated from the professional broadcasting and recording environment to consumer audio gear. For example, one manufacturer might rate his volume control from 1 to 10, “1” being minimum volume and “10” being the maximum. So whatever one manufacturer chose to put on the front-panel volume control or display applied only to that particular receiver. The confusion occurs because we’ve grown up comprehending that bigger numbers mean larger values or an increase.Īfter reading this article, however, I think that you'll find the relative values of negative speaker level dB settings are actually logical, because in the old days, the settings on AV receiver volume controls were entirely arbitrary and unrelated to actual dB values.

In fact, it seems counter-intuitive: As you reduce the playback loudness on your AV receiver, the negative numbers grow larger, and when you exceed the “0 dB” mark as you crank up your AV receiver’s volume to extremely loud levels and possible distortion, the positive numbers are tiny: +3 dB, +6 dB, and so on.

Loud equals big numbers soft equals small ones.On current AV receiver/preamps, it’s the negative values of dB loudness settings that are confusing. It was simple, logical, and easy for anyone to understand. Previously, if a volume control had numerical values marked on the receiver’s front panel or shown in a front-panel display, the numbers got bigger as you increased playback volume when you reduced the volume, the numbers got smaller. It’s only in the last decade that the concept of “0 dB” as it relates to AV receiver volume controls and playback loudness has become common on AV receivers and AV preamps.

Decibel scale zero