Measure winamp volume in dB

[Chon-Ji]

Hi, is there a way I could measure the volume of winamp in dB?

thanks

[shakey_snake]

Hi, Does everyone use the same speakers and amp?

I'm sure you can answer your own question.

[Chon-Ji]

I'm using 5.0
All I can see in winamp are the volume level indicators, but they're not in dB. If it's possible I need the volume levels translated in dB.

[ulillillia]

You'd need a device to measure the dB of the music. I don't know where such a device would be. Plus, tossing in equalizers, system volume settings, even speaker volume knobs, will all vary very greatly. Another option is to use a scale for known values and apply it to what you hear to get an estimate. With this method, my music is generally at 50 dB, rarely above 60 dB.

[gaekwad2]

Erm, (s)he means relative dB, not absolute. (duh!)

100% = 0dB
90% = -1dB
80% = -2dB
70% = -3dB
60% = -4.4dB
50% = -6dB
40% = -8dB
30% = -10.4dB
20% = -14dB
10% = -20dB

Note: this only works if you use the (default) linear volume control, logarithmic and hybrid work differently.

[swingdjted]

Don't some of the skins have a feature that simulates what gaekwad2 was refering to?

If you go to a music store that sells good DJ gear, you can order equipment that can measure the decibles (sound pressure), but even then, the reading changes depending on how far away from the speakers you place the mic, for example, inside the subwoofer port will produce a much higher reading than 10 feet away.

[ulillillia]

If you double the distance, the sound is half as loud (from 80 dB, it'd drop to 77 dB then 74 dB then 71 dB and so on (and it's not always subtracting 3's; a logarithmic scale is used); or is it 1/4 as loud?).

[ujay]

The only figure that makes any sense here is the output level relative to the theoretical maximum. How loud it sounds depends on what you do with it afterwards.

Use an auxillary program if you want something accurate, most recording software will monitor this for you.

See attatched.

UJ

[tuckerm]

I use my mixer to see how many dbs it is

How about DXVU Meter? http://www.xfx.net/activex/dxvu/index.htm

Originally posted by swingdjted
Don't some of the skins have a feature that simulates what gaekwad2 was refering to?

No. Some skins have VU meters, but they can't have a scale. There's no way you can find out the dB level. You could make the skin display a hardcoded string such as "-6 dB" when the volume is at 50%, but when the user uses the logarithmic setting this would become incorrect.

[rockouthippie]

Originally posted by Michgelsen
How about DXVU Meter? http://www.xfx.net/activex/dxvu/index.htm


No. Some skins have VU meters, but they can't have a scale. There's no way you can find out the dB level. You could make the skin display a hardcoded string such as "-6 dB" when the volume is at 50%, but when the user uses the logarithmic setting this would become incorrect.

http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-volt.htm

Sort of. This measurement is comparison to a reference voltage (usually .775 volts with a 1 volt peak).

If the output of a sound card is different (not 1 volt maximum), 0 dbm will be 77.5% of the maximum level.

You could think of dbm as relative audio power.

Thanks, I hadn't thought of that (straight forward) method yet. I later realized I could also make a set of test files with Audacity with known dB levels and calibrate my VU with them. Maybe I'll just do that some time.

I should've never said "there's no way".


Edit: I forgot to mention that the VU meters you can make in skins respond differently to different frequencies, so maybe there is no way after all , because they will say you're at -3dB at 440 Hz and at 0dB with 55 Hz while it's actually equally loud. I hope you understand what I'm saying.

[swingdjted]

@ Michgelsen -

Yeah, I understand what you're saying, and, in order for a meter to be accurate at all frequencies, you'd have to keep all frequencies at the same level, like white/pink noise (I don't remember which "color" would be correct in this case).

Usually a real meter on a mixer, recorder, amp, etc. measures the power of the strongest frequency, whatever that might be, usually a bass tone since it takes more power to produce loud bass tones. It's purpose is usually to avoid distortion, or at least that's why I use it.

When I said "simulates" I was using the term rather loosely, since the skins I was referring to are based on the spectrum analyzer.

[Chon-Ji]

@Michgelsen
I installed the software you recommended, does it give reliable info about the dB levels? And why are the levels in negative values? Sorry that I'm a noob at these things, but I'm expecting only positive dBs, I'm doing a research on hearing damage and I need to show how loud is 80 dB which according to some sites is the maximum intensity of sound before it becomes harmful.

thanks again.

[rockouthippie]

What you need for your purpose is a sound level meter. You can get those, among other places, from radioshack.

Cops use fancier ones for measuring car noise (so it holds up in court), but the radioshaft ones will work for calibrating home theater and should give you a pretty good idea what 80db is.

People use them for night clubs for exactly the same reason as you. Don't want to make the patrons deaf forever

80 db is pretty wimpy though.

[ulillillia]

Above 80 dB is hazardous to one's hearing. I generally listen to my music no higher than 60 dB. As to a VU meter, you'd have to do some calibration and do some computations to figure it out.

[ujay]

Decibels are used to compare two sound levels, i.e. it's a ratio.

What the Winamp figures compare is the output level against the maximum possible. In other words it's a fraction of the total level available.

What you want to measure is the ratio of the sound pressure against the minimum possible(roughly the treshhold of hearing) so it is a multiple.

This ratio is expressed as a logarithm, for a fraction this is negative, for a multiple it is positive.

UJ

[swingdjted]

In the club, a dj should but often doesn't need to keep sound levels under 120 decibles to comply with FCC regulations. 120 decibles is where instant severe damage to a human ear is possible, whereas 80 decibles is where prolonged exposure will do harm little by little when you don't even notice it. In that case, the hearing loss slowly sneaks up on you.

Keep in mind decibles are initially difficult to understand as each gain of 10 decibles is "twice as loud".

[ulillillia]

Each gain of 10 dB actually has ten times the energy. At the maximum possible, the sound intensity would be at 1 (or -1), which, in the dB equivelent is 0. Silence has a sound intensity of 0 and the dB equivelent is negative infinity.

sound_intensity = sample_position/pow(2, bit_depth-1);
rel_vol_dB = log(abs(sound_intensity));

This is otherwise the system used, in a similar sense. If half way to the max, 16384 (or -16384) for 16-bit, sound_intensity becomes 0.5 (or -0.5). rel_vol_dB becomes -0.30103 (or -3.0103 dB) and this is then put on some VU meter showing this. If in a silent area where it's 1/12 of the way to the max (2731 for the sample position), sound_intensity becomes 0.0833 and rel_vol_dB becomes -1.0791 or -10.8 dB. (Hopefully I got the right algorithm....)

Ok, what you need Chon-Ji is a dB(A) meter. In case you don't know the difference between a normal dB meter and a dB(A) meter, see here what the (A) does: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-weighting . For projects concerning hearing damage dB(A) is most often used.

Such a meter is usually expensive (I think $100 or so), but the only way you're going to get reliable measurements for your project. Maybe you can borrow one somewhere, that would save some money obviously.

If anybody is interested in a nice looking VU Meter that measures anything going to your soundcard, I found this: http://www.vuplayer.com/other.php . Do with it whatever you want.

[rockouthippie]

Originally posted by swingdjted
120 decibles is where instant severe damage to a human ear is possible, whereas 80 decibles is where prolonged exposure will do harm little by little when you don't even notice it. In that case, the hearing loss slowly sneaks up on you..

What?. Can't hear ya

[swingdjted]

Originally posted by rockouthippie
What?. Can't hear ya

(for the hearing impaired)

Like I said, 120 DECIBLES IS WHERE INSTANT SEVERE DAMAGE TO A HUMAN EAR IS POSSIBLE. I'M SORRY I DIDN'T MAKE THIS EASIER TO HEAR THE FIRST TIME.

[tuckerm]

Yep. I used to be a little emo boy listening to my music on high to block out everyone on teh bus. I'm now losing my hearing. Slowly, yes, but any longer on that mp3 player i'm afraid what would happen.