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gal · 10-02-2003, 02:08 AM

Decibels are meaningless without a reference level. For your stereo, the reference is the power at maximum volume. Here, dB=10*log(Pmax/P). When you crank up the volume, P increases until it's equal to Pmax, giving a dB of 0.

I'm not sure how to relate power to apparent sound volume, but my guess is that there is an exponential relationship, P^2 or P^3 or something. In that case, a linear increase in dB will give a linear increase in percieved volume.

10-02-2003, 02:08 AM	#3 (permalink)
gal Insane	Decibels are meaningless without a reference level. For your stereo, the reference is the power at maximum volume. Here, dB=10*log(Pmax/P). When you crank up the volume, P increases until it's equal to Pmax, giving a dB of 0. I'm not sure how to relate power to apparent sound volume, but my guess is that there is an exponential relationship, P^2 or P^3 or something. In that case, a linear increase in dB will give a linear increase in percieved volume.