Subject:Meaning of dB

Posted by: G100

Date:5/26/2002 6:48:04 AM

I think I understand the meaning of absolute dB levels, but what does it mean to Normalize an audio wave to a negative dB level, such as in "Normalize peak value to -3 dB". Thanks for any insight you may offer.

Subject:RE: Meaning of dB

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:5/26/2002 8:25:29 AM

0dB is arbitrarily set to the loudest sound level that can be recorded digitally. Negative dB values are a measure of how far below the maximum the sound is. -3dB is approximately half the maximum volume. This level is often suggested because it's high enough to use most of the bits and therefore avoid noise, yet still leaves some headroom for any later processing.

Subject:RE: Meaning of dB

Reply by: G100

Date:5/27/2002 2:11:11 PM

Thank you for your response. I am recording the output from an organ directly into my soundcard and Sound Forge XP Studio 5.0 is doing a good job, I just had trouble understanding the concept of negative dB.
G100