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Old 11-11-2012, 07:42 PM   #2211
yep
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
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Quote:
Originally Posted by k3yPr0gg3r View Post
Just bought a $50 SPL Meter today. I've read SO MANY variations as to room set-up! One says boost to 93dB C weighted on Fast. Another, 78dB A weighted on Slow. I do have Bob Katz's Mastering book, so I'm pretty confident that 83dB is the proper reading to shoot for. However, is that A or C ... Slow or Fast?

Also, proper monitor angle, etc. I did a rough string set-up to get the proper angle / listening position where I get a "true" balance between both monitors. I'm assuming I take my meter levels at the point where the srtings cross.

Thanks
Meters cannot tell you what sounds good, they can only quantify what you are hearing. A-weighting is the most common measure of perceived "loudness", and is what I would recommend as a starting point.

You can't do a good job of audio-processing by "meter" (at least, not as far as I have ever seen). More people succeed with technical ignorance but with good subjective experience and practice than vice-versa.

But most of the best have both skill-sets. Understanding the technicals allows you to make better and more-deliberate subjective decisions, like a cook who understands the chemistry of food, but who endeavors to achieve subjectively great flavor and texture.

Measuring the pressure of sound-waves is a purely technical question. But measuring the impression of "loudness" or "volume" is somehting else entirely.

The human ear is not just a "dumb" SPL meter, it is a far more sophisticated measurement instrument, made to detect the sounds most relevant to human survival. It hears a crying baby even in sleep, but filters out a falling tree unless it is very near.

The reason you want to understand SPL, and to do volume-comparisons, is to make sure you are not deluding yourself. Measurement devices such as SPL meters and so on are handy as "gut-checks" to make sure you are not kidding yourself, but they are no substitute for a practiced and sensitive ear.

When I talk about "level-matched" comparisons, I'm talking about "apparent volume", and that's a subjective thing. Your meters are there to help calibrate your ears. Digital peak meters are the least useful, the least informative meters. But the fact that they are less useful does not mean you should rely on something else.

If it sounds good, it is good.
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