Hearing spans a pressure range greater than a million to one

Evidence

Humans respond to sounds ranging over a sound pressure range of about 1 million to 1. When interpreted as sound intensity (energy flow per unit area) it is an even more impressive 1 trillion to 1. This enormous range extends from sounds that are just audible at middle frequencies to those that generate discomfort or pain at the higher limit. Because such large numbers are impractical to work with, a logarithmic scale of sound pressure level is used to describe measured and audible acoustic events. The units are decibels (dB). — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 886

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the physical stimulus side of psychoacoustic modeling, foundational to everything in the reader’s psychoacoustics studies. — connects to: Human hearing detects pressure changes of a few parts per billion; Human hearing’s 120-dB dynamic range exceeds man-made device capabilities; Human hearing perceives huge physical sound intensity changes as barely different — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 97 (+3 more)
• CANDY: The 1-trillion-to-1 energy range of human hearing is a striking, tweetable fact.
• corroborated: 4 independent passages support this claim — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 886

Broader Connections

• Human hearing’s 120-dB dynamic range exceeds man-made device capabilities #expands (0.80)
• Human hearing perceives huge physical sound intensity changes as barely different #expands (0.75) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 97
• Hearing adapts to focus on the audible 20-30 dB of decay #expands (0.70)