Perceived loudness meters must weight frequencies as a compromise across sound levels.
Evidence
These effects make it difficult to design a meter that will give a reading that truly relates to the perceived loudness of a sound, so an instrument that gives an approximate result is usually used. This is achieved by using the sound pressure level but frequency weighting it to compensate for the variation of sensitivity of the ear as a function of frequency. Clearly the optimum compensation will depend on the absolute value of the sound pressure level being measured, and so some form of compromise is necessary. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 633
Categorization
Category: Causal Relationships
- DEFINE: Introduces the concept of frequency weighting as the practical compromise behind loudness meters.
Related
- No single frequency-weighting can accurately meter loudness at all levels (similarity 0.91)
- Loudness meters use frequency weightings as a compromise because ear response varies with level (similarity 0.90)
- No single loudness meter can capture subjective loudness of varying program material across environments (similarity 0.86)
- Ear sensitivity depends jointly on frequency and on sound level (similarity 0.85)
- Loudness perception is robust enough that precise weighting matters little in practice. (similarity 0.85)
- Loudness scales with frequency squared, requiring large amplitude at low frequencies (similarity 0.85)
- A-weighting is recommended for all sound levels despite fitting low levels best (similarity 0.84)
- Outer and middle ear damage changes the loudness frequency balance (similarity 0.84)
- A-weighted sound power ratios overestimate perceived loudness differences in noise emissions. (similarity 0.84)
- Perceived loudness does not map one-to-one onto acoustic amplitude (similarity 0.84)
- Loudness meter readings predict subjective evaluations better than A-weighted measures (similarity 0.84)
- Equal-loudness-contour weighting schemes failed as loudness meters (similarity 0.84)
- A-weighted decibels are a rough practical approximation of perceived loudness (similarity 0.84)
- Loudness is measured either by rating magnitude or by matching equal loudness (similarity 0.84)
- Loudness perception is essentially logarithmic (similarity 0.84)