Speech loudness is captured by the 7th-percentile loudness value

Evidence

The crossing point of the two curves in Fig. 16.5 indicates that the loudness of speech can be described by the percentile loudness N 7 , i.e. the loudness value reached or exceeded in 7% of the measurement time. — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 1770

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces percentile loudness (N7) — loudness reached or exceeded 7% of the time — as the working descriptor for fluctuating sounds.