Compressing A Range Of Decibel Values to One Representative Value

1. What is the difference between dB A and dB C?
2. How do you calculate combined noise levels?
3. How do you convert sound pressure to decibels?
4. How do you calculate dB SPL?

What is the difference between dB A and dB C?

The C-weighting scale is used to measure loud sounds with approximately equal sensitivity at all frequencies, just like the human ear. Decibel measurements made with the A-weighting scale are denoted as dBA; those with the C-weighting scale as dBC.

How do you calculate combined noise levels?

If we have more than two sound levels to add we can simply break them down into a series of pairs. For example if we have 3 measurements of 80.8, 83 and 84 dB SPL. We can add the 80.8 and 83 first to give approx. 85 dB SPL and then add this to the 84 dB SPL which would give us a total of approximately 87.5 dB SPL.

How do you convert sound pressure to decibels?

Sound pressure level L_p is measured in decibels (dB) and is calculated as follows: L_p = 20 log₁₀ (p/p₀), Where p is the root mean square sound pressure and p₀ is the reference sound pressure (usually 20 μPa or 0.00002 Pa).

How do you calculate dB SPL?

The sound pressure level (SPL) is defined asSPL=20 log10(PP0)dB(re. 2×10−6Pa)Likewise, sound intensity level (SIL) and sound power level (PWL) are normally expressed in decibels.