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Old March 6th 16, 11:46 PM posted to uk.rec.audio
Dave Plowman (News)
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Default Utility for measuring average decibels across a collection of sound files?

In article ,
Don Pearce wrote:
But does that meter look at the entire track before giving a reading? That
appears to be a requirement.

As regards giving an indication of loudness at any one point in time, the
good ol' PPM takes some beating - provided you know how to read it.


No it is more like a PPM dynamic. Several DAW programmes will give an
average level reading for an entire piece, but this doesn't work. I
have tried adjusting two tracks to the exact same average level, and
they still sound completely different in volume. Perceived loudness is
clearly about much more than where the meter needles go.


Absolutely. A trained ear can make a very good guess at average levels in
conjunction with a good PPM and a knowledge of the type of material.

But the suits are willing to pay anything for a machine to do this. I've
seen it claimed it now exists and is in use. I'd only be convinced by
using one in anger - and that's not going to happen now. Certainly there's
no evidence of it being in use.

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Dave Plowman London SW
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