Sound Volume in Decibel

Decibel is a logarithmic value used for the sound pressure level. In terms of volume, an increase of 20 dB corresponds to a tenfold increase, and 6 dB corresponds to a doubling of the intensity. Zero and negative values ​​are also possible. This calculator computes the ratio of two decibel values ​​for loudness.

The formula for the calculation is: ratio = 10^(a-b)/20

Examples: 30 decibels is 31.623 times as loud as 0 decibels, and 40 decibels is 31.623 times as loud as 10 decibels. For a difference of 40 decibels, the factor is 100, for 80 decibels, it is 10,000. One decibel louder corresponds to an increase in volume by 1.122 times.

Decibels are a logarithmic scale. Therefore, zero decibels do not represent a true zero point; there is no such thing in theory, but in practice a high negative value is equivalent to no measurable loudness. Zero decibels are theoretically just audible under optimal conditions.
Sound power is proportional to the square of the sound pressure. This is where the 2 comes from in the formula, because decibels are actually tenths of a Bel, so the ratio would be 10(a-b)/10. For decibels for other quantities, see dynamic range.

The bel and thus also the decibel were named after Alexander Graham Bell. Bel and decibel are auxiliary units of measurement; in most countries they are not legal units, but are still common. Sometimes you come across quantities such as dB(A), less frequently dB(B) and others. These contain a frequency weighting, so they give more weight to more audible pitches. The most commonly used dB(A) actually applies to low volumes, but is also used for higher volumes, which then leads to measurement results that are not quite ideally weighted.