dynamic Range

What is dynamic range?

The word dynamic comes from the Greek and means power, momentum. In music and in electroacoustics, this means changing the volume or volume loudness. The dynamic range is the area between the loudest and the quietest part of a piece of music or an acoustic or audio signal. Just as there are units of measurement for distances and weights, km and kg, the unit for volume is decibels (dB). So when the guitarist says to the bassist, “he should really turn it up so he can hear him better,” the expression is not so far-fetched, except that actually decibel is meant by that. The human hearing is very sensitive and listens over a very wide dynamic range. The range goes from 0 – 130 dB. O dB is the point where the ear begins to hear. At 130 dB it starts to hurt (pain limit). You may know this from some concerts where the system is simply turned up too loud and you are not far from the speakers.