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 point within a piece of music or an acoustic or audio signal. Just as distance and weight have units of km and kg to measure, loudness has units of decibel (dB). So when the guitarist says to the bassist, "he should put on a good one so he can hear him better", then the expression is not that far-fetched, only 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.