John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hey Steve,

Have a happy new year.
I read this in the first anouncement in the forum.
Could you fill me in?
I always thought it has to be used in A-mode, at least to get a reading concerning soundlevels for noise control.

"trust me, if you're recording/mixing music you should be using this ALWAYS, so it's not a waste of money. For music at typical mix levels, you want to use "C" weighting, slow."

Bert

Thanks for catching that Bert; and you're right. When I wrote that, I meant only to use "C, slow" while MIXING - IMO, that keeps levels under control, gives a better representation of what's going on, and doesn't discriminate against kick drum changes so much.

As I'm sure you're aware, the human ear has no way of "measuring" ABSOLUTE sound levels; it just adapts to what's there, and calls that "normal" - so if you keep raising the volume, pretty soon you're mixing at 110 dB, ruining your hearing and neighbor "atta-boy" points, etc - the SPL meter helps you keep levels constant is all.

For all other tests, the authorities virtually ALWAYS use A weighting, and (I think) slow response. So for compliance, use "A"... Steve

I'll amend that comment for better clarity, thanks...