15 Oct
2020
15 Oct
'20
8:54 p.m.
Hey hey,
for a project I am wondering, if the absolute output volume of a pair of
headphones, directly connected to a soundcard, can be gained from the
settings?
I have a Delta 1010. Inside alsamixer the volume for the DACs is set in dB. Is
there a straight relationship between these settings and a connected output
device? My pair of headphones, IIRC, have a resistence of 60 Ohm.
Any help is appreciated. A good pointer will do. If there is a method without
special measuring equipment, I'd be happy. If not... So be it.
Best wishes,
Jeanette
--
* Website: http://juliencoder.de - for summer is a state of sound
* Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMS4rfGrTwz8W7jhC1Jnv7g
* Audiobombs: https://www.audiobombs.com/users/jeanette_c
* GitHub: https://github.com/jeanette-c
But now I'm stronger than yesterday <3
(Britney Spears)
16 Oct
16 Oct
2:03 a.m.
On 16/10/20 5:54 am, Jeanette C. wrote:
Hey hey,
for a project I am wondering, if the absolute output volume of a pair
of headphones, directly connected to a soundcard, can be gained from
the settings?
I have a Delta 1010. Inside alsamixer the volume for the DACs is set
in dB. Is there a straight relationship between these settings and a
connected output device? My pair of headphones, IIRC, have a
resistence of 60 Ohm.
Any help is appreciated. A good pointer will do. If there is a method
without special measuring equipment, I'd be happy. If not... So be it.
Best wishes,
Jeanette
Testing labs would use a dummy head with embedded calibrated microphone.
I doubt it would be possible to do it accurately otherwise. You may get
an approximate measurement simulating with a home made setup similar to
that.
Any results you get would be only for those particular headphones; even
with the same impedance two different sets may have drivers with vastly
different efficiency.
Personally I just use a level which is comfortable although even that
can be deceptive. I recently bought a pair of Austrian Audio Hi-X55
headphones and they are so clear I often find I have them rather loud
without realising, having been used to my older Audio Technica cans.
Cheers
Roger
5:54 p.m.
On Thu, Oct 15, 2020 at 08:54:57PM +0200, Jeanette C. wrote:
for a project I am wondering, if the absolute output
volume of a pair of
headphones, directly connected to a soundcard, can be gained from the
settings?
I have a Delta 1010. Inside alsamixer the volume for the DACs is set in dB.
Is there a straight relationship between these settings and a connected
output device? My pair of headphones, IIRC, have a resistence of 60 Ohm.
Any help is appreciated. A good pointer will do. If there is a method
without special measuring equipment, I'd be happy. If not... So be it.
This isn't simple :-(
Assuming that by 'absolute output volume' you mean the sound pressure
level (SPL), you need to know four things:
1. The sensitivity of your headphone, that is the SPL for some
given voltage. This may be in the specs of your headphone. If not,
it can be measured, and that requires some rather specialised
equipment (dummy head, calibrated mic, calibrated level meter,
calibrated signal source).
2. The 'gain' of your sound card at a particular DAC gain setting.
This is the relation between the output voltage (in dBu or dBV) and
the RMS level of the digital signal sent to the sound card. This
could be measured (using an RMS voltmeter) with a know software
generated signal.
3. How (2) depends on the volume settings (if any) of your sound card.
If these are in dB and accurate (I wouldn't trust ALSA for this) that
is easy.
4. The RMS level (in dB FS) of the signal you are playing. Zita-mu1
provides this but is probably of little use to you. What do you normally
use for metering ?
Ciao,
--
FA
6:02 p.m.
On Thu, Oct 15, 2020 at 08:54:57PM +0200, Jeanette C. wrote:
I have a Delta 1010. Inside alsamixer the volume for
the DACs is set in dB.
Is there a straight relationship between these settings and a connected
output device? My pair of headphones, IIRC, have a resistence of 60 Ohm.
As far as konw, the Delta 1010 doesn't have any outputs compatible
with a 60 Ohm load... Do you use a headphone amp ?
Ciao,
--
FA
6:24 p.m.
Hello Fons!
Oct 16 2020, Fons Adriaensen has written:
...
1. The sensitivity of your headphone, that is the SPL
for some
given voltage. This may be in the specs of your headphone.
I think it is.
...
2. The 'gain' of your sound card at a
particular DAC gain setting.
...
This could be measured (using an RMS voltmeter) with a
know software
generated signal.
I know someone with all kinds of meters like that. :)
3. How (2) depends on the volume settings (if any) of your sound card.
If these are in dB and accurate (I wouldn't trust ALSA for this) that
is easy.
I might start out by trusting ALSA. :)
4. The RMS level (in dB FS) of the signal you are playing. Zita-mu1
provides this but is probably of little use to you. What do you normally
use for metering ?
Csound has lufs metering implemented now. I think it will do. At
any
rate, I'm looking at a constant signal, so that should be easy.
Best wishes and many thanks,
Jeanette
Ciao,
--
FA
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* Website: http://juliencoder.de - for summer is a state of sound
* Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMS4rfGrTwz8W7jhC1Jnv7g
* Audiobombs: https://www.audiobombs.com/users/jeanette_c
* GitHub: https://github.com/jeanette-c
Just call out my name, and I will be there... <3
(Britney Spears)
6:26 p.m.
Oct 16 2020, Fons Adriaensen has written:
On Thu, Oct 15, 2020 at 08:54:57PM +0200, Jeanette C.
wrote:
Ah, I hadn't considered yet.
Normally I connect my headphones to my
monitors' headphones out. Something else to ponder. That might have been
quite a surprise. :)
So, the whole thing needs reconsideration. Perhaps a different approach
entirely.
Best wishes,
Jeanette
I have a Delta 1010. Inside alsamixer the volume
for the DACs is set in dB.
Is there a straight relationship between these settings and a connected
output device? My pair of headphones, IIRC, have a resistence of 60 Ohm.
As far as konw, the Delta 1010 doesn't have any outputs compatible
with a 60 Ohm load... Do you use a headphone amp ?
Ciao,
--
FA
_______________________________________________
Linux-audio-user mailing list
Linux-audio-user(a)lists.linuxaudio.org
https://lists.linuxaudio.org/listinfo/linux-audio-user
--
* Website: http://juliencoder.de - for summer is a state of sound
* Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMS4rfGrTwz8W7jhC1Jnv7g
* Audiobombs: https://www.audiobombs.com/users/jeanette_c
* GitHub: https://github.com/jeanette-c
Just call out my name, and I will be there... <3
(Britney Spears)
9:08 p.m.
On Fri, Oct 16, 2020 at 06:26:49PM +0200, Jeanette C. wrote:
No, just one more variable to take into account...
The way I approach this (to have a consistent monitoring level) is
to set all external gain controls (sound card, amplifier,...) to some
reasonable setting and then *never* touch them again.
A reasonable setting means that maximum digital level corrresponds to a
few dB below the largest undistorted analog signal the sound card can
output, and the amplifier gain is set for the loudest listending level
I'd ever want.
And then use only software controls to set the actual listening level.
This is what zita-mu1 is all about - it provides a single (*) calibrated
volume control after the metering point.
You said the signal will be constant... if you are trying to do anything
related to audiometry (e.g. for checking your ears) there's a lot of other
things to consider if you want results that mean anything.
Ciao,
(*) Give someone who's not a trained sound engineer two (or more) volume
controls in series and you can be 100% sure the result will be either
noise or distortion.
--
FA
As far as
konw, the Delta 1010 doesn't have any outputs compatible
with a 60 Ohm load... Do you use a headphone amp ?
Ah, I hadn't considered yet. Normally I connect my headphones to my
monitors' headphones out. Something else to ponder. That might have been
quite a surprise. :)
So, the whole thing needs reconsideration. Perhaps a different approach
entirely.
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Fons Adriaensen -
Jeanette C. -
Roger