# Volume Level



## pxj (Jun 10, 2011)

I have a Denon 4311. I ran Audyssey and everything sounds fine, but I have a question regarding the db level I am seeing on my receiver panel. In a conversation the other day, I person asked what db level do I listen to music. Well I told him my receiver is showing -30, he said man that's low and to turn it up. He told me he listens to 70 - 85db and most people I have spoken to indicate the same 70 to 85 up to 90 db levels. I never really paid much attention to the levels indication, just the sound after the setup was complete. Even with Audyssey turned off the db levels remain the same. Is it possible something is set incorrectly within my AVR that is inhibiting the correct db levels ?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

70 to 85db is quite loud, 75db (0db on the receivers display) is reference level and most people find that louder than what is comfortable to listen to for long periods of time particularly for music. If -30 db is a nice level for still having a conversation with someone else that is about right.


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

Sounds about right to me. My Denon 3805 is usually set about -22 and I crank it up to about -12 for a good action or sci-fi movie.

Nothing wrong with your Denon. Do these other people you have spoken to use a Denon as well? Not all AVRs are the same. My Denon starts out at -80 and goes up to +15.5, my old Kenwood starts at -99 and goes up to 0, my old Sony started at 0 and went up to +99. 

Also depends upon your room and speaker trim levels, two 4311's in different rooms will likely have a different volume level settings to achieve the same SPL. 

You can also take into account a speakers sensitivity, a pair of RBH Sound MC-4C at 84dB (2.83V @ 1 Meter) are going to require that volume knob to be turned up quite a bit more than a pair of Klipsch RF-7 II at 101dB (2.83V @ 1 Meter). There are quite a few variables that come into play here.


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## pxj (Jun 10, 2011)

Tony and Nova thank you for your responses. I thought I was going nuts for a second.


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## WooferHound (Dec 8, 2010)

You guys are getting 2 different levels mixed up.

When you are listening to a sound system you will measure the sound pressure in the air and loud stuff will be 85 to 120 DB

The level that you are seeing on your equipment is an electrical DBm Level, which is power ratio in decibels (dB) of the measured power referenced to one milliwatt (mW). It is used in radio, microwave and fiber optic networks as a convenient measure of absolute power because of its capability to express both very large and very small values in a short form.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DBm


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## gdstupak (Jul 13, 2010)

Besides individual speaker trim levels effecting how loud your system is at a given main volume knob setting (i.e. -20dB), you can also change the output by boosting or cutting the gain for each input, this is used for volume matching the inputs. In other words, if the volume of the TV input is much louder than other inputs (i.e. CD, DVD, GAME...), then you can either lower the gain on the TV input, or you can raise all the other input's gains.

I have all my input's gains adjusted so that a main volume display of -20dB is comfortable with most everything. 
If I boosted all of the input's gains by 10dB, then I would need to use a lower main volume display of -30dB to get that same comfortable listening level.


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## pxj (Jun 10, 2011)

> I have all my input's gains adjusted so that a main volume display of -20dB is comfortable with most everything


 interesting , so your sources input into your AVR has its volume level adjusted ? just trying to understand what your getting at.:scratch:


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Most receivers have a trim level on the input so it can be balanced to be the same level as all other inputs.


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## gdstupak (Jul 13, 2010)

pxj said:


> interesting , so your sources input into your AVR has its volume level adjusted ? just trying to understand what your getting at.:scratch:


As Tony has responded, yes, each input has it's own trim level/gain/volume control.
In Onkyo it is called IntelliVolume(sp?).


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## pxj (Jun 10, 2011)

I think I got it, I need to read the manual for the Denon 4311. I know there is a channel adjustment but that is for speakers. I think what i'm looking at now is the Source Level: '"" This function adjusts the relative playback volume of an audio input, useful when there are differences in the input volume levels between different sources. You can correct the playback level of the audio input from -12 to +12dB.""


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Yup, thats it :T


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## gdstupak (Jul 13, 2010)

Yep, that sounds like it.
I like the name Source Level better than Onkyo's IntelliVolume. I like names that actually sound like a description of what they do.


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## pxj (Jun 10, 2011)

All I know what a difference a small tweak makes. Thanks guys for the help :clap:


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