# Reference level?



## wheatenterrier (Jan 16, 2009)

Hi all,
My sony av receiver (STR-DG820) displays volume starting at 0 the quietest up to what ever. I usually watch movies on about 29.
Don't most other receivers show volume in db's or negative db's with 0 being reference level?

I'm having a bugger of a time trying to figure out what reference level would be on my receiver. Any ideas or tests that could help determine this.
Also for those who have the db kind of volume just how loud is reference level as you measure it?


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## tcarcio (Jun 27, 2007)

That reciever has an auto calibration built in so the easiest thing to do would be to run that. While it is calibrating itself look and see what is uses on your master volume and that is where you want to check your refernce at. Once you find that out then you can recheck the levels with a radio shack sound level meter. As a rule most set the level at 75db on the meter. Put the meter in your listening position and turn your reciever on and run the speaker levels and see what you get. They should all be the same, give or take a small difference. If they are not then use the master volume to turn each speaker up or down depending on your initial reading.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

To get a proper reference level you also need to send pink noise to the receiver if it does not have a generator built in. Pink noise is similar to the sound you hear when you tune a TV into a channel that doesn't have anything on it.


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## wheatenterrier (Jan 16, 2009)

I'll try to see what volume level it is at while it's auto calibrating. I'm not real confident that it will be viewable though.


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

wheatenterrier said:


> My sony av receiver (STR-DG820) displays volume starting at 0 the quietest up to what ever. I usually watch movies on about 29.
> Don't most other receivers show volume in db's or negative db's with 0 being reference level?


That's the way Sony displays the volume, when I used the STR-DE997 it went from 0 to 75, I thought that maximum was 100 :bigsmile: ...my new Yamaha goes from -80.0db to +16.5db

When doing the autocalibration the AVR uses 0.0 as a reference point, but depending on the equipment you're using that can change, in my case reference level was set @ -5.0db :yes:



> 'm having a bugger of a time trying to figure out what reference level would be on my receiver. Any ideas or tests that could help determine this.


I agree with TC, run the autocalibration and see if you can determine what level the AVR is using as reference; or if you have an SPL meter do it manually, play the test tone until you read 75db ....that's your reference level, if I'm not mistaken it will be set around 60-65 if your maximum is 75 like mine.



> Also for those who have the db kind of volume just how loud is reference level as you measure it?


How loud??? ....when you measure it using the test tones is not to loud (I'm confortable during the process), but after everything is set depending on the movie you won't use the reference level (at least I don't, most of the time I'm 10db - 15db lower than the reference); when I used my Sony reference level was 65 and I always watched movies with the volume set at 50-55 :yes:

You can use the reference level, but be prepared to be deaf in a couple of weeks :bigsmile:


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

wheatenterrier said:


> I'm not real confident that it will be viewable though.


If you can send the AVR information setup to the TV (mine is called GUI) you probably can ...if not, you'll have to buy an SPL meter to determine the reference level.

Is a good idea to have one SPL on hand to fine tune the calibration of the AVR, most of the time they'll be off a couple of db's and it can make a difference ...SPL costs around $50.


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

It also depends on how much the channel level has been adjusted for each channel. If they are all at +10 your reference level vs. volume level setting will be different. Really depends on how everything is set up, how your speakers and room interact etc. so even if you and I both had the same equipment I may achieve reference level with the volume indicator at 62 and you may get there with the indicator at 55. Reference level is independent of the volume display because there are other factors to take into account.


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## wheatenterrier (Jan 16, 2009)

Thanks for the responses. I'll measure a test tone with an SPL today and see what volume setting gives me 75db's. It sounds like what your saying is that on other AVR's when you set it to zero it plays at 75 db's if I interpreted your anwsers correctly. Give or take some based on room qualities and speaker levels.


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## tcarcio (Jun 27, 2007)

wheatenterrier said:


> Thanks for the responses. I'll measure a test tone with an SPL today and see what volume setting gives me 75db's. It sounds like what your saying is that on other AVR's when you set it to zero it plays at 75 db's if I interpreted your anwsers correctly. Give or take some based on room qualities and speaker levels.


When you set up each speaker to ref level according to your meter it is just to ensure all your speakers are playing at the same level. It does not mean when you set your avr to ""0"" that all sound will be 75db. Movies and music are more dynamic than pink noise so you could get less than or more than 75db.


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

wheatenterrier said:


> Thanks for the responses. I'll measure a test tone with an SPL today and see what volume setting gives me 75db's. It sounds like what your saying is that on other AVR's when you set it to zero it plays at 75 db's if I interpreted your anwsers correctly. Give or take some based on room qualities and speaker levels.


Not really,...well,... it depends :bigsmile: the answer is yes if what you are looking to do is set up your speakers to all be the same volume level at your reference of 75dB. Now if what you are looking for is say THX reference level that would be different, what you would want then is to be able to listen to your system at a volume that produces dynamic peaks at 105 dB for your speakers and 115 dB for your sub. To achieve this, one thing you could do is set your system up so that your system can produce these peaks when your receiver volume is set at a predetermined "reference" level.

I'm probably doing a relatively poor job of explaining this,....


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## wheatenterrier (Jan 16, 2009)

Northern UT huh, I was wondering if I would see anyone on here that lives nearby. Thanks for anwsering my questions.


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

Yup,... up in Box Elder, nearly to Idaho :dumbcrazy:


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