Optimal Loudness to Monitor at When Mixing

At different loudness levels your ears perceive frequencies differently.

For instance, if you monitor at very quiet levels your ears will hear low frequencies more prominently and frequencies around 3 kHz less prominently. Meaning, what you hear will not sound as clear as it actually is. Try it.

In The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the supercomputer called Deep Thought was asked to figure out the answer to the so-called Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. The answer the supercomputer gave was 42.

But here, when it comes to the question of what decibel level provides the flattest (truest) frequency response of the human ear, the answer is (approx.) 84 dB.

If you don’t know how loud 84 dB is, download one of those free “sound meter” apps to your phone and it will measure the loudness of your environment. Then, slowly turn up your monitors until the meter reads around 84 dB.

Fyi:

• Normal conversation ~65 dB
• City traffic ~85 dB
• Lawnmower ~90 dB
• Train ~100 dB
• Rock Concert ~110-120 dB
• Ralph M. Rivera on his new microphone ~900 dB

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