Re: [ARSCLIST] 0.1 dB

[Lou Judson <loujudson@xxxxxxx>]

Two responses:

1. I rarely deal with such small changes, so this is an extreme example.

2. The real life example came from a mastering session where I was the 
mix engineer, not the mastering one. In a discussion between the artist 
and the mastering guy, she asked for a change, he made one, she said 
"Great! Much better. how much did you change it?" He said, "One tenth 
of a dB." Incredulous, she asked him to toggle it back and forth, and 
the change was real. I think it was EQ, low or high end response.

I was just the observer, but we could all distinguish the difference on 
his $6,000 Dunleavy speakers... I might not be able to hear that small 
a change on my humble Tannoys.

And it is not just software - a good pot can change minute levels, and 
always have been able to, though some high end controls use 1 dB 
steps...

Heck, I can totally not hear something if I am distracted - or if 
nearly asleep, a tiny, block away sound can wake me up. It is all so 
psychological!

<L>
On Mar 25, 2006, at 9:58 AM, Marcos Sueiro wrote:

> Lou,
>
> Although I am glad we have software that can change levels by 0.1 dB, 
> when I get into that kind of minutiae in a project it is usually a red 
> flag for "you're losing perspective". For example, I wonder how much 
> air temperature and humidity change levels (not to mention things like 
> mood change the artistic impact of a recording). I'd daresay more than 
> 0.1 dB.
>
> One man's opinion.
>
> Marcos
>
> --On Tuesday, March 21, 2006 12:43 PM -0800 Lou Judson 
> <loujudson@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> > Thanks. I never said we *should* except when it counts. That's when 
> > great
> > monitors make a difference!