Why is equal loudness contour important?
Equal-loudness contours describe the apparent loudness of a sound in relation to its frequency for human listeners. This scale is important because human loudness perception is extremely sensitive to differences in frequency.
What is a Fletcher Munson curve and what does it represent Why is an understanding of this useful to us as producers?
The Fletcher Munson Curve is a graph that illustrates an interesting phenomenon of human hearing. As the actual loudness changes, the perceived loudness our brains hear will change at a different rate, depending on the frequency.
What do the Fletcher Munson curves indicate?
The Fletcher-Munson loudness curves indicate the ear’s sensitivity to different frequencies at various levels. Fletcher Munson Curves are sometimes referred to as the Equal Loudness Contours, although these are two slightly different standards (see figure 1).
What does the Fletcher Munson curve tell us?
The Fletcher Munson Curve shows how our ears are sensitive to equal loudness throughout the frequency range. For example, while listening to a song at a low volume, the person will perceive that the higher and lower frequencies will be less pronounced, whereas the mid-frequencies will seem louder.
How do equal loudness contours relate to loudness perception?
An equal-loudness contour is a measure of sound pressure level, over the frequency spectrum, for which a listener perceives a constant loudness when presented with pure steady tones. These are intended to offset the apparent loudness fall-off at those frequencies, especially at lower volume levels.
Where did the Equal loudness curve come from?
The above curves follow the equal-loudness curves resulting from the measurements of Robinson and Dadson in the mid 1950s and are adapted from the depiction of the curves in Donald Hall’s book “Musical Acoustics”. Subsequent measurements of the human ear’s loudness response were standardized under the designation ISO 226 Standard.
Why are Fletcher Munson curves called Equal loudness curves?
The Fletcher Munson Curves are a bunch of curves which show how sounds of different frequencies and at different sound pressure levels have to be boosted/subdued in order for the human ear to perceive an equal loudness level across all frequencies. Therefore they are also called Equal Loudness Contours.
Which is steeper a high or low loudness curve?
Most notable is the fact that the curves are steeper in the low to mid loudness levels for low frequencies. The measurements were made with individuals of normal hearing in the 18-25 year age range. Add discussion of curves as annotation
Why does the 100 phon equal loudness contour have less variation?
So, the 100-phon equal loudness contour has less variation in SPL for low, medium, and high frequencies meaning that as humans, we can hear more of the ‘music’ at higher volumes, compared to lower volumes. Therefore, music at higher volumes appears to have a fuller frequency range, which as humans we can really appreciate.