finding the db

[coonsanders]

hi guys

heres a question thats ive been wondering about...how do u figure out the db of a song?thanks..

lenny

[steve]

You need to be more specific lenny. Do you mean the average (RMS) dB, the peak dB, the A-weighted dB, or some other dB.
If you're not sure which is the "right" dB, perhaps you could say why you want to know the "dB" then we may be able to work out "which" dB you need.

[coonsanders]

hay steve..
sorry ill try to be more exact....when i try to seperate tracks from an lp it always asks
for db in the config of the process..im trying to get the hang of this type of process
as its easier to seperate the tracks as apposed to seperation the tracks one by one

lenny

[steve]

Ah, you mean when you are using "Silence Finder" to detect the gaps between tracks?

Select a section of "silence" (the bit between two tracks) and from the Effect menu select "Amplify". Do NOT click the "OK" button.
Look at the number in the to box (where it says "Amplification (dB): ...."), then click the Cancel button.
That is the amount that the sound can be amplified to bring it up to 0 dBfs (zero dB relative to full scale).
That also means that the peak level is "minus" whatever that number is.

For example, if it says "Amplification (dB): [ 45.2 ]", then the peak level is "-45.2 dB" (or to be more precise, the peak level is "-45 dBfs")

For Silence finder to work you will need to set the level a bit higher than this. A higher level will be a smaller negative number. So if the Amplify effect says "45.2", try setting Silence Finder to about "43" (do not enter the "-" sign. Silence Finder only requires the number and not the "minus").

Getting the exactly right level also requires a bit of guesswork, but you will find that you are able to guess better when you've done it a few times.
The same principal applies to using "Sound Finder" in Audacity 1.3

[coonsanders]

thanks steve..

lenny