We play at low volume 95% of the time…
Ole Witthøft
…what does that mean for the subwoofer?
Today’s music and movies are created with low frequencies, but sadly, most people never get to fully enjoy it. The reason is that we play too quietly. Our human ears do not perceive bass until the sound is turned up quite a bit, but unfortunately, we play too quietly most of the time. System Audio has a technology that can help.
Welcome to Episode 3 in a four-part series about the subwoofer, where we talk about the fantastic development happening in sound.
69 % of music’s energy today lies in the deepest bass tones, and you need audio equipment that can convey them to experience the music as it was produced. We covered this in the first two episodes. But there’s another challenge!
We play far too quietly, and our ears do not perceive bass at low volume.
You not only need audio equipment that can convey the deep tones. You need audio equipment that can convey them when the volume is low!
We can’t just turn it up!
Our hearing is naturally designed so we can’t hear deep tones at low volume. You have to turn it up – over 80 dB – before we hear them.
In practice, this means that most people never have the full experience of how their favorite music really sounds, because background music is at 50–60 dB, where hearing is not very good at picking up bass. But we can’t just turn it up to 80 dB, because that’s quite loud. 80 dB will get complaints from the neighbors and is close to the threshold for using hearing protection if it was noise at a workplace.
This means that music lovers have fantastic experiences with music at live concerts, but poor sound experiences at home. It doesn’t have to be that way! There are many good reasons why we don’t just turn up the volume. But just as many good reasons to do something about it.
The solution is DSP (Digital Signal Processor)
DSP is the key to getting the full sound experience – even when you play at low volume. A Digital Signal Processor intelligently adapts the sound so you hear the deep bass, even at background levels. This means you can enjoy the music as the artist created it, without turning up to levels that annoy the neighbors or damage your hearing.
At System Audio, we have integrated advanced DSP technology into our subwoofers. The result is sound that is rich, precise, and life-like – whether you play loud or quiet. You get the big sound experience, without compromise.
But here’s the important thing: The use of DSP does not appear in the technical specifications of subwoofers. Once again, we must emphasize how important it is to evaluate audio equipment with your own ears. Otherwise, you risk wasting money on expensive mistakes that don’t deliver the experience you dream of.
Summary
In this episode, you’ve learned that we play at low volume 95% of the time, and why that makes bass impossible to hear without help. DSP is the solution, and the biggest sound revolution in decades. With System Audio’s subwoofers, you get DSP technology that ensures the music sounds fantastic – even when you play quietly.
Look forward to the next episode!
Here we address the importance of the room for the sound, and how you can achieve the perfect bass experience with room correction and correct placement. We’ll give you a practical guide and a playlist to test it at home.
