---
title: "The science of loudness"
url: https://daily.dev/posts/the-science-of-loudness-sl4bf6pkr
source_url: https://fasterthanli.me/articles/the-science-of-loudness
type: article
source: "fasterthanli.me"
published: 2025-08-22T20:38:46.727Z
updated: 2025-08-22T20:39:11.198Z
tags: ["rust"]
reading_time: 14
upvotes: 0
comments: 0
language: en
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# The science of loudness

**[fasterthanli.me](https://daily.dev/sources/fasterthanli)** · 14 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments

## Summary

Explores the science behind different decibel measurements used in audio equipment, from sound pressure levels (SPL) measured by devices like Apple Watch to volume controls on amplifiers using dBFS. Covers the evolution of audio metering from 1930s BBC meters to modern LUFS standards that account for human hearing perception. Explains concepts like RMS, peak detection, loudness wars, and psychoacoustic filtering including A-weighting curves. Includes practical examples from YouTube's loudness normalization and workplace safety standards.

## Full article

daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: <https://fasterthanli.me/articles/the-science-of-loudness>

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---

Tags: [#rust](https://daily.dev/tags/rust)

[View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/the-science-of-loudness-sl4bf6pkr)