1 (edited by KaiS 2022-03-21 18:16:32)

Topic: Loudness Function setup guide

Loudness is for listening at significantly lower level then usual.
It's meant to keep the perceived bass/midrange/treble balance as independent from listening level as possible.


The procedure below works the other way round than described in the manual page 15.


I assume that at "normal" and slighly lower listening level an unchanged, "No Loudness" sound is prefered.


STEP 1, basic setup:
• Determin your "normal" listening level's dB or dBr (*1) value.
This may vary slightly depending on the source and music.
Estimate an average "normal" dB value.
• Do all settings needed for this to sound best, EQ, Bass, Treble ...
• Set the Loudness "Low Vol Ref" 25 dB below this "normal" listening dB value.
This way Loudness correction kicks in 5 dB below normal listening level, leaving all above untouched.


STEP 2, fine tuning:
• Now dial down to your usual "low" listening level.
•  Adjust Bass and Treble Gain to an amount that the bass/midrange/treble balance sounds comparable to what you hear at your "normal" level.
Go back and forth beween levels to check.



To give you figures:
My "normal" listening level: -30 dBr (with Auto Reference Level: On)
Loudness Bass Gain: 9.5dB
Loudness Treble Gain: 7.5dB
Loudness Low Vol Ref: -55 dB (Loudness slowly kicks in at -35 dBr)


With different sensitive headphones, speaker setups, different loud sources or music styles, "normal" listening dB value has to be re-determined and "Low Vol Ref" adjusted accordingly.


Finally to mention:
Loudness is NOT the right tool to correct transducer flaws.

(*1) Remark:
Volume in dBr instead of straight dB shows up if Auto Reference Level is “On”.

Re: Loudness Function setup guide

Thank you for the detailed instructions. I will play around with the settings a bit and then see what my Adam S3V says. ;-)

3 (edited by Curt962 2022-03-20 16:07:05)

Re: Loudness Function setup guide

Nice Set-Up Guide KaiS.

Slightly different than that explained in the Manual, but the intent is clear.

@Whitenoiz, Dynamic Loudness is your Friend!   It's super easy to utilize, and in my opinion, it is one of those RME Functionalities that I positively LOVE!    No more Bleached out, Threadbare sound when the Volume is reduced!    It is also worth mentioning that RME's implementation of Loudness may be the FIRST TIME it was ever done properly in an Audio device!

Years ago, "Loudness" was full-on or full-off.  No in-between.  In contrast, your RME applies Loudness Compensation in a seamlessly smooth, transitory fashion as Volume is reduced...the same way our EAR works!

I've Championed the use of Dynamic Loudness a very long time here in the Forum, and I still think it's the Best!

Your Ears, and Adams will be happy.

Enjoy!

Curt

Vintage 2018 ADI-2 DAC. "Classic AKM4490 Edition"
Cables:  Red, and White Ones.
Speakers:  Yes

Re: Loudness Function setup guide

It is a good one, thanks KaiS smile

Pacifist, dumb, not stupid
Listen music out from a box which sounds
Reading words on paper/ screen

Re: Loudness Function setup guide

Yes, this loudness setting is a fine thing for my ears. :-)

@KaiS
Thanks again for sharing Your settings.

@Curt962
Thanks for your explanation of "Dynamic Loudness". It sounds like you are excited about the feature. : - )

Re: Loudness Function setup guide

Would like to add KaiS's former explanation about Auto ref Level, which works best with Loudness, B/T and EQ.

KaiS wrote:
It’s not too complicated if you’re familiar with gain staging and digital audio formats.

Think of the ADI-2 as blocks:
• Digital Input (no headroom)
• Optional Sample Rate Converter (3-6 dB adjustable headroom)
• Digital Processing and Volume Control (24 dB headroom)
• DA-Conversion, digital part (no headroom)
• DAC chip’s analog stage (ca. 3 dB headroom)
• ADI-2’s analog output amplifier (DAC 18 dB, Pro 20 dB mechanical relay stepped gain staging)

Practically the “Auto Reference Level” function does all necessary calculations and adjustments (digital volume and analog reference level) for you, so you just don’t need to care.

Pacifist, dumb, not stupid
Listen music out from a box which sounds
Reading words on paper/ screen