I haven't looked at RobertD's work, but often knowing how numbers are derived is helpful in understanding what is at play.

Since we are dealing with microphones, we'll start in the acoustical (pressure) domain. the current practice is based on 10 microbars (1 Pascal), which corresponds to 94dB SPL. Older practice was based on 1 microbar, which is 74dB SPL. Note that a change of 10 microbars turned into a 20dB change, so you can convert a microbar ratio into dB using 20 * log10(p1/p2) Microphones are spec'd giving a known output level resulting from a sound pressure level, usually 10 microbars. From this, you can figure out what the output level will be for any other SPL. Since microbars and volts use the same dB relationship, you can find the change in dB, and then it's just addition and subtraction. let's say that the microphone capsule delivers 1.2mv at 10 microbars/94dB SPL. Convert the output to dBu (db re 0.775v): dB = 20 * log10(.0012/ .775) = -56.20dBu. n.b. I work in dBu, because I am used to it. Pro gear is based on the old practice of using dBm, which is based on 0.775v/600R. The dBu simply removes the 600R termination because it is an open-circuit measurement. The manufacturer says that the capsule overloads at 123dB SPL, what is the output? 123dB is 29dB more than 94dB, the reference. working in dBu, then the output at 123dB is: -56.2dBu + 29dB = -27.2dBu now, you may be more comfortable working in volts, so convert -27.2dBu back to millivolts: v = .775 * 10^(db/20) ------- that's .775 * 10 to the power (db/20) v = .775 * 10^(-27.2/20) = .775 * .0436

= 0.0338V = 33.8mV If you want dBV (dB re 1V), then change .775 in the above equations to 1 and grind the math. Working the other way, let's look at levels below the overload point. How about down near the noise floor? The manufacturer says that the noise floor of the capsule is 30dB SPL, what is the output level then, in volts? first, figure out how many dB between 94dB and 30dB... 64dB then figure out what the new voltage is. looking at the above numbers, recall that the output is -56.2dBu @ 94dB SPL, so at 30dB SPL, it will be 64dB less, or -120.2dBu. Then convert that back to volts: v = .775 * 10^(-120.2/20) v = 7.574 * 10^-7v = 757.36 nanovolts = .757 microvolts Now that you know the noise floor, and the overload point, you see that the dynamic range is 123 - 30 = 93dB. NOTE: The capsule specs given in the examples do not correspond to anything commercially made. If they do, it was totally happenstance, much like winning the lottery. You could turn all of this into a spreadsheet, and in the process, gain a better understanding of how to do the conversions yourself. Often doing this results in a large AHA! moment. In excel, the log function is log10(A1), and the exponent function is power(10,A1) where A1 represents the cell whose value you want the function to operate on. I have now looked at RobertD's work, which is also useful, and perhaps between what we have both presented, you'll gain another degree of understanding.

--rick chinn Uneeda Audio