Re: Perception of volume change at higher/lower levels
If she says the level is jumping, it's jumping. Female hearing is generally better than males, at least in the high frequency range.
At 1000 Hz, a 10 dB change sounds about twice as loud, while at 20 Hz it only takes around 5 dB to sound twice as loud.
Our hearing becomes "flatter" at loud levels, which encourages hack sound engineers to mix loud- it's easier to get a balanced mix.
The equal loudness contour chart tells you what the average person hears, but individuals vary from the curve.
My girlfriend (how are we boys and girls in our mid fifties?) can still hear 20 kHz clearly, I can't hear above 15 kHz, and she in general is about 10 dB more sensitive above 200 Hz.
Then we get to variability of perception, I have noise induced hearing loss in the typical 4kHz range, my sensitivity is some 50 dB less than hers.
At levels above 75 dB SPL or so I have no problem hearing 4kHz, but by 100 dB I start needing to wear hearing protection- my hearing's effective "dynamic range" is considerably reduced from what it used to be.
The up side is I seldom have people come up to the console complaining "I can't hear this or that", if I can hear all the parts, anybody with decent hearing will. The down side is nothing sounds "great" (to me) anymore.
Art
