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I have a sound signal, and I would like to implement a simple realtime level control (for info, I am using Pure Data, but I'd like to know about the general case).

For this I thought of using the envelope amplitude (in dB) of the input Vin_db, calculated over a window of N samples ; use it to calculate the gain G to apply to the signal to get an output with amplitude Vout_db. (Disclaimer : I am very rusty with maths and decibels ...)

So I took the wikipedia formula for decibels :

V_db = 10 * log10(P / P0)


Vin_db = 10 * log10(Pin / P0)

Vout_db = 10 * log10(Pout / P0)

And this gave me :

Pout = Pin * 10^((Vout_db - Vin_db) / 10)


G = 10^((Vout_db - Vin_db) / 10)

However, this doesn't seem to work ... When I measure the output level it is not the expected Vout. Is there a fundamental flaw in my reasoning ? Or just a calculation error ?


Thanks to Paul R I found the correct formula (I need a 20 instead of a 10):

G = 10^((Vout_db - Vin_db) / 20)

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up vote 0 down vote accepted

You don't need to convert the voltages to dB, just calculate the required gain (as a factor) and then convert this to dB if necessary, i.e.

G = Vout / Vin                 # required gain (factor)

G_dB = 20 * log10(G)           # required gain (dB)


Vin = input voltage
Vout = output voltage

If you really want to work with dB throughout then you can do it like this (should give the same answer):

Vin_dB = 20 * log10(Vin)       # input voltage (dB)

Vout_dB = 20 * log10(Vout)     # output voltage (dB)

G_dB = Vout_dB - Vin_dB        # required gain (dB)

G = 10 ^ (G_dB / 20)           # required gain (factor)
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But I don't know Vout! So how can I calculate G? How can I say at any point in time what Vout I am aiming at? I need to average the signal somehow ... – sebpiq Jan 13 '13 at 10:39
Can you clarify exactly that is is that you are trying to achieve ? It's not clear form your question. Do you want to apply a given dB increase, or achieve a particular signal level output, or what ? – Paul R Jan 13 '13 at 10:48
I want to achieve a particular signal level output. And so actually the last formula work perfectly :) (I edited my question with your answer) – sebpiq Jan 13 '13 at 10:49
OK - and what is this required output level ? Is it a voltage, or what ? – Paul R Jan 13 '13 at 10:50
What I want to do in the end is having a constant sound volume, no matter the input. So I guess output level is more like level in dB (ok ... maybe I am a bit confused with the units here). – sebpiq Jan 13 '13 at 10:52

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