See how sound pressure level falls as you move away from a source.
Doubling the distance from a point source drops the level by roughly six decibels, following the inverse square law. Placing speakers or microphones correctly is a level decision, and distance attenuation explains why far listeners hear so much less.
SPL Over Distance
Attenuation = 20 x log10(new distance / reference distance)
Attenuation = 20 x log10(new distance / reference distance) Doubling the distance from a point source drops the level by roughly six decibels, following the inverse square law.
Placing speakers or microphones correctly is a level decision, and distance attenuation explains why far listeners hear so much less.
This calculator takes 3 inputs: SPL at reference, Reference distance, New distance. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.