Sone - | 187 [exclusive]

In the lexicon of psychoacoustics, the sone is a deceptively simple creature. Unlike the decibel—a relative measure of pressure—the sone is linear. One sone is defined as the loudness of a quiet, 1 kHz tone at 40 dB SPL. Two sones sound twice as loud. Forty sones sound forty times as loud.

To answer, we must abandon the laboratory. At 40 sones (roughly 70 dB), you are standing next to a running vacuum cleaner. At 80 sones (85 dB), it’s heavy city traffic inside your skull. At 100 sones (90 dB), a shouted conversation becomes a battle. sone - 187

At , the linear scale ceases to be academic and becomes visceral. In the lexicon of psychoacoustics, the sone is