The knowledge of the dynamic extremes of human voice is important for voice diagnostics and for scientific purposes. Numerous authors have published on the dynamic range of human voice but the methodology has been quite heterogenous and the exact values of the dynamic extremes are often unclear. There has been a need for a carefully documented study about measuring extreme limits of normal voice with easily reproducible methodology. We measured 37 subjects, 23 women and 14 men for this experiment. Two microphones were used (one head-mounted and one stand-mounted), which were calibrated at a standard distance 30 cm from the mouth. The head-mounted microphone was used for measuring the softest phonations and the stand-mounted for measuring the loudest ones. The loudest level was determined from calling the Czech words “Hej, Hou, Haló” as the peak sound level. The softest level was determined as a minimum of the fast time-weighted sound level from the softest sustained phonations on vowel [a:]. The standard weighting filtres A, C or Z and a custom high-pass filter were used to decrease ambient noise. The level of the loudest phonation was found to be 127 dB at 30 cm from the mouth (male subject) and the softest phonation was found to be 31 dB (A-weighted) at 30 cm from mouth (male subject). These levels appear to be greater than those measured previously and can serve as a basis for specifying dynamic ranges of microphone intended for voice measurements.

Katedra biofyziky Přírodovědecká fakulta Univerzity Palackého v Olomouci Olomouc

Katedra matematické analýzy a aplikací matematiky Přírodovědecká fakulta Univerzity Palackého v Olomouci Olomouc

Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm Sweden

Measurements of dynamic range of human voice

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