Hearing Level (HL) dB HL is used to refer to the hearing ability of a person and gives a statement about the severity of the hearing loss. dB SPL is a comparison of a sound level to what was thought to be the threshold of hearing, although today it is known that the value was too high. For example, dBm means that the reference variable is the milliwatt; dBV, the volt. dB HL dB hearing level is used in audiograms as a measure of hearing loss. Totally Deaf: Have no hearing at all. In many cases, dBs are followed by a suffix to define a reference variable. So 0 dB HL would be the minimum treashold of hearing for an average healthy male adult. Moderately severe: between 55 and 70 dB HL. Therefore, pure tone audiometry testing usually concentrates on the frequencies represented in male and female human voices, namely 250 – 8000 Hz. 0 dB HL is what normal hearing is defined as. But soft sounds are hard to hear such as the voice of baby. Severe: between 71 and 90 dB HL. dB HL and dB SPL. dB HL (hearing level) is not the same as dB SPL (sound pressure level), which is an absolute measure of the pressure generated by sound wave. Profound: 91 dB HL or greater. The decibel (dB, or dB HL) is a logrithmic scale. The reference level varies with frequency according to a minimum audibility curve as defined in ANSI and other standards, such that the resulting audiogram shows deviation from what is regarded as 'normal' hearing. Hearing levels are measured with pure tones at different frequencies and the hearing level of an individual will vary depending on the frequency chosen. The value of a dB depends on the context in which it is used. Physically, every 6 dB increase represents a doubling of sound pressure level. Here are some examples of different sound intensities as expressed in dB(HL): 180 dB: Rocket at take-off 140 dB: Jet engine at take-off 120 dB: Rock band 110 dB: Loud thunder 90 dB: City traffic 80 dB: Loud radio 60 dB: Ordinary conversation 30 dB: Soft whisper -5 dB HL would be 5 dB SPL higher than average. Moreover, dB allows a realistic modelling of human auditory perception, since the ear reacts to relative changes in noise level. The number of select frequencies tested can vary upon the age of the person tested, the reason for the test, and the time allotted for testing. It's measured with pure steady tones, same as dbHL. Moderate: between 41 and 54 dB HL. Original Poster 2 years ago. (Okay, just kidding.) Thresholds are measured on a decibel (dB) hearing loss (HL) scale referenced to audiometric"zero" (the average hearing level at each frequency for normal young adults). Statistically speaking, 15 dB HL is a conservative cutoff for normal variance around the mean of 0 dB HL for normal hearing and higher would be considered statistically significant by most statistical designs. Speech sound components can be represented from 125-8000 Hz depending on the speaker. Report Save. level 2. dbA at 0 phon is exactly this. Perceptually, every 10 dB increase sounds twice as loud. One traditional PTA measure is the speech frequency average of thresholds at 500, 1000, and 2000 hertz (Hz). An audiogram is a graph that shows the audible threshold for standardized frequencies as measured by an audiometer.The Y axis represents intensity measured in decibels and the X axis represents frequency measured in hertz. The threshold of hearing is plotted relative to a standardised curve that represents 'normal' hearing, in dB(HL). I hope this helps :) 3. share. 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