I asked myself how to compute dBFS (dB full scale) from a value of sample between 1 and -1?
and in general?
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It is really quite simple for values between 1 and -1:
valueDBFS = 20*log10(abs(value))
If you have values between another range, for example 16bit, then it's:
valueDBFS = 20*log10(abs(value)/32768)
(because 16bit signed has values between -32768 and +32767, e.g. 2^15=32768)
And so the general formula is:
valueDBFS = 20*log10(abs(value)/maxValue)
The code examples are given in MATLAB code.
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1$\begingroup$ This is technically correct, but most dBFS meters actually display headroom, so you will often want to display the negative of these values. $\endgroup$ – Bjorn Roche Apr 22 '13 at 14:41
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1$\begingroup$ From all the standards I've read, it seems that dBFS is strictly an RMS measurement, not a peak measurement, so this would not be correct. $\endgroup$ – endolith Aug 1 '18 at 16:27
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All the standards define dBFS as an RMS measurement, relative to the RMS level of a full-scale sine wave, so the calculation is:
value_dBFS = 20*log10(rms(signal) * sqrt(2)) = 20*log10(rms(signal)) + 3.0103
- A full-scale sine wave is 0 dBFS
- A full-scale square wave is +3 dBFS
The similar unit dBov is defined in relation to power ratios (so it's also an RMS measurement), such that full-scale DC or square wave is 0 dBov, so that calculation is:
value_dBov = 20*log10(rms(signal))
- A full-scale sine wave is −3 dBov
- A full-scale square wave is 0 dBov
