[Randy Yates]

(Steve Pope) writes:

Chris Bore wrote:

Having written at length, I reluctantly consulted Wikipedia and to my
amazement found it contained useful information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DBFS

It does refer to the ambiguity, and in fact refers to an AES standard
(0 dBFS is rms of a full scale sine wave) and to a practial standard
(Euphonix sound level meters) that has 0 dBFS as the rms of a full
scale square wave (equivalent to the 'instantaneous' definition that I
suggested).

I find the former of these two definitions more widely used than the
latter. Any signal whose RMS value is the same as that of a full-scale
non-clipping sine wave is 0 dBFS. So a clipping square wave is
+3 dBFS.

Yeah, that bothers me. I like the reference level at FS square, so that
no signal EVER goes about 0 dBFS. But "like" and "define" are two
totally different things...

PS: Chris, thanks for pitching in!
--
Randy Yates % "And all you had to say
Digital Signal Labs % was that you were
% gonna stay."
http://www.digitalsignallabs.com % Getting To The Point', *Balance of Power*, ELO