103dB in thhe front row watching Looper....

[JoeMilner]

Yep.
It's louder when you're right next to the speakers.
But the REAL question here is; Why was your iPhone not turned off during the screening of the film?????? LOL

[UnderTow]

Originally Posted by Etch-A-Sketch

It has always been true, that is why it is called the Inverse Square LAW, not the Inverse Square "rule of thumb" or the Inverse Square "estimation".

The inverse square law applies to point sources radiating in all directions equally. That means 360 degrees on a horizontal plane, 360 on a vertical plane and everything in between. I don't think this describes the behaviour of sound in a cinema.

As for reverberation... How low do you think those wall panels/treatments in a cinema absorb? Certainly not full spectrum. They just tame the highs...

Alistair

[Etch-A-Sketch]

Sending you a PM with info as I do not want to hijack this thread any longer with this topic.

[JEK3]

Originally Posted by ScruffyG

i just got back from watching Looper.. great movie, but my ears a ringing, it seemed so loud that i whipped out my iphone with im SPL meter and caught several peaks between over 102dB topping out at 103dB for one thump / gunshot.

is this normal? it was too loud for me!

Not sure about your phone SPL meter, but in my experience phone's SPL meters tend to underestimate the volume as the mic's aren't able to catch correctly the low frequencies. Also, the mic probably starts clipping above a certain level, therefore I wouldn't be surprised at all if the sound in that theater was even much louder.

[Mundox]

Just saw Looper on Bluray. I found the dynamic range pretty extreme. From barely intelligible dialog to very loud music/fx blasts every 5 minutes. It was very tiring to watch. My thumb got a work out on the volume button too.