Dynamic range is the range from the minimum and maximum amplitudes of the signal. The larger the difference, the larger the dynamic range.
Human hearing covers about 140dB of dynamic range.
Different styles of music have different dynamic range. Jazz generally has a larger dynamic range than pop music. Dance music has a smaller dynamic range than pop music.
Dynamic range of human speech is about 40dB.
Distorted electric guitar 5-10dB.
Orchestra in concert hall 80dB
Most Analogue–Digital Converters(ADC) have a dynamic range of +/1 10V and sometimes signals are amplified before conversion.
The resolution of an ADC determines how many values has to covert the analogue signal into.
| Resolution (bits) | Values |
|---|---|
| 8 (2 pow 8) | 256 |
| 16 (2 pow 16) | 65536 |
| 24 (2 pow 24) | 16777216 |
Given that each slice represents a range of signal, the number of slices dictates the smallest possible value which will be the size of the first slice. For example, if the total dynamic range is 20V and the resolution is 16b then each slice is 20V/65536 = 0.3 mV.
To calculate the dynamic range of the same setup would be 20Log10(25536) = 96dB.