What does the "Loud" button do?

August 14, 2004 7:18 AM

On car radios (in the UK - and possibly other countries too) there is an option for "Loud". Which, it seems, just makes the sound... well, louder. What's the point of it?
posted by wibbler to Technology (19 answers total)

To...turn the volume up? Maybe its like CD players that have a volume limiter for health reasons.
posted by Orange Goblin at 7:31 AM on August 14, 2004

Found online: " The "LOUD" button basically is a low-grade amplifier, and will accentuate the loudest frequencies in the music, without really making most music sound better."
posted by rushmc at 7:40 AM on August 14, 2004

It's for that moment during the guitar solo at the end of "Paradise City" where it gets all crunchy and you're pumping your fist in the air, going "yeah! Fuck yeah!" and you want to turn it up really quickly without trying too hard.
posted by interrobang at 8:20 AM on August 14, 2004

it's often just a capacitor around the volume control - let's more bass through (thinking about it, that doesn't make complete sense, because if it was in parallel it would let more treble through. anyways, it involves a capacitor somehow...). there's an argument that at low volumes you don't hear bass as well, so this provides a boost to the bass to make low-volume music sound more "natural".

personally i hate it. cheap hifis put way too much emphasis on bass. i have screwed up tissue blocking the reflex ports on one pair of cheap speakers i own....
posted by andrew cooke at 8:22 AM on August 14, 2004

But this one goes to eleven...
posted by Tacodog at 8:23 AM on August 14, 2004

We bought a small, relatively cheap yet powerful shelf system for my wife to use in her studio. It has a "groove" button. I am not aware of what parameter "groove" is intended to modify, but the only effect on the sound is to give it big, broad, mushy, and distorted bass.

Whatever sells, I guess. Get your groove on.
posted by dragstroke at 8:53 AM on August 14, 2004

Best answer: The response curve for bass is different than for treble sounds, meaning that at low volume levels, you won't hear as much bass, even with the same EQ or Bass/Treble settings. The "loud" button boosts the bass at low volumes so you can actually hear it.
Try it, turn down "With Or Without You", and Adam Clayton magically disappears.
posted by signal at 9:28 AM on August 14, 2004

I have to agree with signal. Some of the other answers here are... 'different'.
posted by twine42 at 11:05 AM on August 14, 2004

they are? seems like a consensus that it boosts the bass. whether that's a good thing or not seems to be up for grabs, but that's subjective (although i don't know of any high-end audio amp that has such a thing).
posted by andrew cooke at 6:11 AM on August 15, 2004

It's fascinating that there are people out there who missed the entire 60's and 70's, and 80's and never came across a "Loudness" button on a stereo--I love it.

I've actually been guilty of pressing the button. But just remember, the best audio components don't even have bass and treble controls....
posted by ParisParamus at 8:12 AM on August 15, 2004

> the best audio components don't even have bass and treble controls....

If there are no tone controls, why have a volume control? Just hardwire the thing to preordained "critical listening" volume and ship it.
posted by jfuller at 8:52 AM on August 15, 2004

Well yes, just don't forget the gold-plated connectors. And Monster cables.
posted by yerfatma at 9:28 AM on August 15, 2004

i want an indash turntable
posted by angry modem at 10:32 AM on August 15, 2004

i gots me an indash wax cylinder with ear trumpet. and one of them cute little dogs.
posted by quonsar at 10:36 AM on August 15, 2004

Signal's right. The loud button isn't just a volume amplifier, it plays with the EQ.
posted by skylar at 12:49 PM on August 15, 2004

Best answer: In particular it's there to compensate for the fact that the human ear's equal loudness curves are spaced more closely together at low frequencies than at the middle of the audible range. So, imagine you have some music with a low note and a higher note that are supposed to be perceived as being the same loudness. The recording was mixed so that this works out at a given listening level --- a certain number of dB at your ear. If the only reason you adjust the volume knob is to compensate for being a different distance from the speakers, then the music will be the same number of dB at your ear, and the notes that are supposed to sound equally loud will still sound equally loud. But if you turn down the volume so that the music actually sounds quieter to you, then this will affect your perception of the lower frequencies more than it will affect your perception of the higher frequencies, and the "loudness" button is a crude attempt to compensate for that.
posted by hattifattener at 6:51 PM on August 15, 2004

It's for that moment during the guitar solo at the end of "Paradise City" where it gets all crunchy and you're pumping your fist in the air, going "yeah! Fuck yeah!" and you want to turn it up really quickly without trying too hard.

interrobang nailed it on the head...
posted by Dreamghost at 7:57 AM on August 16, 2004

i want an indash turntable

Never saw an indash but Chrysler offered an underdash in 56 that used a special record.

The after market in the 60's had turntables that used regular records.
posted by Mitheral at 11:15 AM on August 16, 2004

it always seemed to me like the "loud" button introduced some compression to the audio signal.

read about audio compression/limiting here.
posted by slhack3r at 11:23 AM on August 17, 2004