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SoundGym

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Michael Kopiec
May 06, 15:18
Hey, just to let you all know you cannot trust the training you are getting here on Sound Gym. I was baffled by struggles with certain games, DB King in particular. So I decided to get scientific about it. I set up a test environment with a reference mic and SPL meter to measure the db differences. I found that most times the test equipment and the game matched, which is good...except there were a couple of instances that they DIDN'T. For example the question was -7db or -5db, and the test equipment actually showed a -9db drop in level. So since -7 was closer to -9 I chose -7 and per the game the answer was wrong. I opened a support ticket and their answer was that they do not see any need to investigate. I don't know about you but I have a pretty big issue with that. Since this place claims to be teaching and training site I feel they have a duty to provide accurate teaching and training. It 's like if you went to a gym and trained to lift 75 pounds and got to the point you could in the gym but then you go out in the real world and try to lift a 75 pound bundle of roofing shingles and can't. Then you test the weights at the gym and find out that some of them are incorrect and are not the weight that they claim. But the gym refuses to fix it. I'd pretty much label that gym a fraud since people are being give a false sense of reality and then sent out to the real world where their training fails them. It is up to you if you want to keep paying money to a place that does not prioritize accuracy.
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Peter Bull
May 06, 15:27
Interesting. I generally have no interest in the Db game anyway. I just don't feel the need to be able to attach a number to louder and quieter in that way. A game that let you guess the LUFS of a signal or the loudness range or something might be more useful.

I think the EQ and compression games are are really worth it though. Especially the EQ stuff. Total game changer for live sound, mixing, mastering dialing in an amp... Everything. But that's really interested about the db game being off. Anyway that one and the distorted reality one are pretty annoying so it's nice to feel a little vindicated that it may not always be my fault!
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Linda Wagner
May 06, 15:45
I can think of at least one reason why both what you say is accurate as well as the training. For example, some of the music that is used in the DB King game is quite variable in dynamics. Therefore, you have to flip back and forth several times to be sure you aren't just hearing a variation in the loudness of the song that happens to be coincident with the timing of switching between the original level and the new level. I have done a similar test to what you describe and found it to be useless because the sound level is bouncing around so much. It is virtually impossible to get an accurate reading of the before and after levels.
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Nathan Footman
May 06, 15:48
Thanks for sharing this Michael! The db game would drive me crazy sometimes, and I swore some of the answers felt off to me. Good to know that I'm not at least not crazy!
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Audio Aisle
May 06, 16:09
a bad carpenter blames his/her tools.
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Nada Brahma
May 06, 16:29
I measured the total RMS deviations in practice mode with pink noise as a source and they were less than 0.1dB
Pull your socks up and get back to training.