Pink Noise

Background

The energy distribution of pink noise is flat, octave-wise, e.g. the frequency bands [10Hz-20Hz] and [10.000Hz-20.000Hz] contain the same energy. On a log-frequency plot, pink noise is represented by a flat horizontal line (for the linear scale, please refer to the white noise). For the human auditory system - which processes frequencies logarithmically - pink noise sounds evenly spread across all frequencies and best approximates the average spectral distribution of music.

Applications

Pink noise is used as a reference tone to check frequency responses or the adverse effects of room modes. It can also be used for burning in drivers.

Usage

Play back the file through your system and check its response with a audio spectrum analyzer. The response should be flat when averaged over time (assuming the audio spectrum analyzer integrates energy over a logarithmic frequency scale).

Pink Noise @ -3dBFS

Links

• Pink Noise @ Wikipedia
• TrueRTA Spectrum Analyzer