Audio levels
As described in this article, signal levels are not that easy to understand, and we have a lot of different scales to work with: peak voltage, peak-to-peak voltage, RMS Voltage, dBV and dBu. And that’s not all: input and output impedance also matter!
The table below is directly taken from the article, and should give some guidance. Even better is to read the original article :-).
| Level | dBu | RMS | peaks | outputs | inputs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mic | -60dBu to -38dBu | 775uV to 10mV | ±2.2mV to ±28mV | ~150Ω | 1kΩ to 2kΩ |
| instrument | -20dBu to -14dBu | 80mV to 160mV | ±225mV to ±450mV | 10kΩ (effect) to 50kΩ (guitar) | 1MΩ |
| consumer line | -7.8dBu (-10dBV) | 316mV | ±885mV | <100Ω | ≥10kΩ |
| pro line | +4dBu | 1.228V | ±3.44V | <100Ω or 600Ω (old) | ≥10kΩ or 600Ω (old) |
| Eurorack (program) | +7.2dBu | 2.30V | ±5V | 0 or 1kΩ | ~100kΩ |
| Eurorack (sawtooth) | +11.4dBu | 2.89V | ±5V | 0 or 1kΩ | ~100kΩ |
| Eurorack (sine) | +13.2dBu | 3.34V | ±5V | 0 or 1kΩ | ~100kΩ |
(±5V means from -5V to +5V, e.g.: 10Vpp)