If, by "an order of magnitude", you mean "10db", which works out to be a bit more than 3x the sound pressure required. For comparison's sake, I consider an orde

If, by "an order of magnitude", you mean "10db", which works out to be a bit more than 3x the sound pressure required. For comparison's sake, I consider an order of magnitude to be around 10x or more. Exaggerations aside, I could very well be wrong about that part - I was basing my observation off the response curve of reference headphones, which all fall off drastically starting a bit before 10kHz. But since they sound the same throughout the frequencies, I inferred that hearing is more sensitive slightly before 10kHz, since even age-degraded hearing can go above the 14kHz range. > 12dB in either direction was standard issue in, like, the 70s. Look at the EQ provided with your phone's audio application. 12 dB plus and minus. Look at the EQ on your computer. Unless you're using custom software, it's more-than-likely going to be 12db (Spotify, iTunes, WMP, etc.). 40dB of dampening is custom hardware your average sound bar won't have. That your average consumer-grade home theater system won't have. That even a quality headphone amp/dac won't offer. > Getting the EQ right is table stakes for getting this production ready. Here we agree, as I pointed out in the post you're responding to.