World Audio Levels and

Common Meter Scales

Volts

IEC IIa
(BBC)

IEC IIb

DIN
(RTW)

VU

+12
+11
+10
+9
+8
+7
+6
+5
+4
+3
+2
+1
test
-1
-2
-3
-4
-5
-6
-7
-8
-9
-10
-11
-12
-13
-14
-15
-16
-17
-18
-19
-20
-21
-22
-23
-24

+12
+11
+10
+9
+8
+7
+6
+5
+4
+3
+2
+1
test
-1
-2
-3
-4
-5
-6
-7
-8
-9
-10
-11
-12

+5
+4
+3
+2
+1
0
-1
-2
-3
-4
-5
-6
-7
-8
-9
-10
-11
-12
-13
-14
-15
-16
-17
-18
-19
-20
-21
-22
-23
-24
-25
-26
-27
-28
-29
-30

+3
+2
+1
0
-1
-2
-3
-4
-5
-6
-7
-8
-9
-10
-11
-12
-13
-14
-15
-16
-17
-18
-19
-20

EBU
R68

France

24dBu
23dBu
22dBu
21dBu
20dBu
19dBu
18dBu
17dBu
16dBu
15dBu
14dBu
13dBu
12dBu
11dBu
10dBu
9dBu
8dBu
7dBu
6dBu
5dBu
4dBu
3dBu
2dBu
1dBu
0dBu
-1dBu
-2dBu
-3dBu
-4dBu
-5dBu
-6dBu
-7dBu
-8dBu
-9dBu
-10dBu
-11dBu
-12dBu
-13dBu
-14dBu
-15dBu
-16dBu
-17dBu
-18dBu
-19dBu
-20dBu
-21dBu
-22dBu
-23dBu
-24dBu

IEC I
Nordic

Standard

12.277 V
10.941 V
9.752 V
8.691 V
7.746 V
6.904 V
6.153 V
5.484 V
4.887 V
4.356 V
3.882 V
3.460 V
3.084 V
2.748 V
2.449 V
2.183 V
1.946 V
1.734 V
1.546 V
1.377 V
1.228 V
1.094 V
0.975 V
0.869 V
0.775 V
0.690 V
0.615 V
0.548 V
0.489 V
0.436 V
0.388 V
0.346 V
0.308 V
0.275 V
0.245 V
0.218 V
0.195 V
0.173 V
0.155 V
0.138 V
0.123 V
0.109 V
97.5 mV
86.9 mV
77.5 mV
69.0 mV
61.5 mV
54.8 mV
48.9 mV

dBu

+3
+2
+1
0
-1
-2
-3
-4
-5
-6
-7
-8
-9
-10
-11
-12
-13
-14
-15
-16
-17
-18
-19
-20

The Highlight indicates standard line up level used with each scale
DIN (German) systems also use "RTW 0" or "-9dBfs as a line up level which is referred to as 100%
EBU "R68" is more widely known as "BBC Spec" and is common to the UK and some EU countries
SMPTE "RP155" is in common usage in Nth America , Oceania and Asia

0 dBfs
-1 dBfs
-2 dBfs
-3 dBfs
-4 dBfs
-5 dBfs
-6 dBfs
-7 dBfs
-8 dBfs
-9 dBfs
-10 dBfs
-11 dBfs
-12 dBfs
-13 dBfs
-14 dBfs
-15 dBfs
-16 dBfs
-17 dBfs
-18 dBfs
-19 dBfs
-20 dBfs
-21 dBfs
-22 dBfs
-23 dBfs
-24 dBfs
-25 dBfs
-26 dBfs
-27 dBfs
-28 dBfs
-29 dBfs
-30 dBfs
-31 dBfs
-32 dBfs
-33 dBfs
-34 dBfs
-35 dBfs
-36 dBfs
-37 dBfs
-38 dBfs
-39 dBfs
-40 dBfs
-41 dBfs
-42 dBfs

SMPTE
RP155
0 dBfs
-1 dBfs
-2 dBfs
-3 dBfs
-4 dBfs
-5 dBfs
-6 dBfs
-7 dBfs
-8 dBfs
-9 dBfs
-10 dBfs
-11 dBfs
-12 dBfs
-13 dBfs
-14 dBfs
-15 dBfs
-16 dBfs
-17 dBfs
-18 dBfs
-19 dBfs
-20 dBfs
-21 dBfs
-22 dBfs
-23 dBfs
-24 dBfs
-25 dBfs
-26 dBfs
-27 dBfs
-28 dBfs
-29 dBfs
-30 dBfs
-31 dBfs
-32 dBfs
-33 dBfs
-34 dBfs
-35 dBfs
-36 dBfs
-37 dBfs
-38 dBfs
-39 dBfs
-40 dBfs
-41 dBfs
-42 dBfs
-43 dBfs
-44 dBfs
-45 dBfs
-46 dBfs
-47 dBfs
-48 dBfs

DIN
(German)

0 dBfs
-1 dBfs
-2 dBfs
-3 dBfs
-4 dBfs
-5 dBfs
-6 dBfs
-7 dBfs
-8 dBfs
-9 dBfs
-10 dBfs
-11 dBfs
-12 dBfs
-13 dBfs
-14 dBfs
-15 dBfs
-16 dBfs
-17 dBfs
-18 dBfs
-19 dBfs
-20 dBfs
-21 dBfs
-22 dBfs
-23 dBfs
-24 dBfs
-25 dBfs
-26 dBfs
-27 dBfs
-28 dBfs
-29 dBfs
-30 dBfs
-31 dBfs
-32 dBfs
-33 dBfs
-34 dBfs
-35 dBfs
-36 dBfs
-37 dBfs
-38 dBfs
-39 dBfs