Frequently Asked Questions

What does Auris actually measure?

Auris reads audio from a microphone at your listening position and converts the signal to A-weighted sound pressure level (dBA) using a filter that models human hearing sensitivity. It samples 10 times per second and accumulates your hearing dose according to the NIOSH Recommended Exposure Limit formula. At 85 dBA you have 8 hours; every 3 dB increase halves that time.

A parallel C-weighted measurement runs simultaneously for impulse peak monitoring. C-weighting is nearly flat across the audible spectrum, making it better suited for detecting sudden loud events that can cause immediate damage even if your cumulative dose is low.

What does the dose percentage mean in practice?

The dose percentage is how much of your safe daily hearing budget has been spent. The four states map to NIOSH dose thresholds:

Think of 100% not as a cliff edge after which damage is guaranteed, but as the point where a person exposed at that level every working day for a career begins accumulating statistically significant risk. The dose resets at midnight.

My dose is stuck at 0%. Why?

No dose accumulates below 80 dBA — that's the NIOSH threshold below which continuous exposure isn't considered harmful. If you're working at a level below 80 dBA at your mic position, you're in the safe zone. Try speaking directly into the mic to confirm the measurement is working. If you're seeing readings consistently lower than expected, your calibration offset may need adjusting — see the Calibration section below.

How long can I safely work at different levels?

The NIOSH formula gives a clear answer. With an 85 dBA criterion and 3 dB exchange rate:

Every 3 dB increase halves your safe time. Most studio monitoring sits between 75–90 dBA — seemingly moderate, but over a 10-hour session the dose accumulates faster than you'd expect.

Why does Auris need Microphone permission?

Auris measures sound pressure level by reading audio from your chosen input device. macOS requires Microphone access for any app that reads from an audio input. The audio is processed entirely on-device in real time and is never recorded to disk or transmitted anywhere — only the derived numeric SPL values are retained.

How do I grant Microphone permission?

Which input device should I use?

For meaningful measurements, use a microphone positioned near your listening position — ideally 30–60 cm from where your ears sit while working. A small measurement mic or a decent USB condenser gives more reliable results than the built-in Mac microphone, though the built-in mic is fine for getting a rough sense of levels.

Select your preferred input in Settings → Audio. Auris remembers the selection by device UID, so it reconnects to the right mic automatically even after unplugging and replugging.

Why does frequency response calibration matter?

A-weighted SPL is computed by applying a standardised filter to the incoming signal. That filter assumes the measurement chain — microphone, preamp, and analogue-to-digital converter — is frequency-neutral. In practice, no microphone is perfectly flat, and the deviation matters most at the extremes of the audible range. A capsule that rolls off at 100 Hz will underreport bass energy; one that has a presence peak at 10 kHz will read high-frequency content as louder than it is.

For occupational dose tracking, errors in the A-weighted reading translate directly into errors in the dose calculation. A systematic 3 dB underread means your reported dose could be half of the real value. Frequency response calibration applies a correction curve to the signal before A-weighting is computed, making the virtual measurement chain effectively flat. It should be done before level calibration — a correct level offset on top of a distorted frequency response still produces inaccurate readings.

How do I calibrate the frequency response?

The goal is to measure how your microphone deviates from a flat response and tell Auris how to compensate. The process uses pink noise as a reference signal — pink noise has equal energy per octave, which makes spectral deviations easy to spot.

If you have access to a professional sound level meter — or can compare against a verified reference — you can validate the correction by checking that Auris agrees with the reference within 1–2 dB after both calibration steps are complete.

Can I save a calibration and reuse it later?

Yes. The Save Profile section is always available at the bottom of Settings → Audio. Give it a label — the input device name is pre-filled, but something more descriptive is useful if you use the same mic in different positions or at different gain settings (e.g. Superlux at desk — Apollo gain 40%).

Each saved profile stores:

Saved profiles appear under Settings → Audio → Saved Profiles. Pressing Apply restores the frequency correction (if the profile has one) and sets the level offset to the value stored in the profile.

Why is there a calibration offset?

Auris computes SPL from the digital signal level of your microphone. That digital level depends on two things: the microphone's sensitivity, and the input gain set on your interface or in System Settings → Sound. Both vary between setups, so the raw reading isn't tied to a real-world SPL value without calibration. The offset bridges that gap.

The default value of 94 dB corresponds to the IEC 60942 pistonphone standard — a calibration device that produces a known 94 dB tone at 1 kHz. In practice, virtually every setup will need a different offset, because your input gain almost certainly isn't set to match that reference. Treat the default as a starting point, not a correct value.

I don't have a pistonphone. How do I calibrate?

A practical method using a free reference app:

Record your calibration value and mic position in the Mic Location field so you can reproduce the same setup later.

Why does Auris show both dBA and dBC?

Human hearing is not equally sensitive at all frequencies. International standards define weighting curves that adjust measurements to reflect this. The two matter for different reasons:

A-weighting (dBA) models hearing sensitivity at moderate levels. It attenuates frequencies below 200 Hz (a 100 Hz tone measures about 19 dB lower than its physical level) and slightly boosts the 2–4 kHz range where hearing is most sensitive. This is the correct weighting for dose calculation because hearing damage from continuous exposure correlates with perceived loudness, not raw physical energy. NIOSH, OSHA, and EU Directive 2003/10/EC all mandate dBA for occupational dose.

C-weighting (dBC) is nearly flat from 31.5 Hz to 8 kHz — it only rolls off at the extremes. This makes it correct for measuring peak impulse levels. Impulsive sounds can cause mechanical damage to cochlear hair cells regardless of how loud they seem. A-weighting would underreport this risk because it de-emphasises the low-frequency content of many impulses. EU Directive 2003/10/EC specifically mandates C-weighted peak measurement (LCpeak) for exactly this reason.

What does the dBC − dBA gap indicator mean?

When the C-weighted reading is significantly higher than the A-weighted reading, it means substantial low-frequency energy is present that A-weighting is filtering out. Auris shows a gap indicator in the menu bar popover:

Gap > 6 dB (caution): notable low-frequency content present. Gap > 10 dB (warning): significant bass energy that A-weighting alone would underreport.

This matters most when mixing bass-heavy music, working with subwoofers, or tracking heavy kick drums and sub-bass content. In these situations, A-weighting gives you a false sense of safety — you may feel like the levels are manageable while the physical energy reaching your ears is substantially higher.

What is Conservative dose mode?

Standard NIOSH dose uses A-weighted SPL only. But when the C-weighted level is significantly higher than the A-weighted level, the physical energy hitting your ears is greater than A-weighting alone suggests. Conservative mode uses max(dBA, dBC) for dose accumulation at each tick — whichever weighting gives the higher reading drives the calculation.

For mid-range content (speech, acoustic instruments), dBA ≈ dBC and behaviour is unchanged. For bass-heavy content, the C-weighted level will be higher and dose will accumulate faster — a more protective posture.

There is no formal NIOSH or OSHA standard for this approach. It's a maximum-protection option. Enable it in Settings → Safety.

How does auto-session detection work?

Auris watches for DAW processes launching and quitting using system notifications. When a tracked DAW opens, a session starts automatically. When the last tracked DAW quits, the session ends. If you open multiple DAWs simultaneously, the session continues until all of them have closed.

You can disable this and use manual Start / End Session instead — toggle it in Settings → DAWs.

My DAW isn't being detected. What do I do?

First confirm that auto-session detection is enabled in Settings → DAWs. If your DAW isn't in the built-in list of 17, you can add its bundle ID manually. To find a DAW's bundle ID:

Why doesn't a session appear in history after I worked for a while?

Sessions with less than 0.1% dose are excluded from history — this filters out sessions where the microphone wasn't meaningfully active (e.g. you opened your DAW without playing audio at a measurable level). Make sure audio is actually playing through your monitors before starting a session, and that your calibration offset is correct so SPL readings are in the expected range.

How do I read the weekly chart?

The seven bars represent the last seven calendar days, oldest on the left, today on the right. Each bar height is normalised to the highest day — the tallest bar fills the available space, and shorter bars scale proportionally. The number above each bar is that day's total dose as a percentage of the daily limit. Bar colours follow the same Safe / Caution / Warning / Danger thresholds used by the menu bar icon.

The Daily avg header is the arithmetic mean of all seven days' dose percentages — on a typical day this week, how much of your daily budget did you use?

The EU weekly header is the EU L_EX,w — the weekly noise exposure level from ISO 9612 and EU Directive 2003/10/EC, expressed in dBA and directly comparable to the 85 dBA daily criterion. Below 80 dBA is green; 80–85 dBA is orange; ≥ 85 dBA is red, meaning weekly exposure is unsustainable at that pace.

What are the peak impulse thresholds?

The thresholds come from EU Directive 2003/10/EC, which mandates C-weighted peak measurement for impulse monitoring:

These matter because transient sounds can cause mechanical damage to cochlear hair cells regardless of cumulative dose. Peak notifications are rate-limited to one per 30 seconds to avoid spam during intense sessions (e.g. drum tracking).

What is the 115 dBA instantaneous ceiling?

The 115 dBA limit is the maximum permissible instantaneous A-weighted level per EU Directive 2003/10/EC. Unlike the C-weighted LCpeak thresholds that target impulsive bass-heavy events, this limit applies to any sudden A-weighted spike. Auris counts the number of ticks in each session where this threshold is exceeded and shows a badge in the session history — even a count of 1 warrants attention, as this level is capable of causing immediate cochlear damage.

What is Leq?

Leq (equivalent continuous level) is the energy-average of all sound levels measured over a given time window. It answers the question: what single steady level would carry the same total acoustic energy as the actual fluctuating signal? The formula is Leq = 10 · log₁₀(mean(10^(Lᵢ/10))), where each Lᵢ is an individual A-weighted SPL reading. Unlike an arithmetic average, Leq is dominated by the loud moments — a few loud seconds pull the Leq up significantly more than many quiet ones.

Auris shows Leq over three rolling windows: 1 minute, 10 minutes, and 30 minutes. These update live in the menu bar panel.

How does Leq relate to the dose percentage?

Your dose is computed using the same energy-averaging formula, but applied across the whole day. The Leq windows give you a shorter-term view of the same thing — Leq(1 min) shows the level of the last minute, Leq(10 min) of the last ten minutes, and so on. If Leq(10 min) is consistently above 85 dBA, your dose is accumulating faster than the NIOSH 8-hour limit.

What are L10, L50, and L90?

L10, L50, and L90 are statistical percentile levels computed over the last 30 minutes of A-weighted SPL readings. They describe the distribution of levels in a session, not just the average.

L10 is the level exceeded 10% of the time — it captures your loud peaks. If L10 is high, you're spending meaningful time at elevated levels.
L50 is the median level — exceeded exactly 50% of the time. This is your typical working level.
L90 is the level exceeded 90% of the time — it represents the background noise floor of your room. If L90 is already at 60–65 dBA, that's a significant constant exposure even before you play anything.

A healthy session has a clear gap between L10 and L90, indicating dynamic range. When all three values are close together, the environment is consistently loud without much variation.

Why do the Leq windows show "—" when I first start?

Leq(1 min) needs 1 minute of data, Leq(10 min) needs 10 minutes, and Leq(30 min) / Ln percentiles need 30 minutes. The display shows a dash until the required window is filled. This is intentional — showing an estimate from only a few seconds of data would be misleading.

Why NIOSH and not OSHA?

Both are US occupational noise standards, but NIOSH is more protective. OSHA uses a 5 dB exchange rate and a 90 dBA criterion level — parameters designed for heavy industry decades ago. NIOSH uses a 3 dB exchange rate and an 85 dBA criterion, which aligns with current audiological research and is the basis for EU Directive 2003/10/EC. For audio professionals who sit at moderate-to-high levels for long stretches, NIOSH is the right standard to use.

Is Auris a replacement for a professional sound level meter?

No. Auris gives useful, science-based awareness of your exposure levels during everyday work — and that awareness alone can meaningfully reduce long-term risk. A calibrated, certified sound level meter (IEC 61672 Class 1 or 2) is required for formal occupational health compliance assessments. Treat Auris as a practical daily monitoring tool, not a regulatory instrument.

Notifications aren't appearing.

Check System Settings → Notifications → Auris. If Auris isn't listed, relaunch the app — it requests notification permission on every launch. Make sure the alert style is set to Alerts or Banners, not None. If they disappeared after an update, reset permissions and re-grant them:

Relaunch Auris and grant notification permission when prompted.

The Sparkle update prompt isn't appearing.

Sparkle caches its "already checked" state. To force a fresh check:

Relaunch Auris, then use menu → Check for Updates…