What Are Negative Decibels

What does negative dB mean?

A positive dB means that the sound is a few times louder than the threshold, while a negative dB means that you are a few times softer than that threshold.

Can you hear negative decibels?

So 0 dB does not mean no sound, it means a sound level where the sound pressure is equal to that of the reference level. This is a small pressure, but not zero. It is also possible to have negative sound levels: – 20 dB would mean a sound with pressure 10 times smaller than the reference pressure, i.e. 2 μPa.