Orlando, FL Noise from Specific Sources: Low-Frequency Bass Limits (2026)

03(4)(g) of the City Code defines the enforcement standard that officers use for bass-heavy noise complaints: "Plainly audible means any sound that can be detected by a person using his or her unaided hearing faculties who has a direct line of sight and hearing to the source of the noise. 05, Orlando's nighttime residential and multi-use noise rules. 05(2)(d)), that alone is prima facie evidence of a violation, no decibel meter reading is required at that point because the low-frequency bass test substitutes for a precise measurement.

07(1) separately makes it unlawful for anyone to "make, maintain, create, or allow to be created any unreasonably disturbing noise" from a car sound amplification device, whether it is wholly or partially enclosed in the vehicle, when it disturbs the comfort or repose of a person of ordinary sensibilities. Because bass frequencies carry through walls and vehicle bodies more effectively than higher frequencies, the city's officers rely on the plainly-audible/rhythmic-bass standard rather than requiring a Chart 1 dBA/dBC meter reading for every complaint, making this one of the easiest noise violations to establish in the field.