Six suffixes, six references, and the arithmetic that turns "my synth sounds quiet" from a complaint into a number you can calculate — including the +4 versus -10 mismatch, which is not 14 dB.
Your interface says its inputs are +4 dBu. The synth on the desk says its outputs are −10 dBV. Your DAW says the track is peaking at −18 dBFS, and the SPL meter on your phone says the room is at 78 dB. Four numbers, all in decibels, and none of them can be compared with any of the others until you know what each is measured against.
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