Looking for a Reliable dB Meter (Sound Meter)

[Jiri]

The title of the thread is, "Looking for a Reliable dB Meter", I gave my recommendation

Ok, so where is your recommendation? Which app or handheld sound level meter are you using?

 

[GregCA]

Imo that little mike cannot reliably pick up all the sounds let alone measure them.

That's probably true, but perhaps it can pick enough sound information to provide a reading within an acceptable accuracy bracket. I believe that's possible on a platform where the hardware isn't too heterogenous (such as iDevices), because developers can actually calibrate the software appropriately by testing most (all?) variants of hardware.

 

[Alue]

That's probably true, but perhaps it can pick enough sound information to provide a reading within an acceptable accuracy bracket. I believe that's possible on a platform where the hardware isn't too heterogenous (such as iDevices), because developers can actually calibrate the software appropriately by testing most (all?) variants of hardware.

I doubt that's the case with Android phones.

 

[Jiri]

I doubt that's the case with Android products.

I can vouch for that one (and windows p.).

 

[GregCA]

I believe that's possible on a platform where the hardware isn't too heterogenous (such as iDevices), because developers can actually calibrate the software appropriately by testing most (all?) variants of hardware.

I doubt that's the case with Android phones.

Indeed, Android doesn't qualify as a platform with homogenous hardware.

 

[RPM]

I think I know where @GregCA is going with his question. Apologies if I am wrong...

Use common sense when going to places. You don't need a meter to tell you how loud something is. I have one and all I've used it for is to calibrate my speakers in my mixing room. I don't need it to tell me that going to see a local band at a small bar is a bad idea, earplugs or no.

What meter did you use for playback calibration? I'm a mastering guy and i've always worked at the same 82dba-ish level that I set by ear. Now that i'm dealing with T i'm inclined to turn down and get more serious about the actual level, but on my phone (iphone x) different apps can vary by almost 10db.

 

[Ambassador]

Ok, so where is your recommendation? Which app or handheld sound level meter are you using?

The one that you made clear that you didn't have.

 

[Jiri]

The one that you made clear that you didn't have.

I stand corrected. Sorry.

 

[Jiri]

Just wanted to let everybody know that I decided to go with Alue recommendation and I just orderded the Urceri Noise Decibel Meter. https://www.amazon.co.uk/URCERI-Cal...1514903113&sr=8-2&keywords=urceri+sound+meter

 

[Jiri]

Check this out: https://www.tekcoplus.com/products/...racy-measuring-30db-130db?variant=33419465089

Too good to be true? Product certifications: IEC651 type 2, ANSI S1.4 type 2, CE Certified & RoHS Compliants, tripod mount, USB cable for power supply (long term monitoring), etc. etc. all that for just $37,90??

 

[FrontRoomFanatic]

Hello all,

I've recently purchased new speakers and I'm looking to invest in a reliable sound pressure level meter (dB) Meter). I have one but it was a little cheap and I'm not to sure it is reliable. I'm aware that many can be ~10 dB inaccurate.

As different albums on the same platform (Spotify) can have different base volume levels (due to mastering/mixing perhaps?) I'm going to have a dB meter handy at all times to make sure I'm listening in the 50-65 dB range. I'm not keen on going over this, at least not above 75 but 50-65 would be my preferred range for peace of mind.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a really good / reliable dB meter? Any help greatly appreciated.

 

[John Dittmer]

I created an account just to correct the information in this forum regarding dB A/C/Z weighted measurements.

You should NEVER use anything but Z weighted readings when determining harmful sound decibel levels. I already made this mistake and now suffer from tinnitus and hyperacusis. Z analyses ALL frequencies THE SAME, where as A & C measures the bass and high frequencies QUIETER than they really are! Any other reading measurement besides dBZ will partially IGNORE volume coming in from low bass and high treble frequencies. If you are taking a reading of a bass tone of 30 Hz BLASTING and your meter is measuring dBA, it may not even detect the blasting bass sound! This is devastating when taking sound measurements for hearing safety! If your meter only measures A and C, use C because C measures more frequencies, but you should still be weary about C readings if you are measuring music which can have loud bass and treble frequencies because these frequencies will be partially ignored by A and C readings!

For pictures and better understanding, read more here:
https://midimagic.sgc-hosting.com/spldose.htm

 

[Chris S.]

Just to add: I've used a standard A/C sound meter and the readings seemed much lower than using the NIOSH app with an iOS device. The difference was about 15 dB! Whereas the iOS device showed around 80 dB when playing an electric guitar, the A/C meter showed just 65 dB. The sound of the guitar was relatively loud and I believe that the iOS reading was much closer to reading correctly the actual dB level.

To add some more clarity:

1. John Dittmer is absolutely correct, but the problem is that no affordable SPL/decibel meter comes with Z-weighting. Only very expensive devices that usually cost above 1000 USD or EUR include Z-weighting.

2. iOS and Android apps like NIOSH SLM or Decibel X include Z-weighting but have to be manually calibrated first. The NIOSH app allows this to be done easily. The problem is that they are off the mark by, sometimes, more than 10 dB! I recently bought a properly factory-calibrated sound level meter (a Class 2 Extech SL510) and a calibrator, and verified the calibration - it was off by only 0.1 dB, which I corrected. After that, I tested the following three apps: SPLnFFT, NIOSH SLM, and Decibel X, using an iPad. The sobering results: SPLnFFT was off (lower) by about 3 dbA and 5-6 dBC, Decibel X was off (lower) by about 4-5 dBA and 7-8 dBC, and NIOSH SLM was off (higher) by nearly 12 dBA! After manually calibrating the NIOSH SLM, it is now showing very close dBA and dBC results to what the calibrated Extech sound level meter shows. If you rely on those apps to use their Z-weighting, you wound need to verify first their A-weighted and C-weighted results against those of a calibrated SPL meter and adjust them as needed to get an accurate Z-weighted reading.

3. Some fun facts that I learned in the process of testing about the noise levels of various household items: my shower generates around 72-74 dbZ, my hairdryer - around 68 dbZ at its quietest level, my electric shaver - around 65 dBZ, my kitchen blender - around 75 dBZ. I am usually comfortable with listening to music around 62-64 dBZ and playing an electric guitar quietly around 65-67 dbZ. My speech easily exceeds 75 dBZ when raising my voice.