Reliable sound meter wanted (decibel measurement)

Discussion in 'Lounge' started by BEAT16, Jun 8, 2022.

  1. BEAT16

    BEAT16 Audiosexual

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    Reliable sound meter wanted (decibel measurement)

    I am grateful for any tip.

     
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  3. clone

    clone Audiosexual

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    You may be looking for something more accurate, but if you are just trying to gauge 80-85dB in the room you can use an app on your smartphone.
     
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  4. mk_96

    mk_96 Audiosexual

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    Best Answer
    1-Everyday use: smartphone apps

    2-accurate-ish: good quality omnidirectional mic+REW, calibrated with a sound level meter

    3-accurate enough: The SLM's you can find on electronics stores. I've had good results with UNI-T and Pro'sKit sound level meters on studio and other more "domestic" scenarios. Don't know how they beheave in the long term though.

    4-legal-tier geneal use accurate: any standard compliant sound level meter, all i've seen share the same (or very similar) classification terms, class-II being the minimum for legal use, but that doesn't mean a specific SLM will be class-II on all standards, they are usually included in the specs. Either way, class-II or class-I (class-I being even more precise) of whatever standard is more than enough if you're not using it for legal stuff. I've used the Casella CEL-620, really nice feel to it, can deliver data per octave third, and you can extract all via USB. Also, CESVA SC-102, more limited and it'll have you writing stuff down but it's also way less expensive. You may need to buy a calibrator if it isn't included.

    5-Lab-level acurate: Don't bother, unless you're running a lab.

    If you really need precission but buying one is overkill, you can usually rent integrating class-I or class-II sound level meters, and since they need to be certified every month or so it's basically guaranteed they'll give you reliable results, i wouldn't bother with specific models unless you need something specific, like USB connectivity, data per otave/octave-third, standard-specific measurements and such.
     
  5. relexted

    relexted Producer

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    iPhones are as accurate as professional meters. I use SPLnFFT app.
     
  6. clone

    clone Audiosexual

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    That doesn't surprise me. People use them for medical types of functions, even. SoundMeter is also decent enough for our simple audio purposes.
     
  7. BEAT16

    BEAT16 Audiosexual

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    Thank you all for your help and answers.
     
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