What is your ambient room spl level?
- Thread starter wil
- Start date
With stereo equipment on with sound paused and A/C off, the sound meter fluctuates between 20-21dB.
Acoustic Frontiers designed my media room acoustics and provided optimum inside wall dimensions. The finished windowless room dimensions are 19'-6"L x 15'-3"W x 11'H.
The media room acoustic "foundation" consists of an isolated wall system comprised of Kinetics IsoMax clips attached to 1-1/2" furring strips nailed to CBS blocks on all four walls. A hat channel is supported by the isolation clips. R-11 open faced fiberglass (3-1/2" thickness) fills the empty areas between the CBS walls and drywall. Soundboard XP damped drywall is attached to the side wall hat channels and ceiling joists. Acoustic sealant seals the areas between the top, bottom, corner areas of the damped drywall.
Acoustic Frontiers designed my media room acoustics and provided optimum inside wall dimensions. The finished windowless room dimensions are 19'-6"L x 15'-3"W x 11'H.
The media room acoustic "foundation" consists of an isolated wall system comprised of Kinetics IsoMax clips attached to 1-1/2" furring strips nailed to CBS blocks on all four walls. A hat channel is supported by the isolation clips. R-11 open faced fiberglass (3-1/2" thickness) fills the empty areas between the CBS walls and drywall. Soundboard XP damped drywall is attached to the side wall hat channels and ceiling joists. Acoustic sealant seals the areas between the top, bottom, corner areas of the damped drywall.
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Has anyone's posted measurements been taken with a proper professional DB Meter or just a mobile phone App?
I'm sure their must be awareness of the measurement limitations those mobile phone mics have. Not saying some of the numbers posted aren't possible but I wouldn't bet the ranch on the information its showing me. Especially when measuring in the other direction (ie..Max vs Min Loudness).
Those nice Reed Pro type meters aren't too horribly priced and worth every penny when taking room measurements like this and especially for creating DSP/Correction filters....etc.
I'm sure their must be awareness of the measurement limitations those mobile phone mics have. Not saying some of the numbers posted aren't possible but I wouldn't bet the ranch on the information its showing me. Especially when measuring in the other direction (ie..Max vs Min Loudness).
Those nice Reed Pro type meters aren't too horribly priced and worth every penny when taking room measurements like this and especially for creating DSP/Correction filters....etc.
Exactly as @cjf eludes. In my purpose-built very quiet dedicated room there is a non-trivial variance between the noise floor measurement I achieve with my Reed R8050 SPL meter and with my wife's Iphone running a popular sound measurement APP. The Reed SPL meter reading is 34.8dBa while the Iphone App indicates 28dBa. Measurements taken with my Cross Spectrum Labs calibated EMM6 microphone and my Macbook running Room EQ Wizard confirm the accuracy of the Reed SPL meter. My research suggests that unless you add a suitable high quality calibrated outboard microphone to your smartphone measurement app, noise floor measurements in quiet spaces will be overly optimistic and inaccurate. Furthermore, SPL meters capable of accurate noise floor measurements below 30dBa tend to be very expensive- $1000+
With the room's dedicated ERV air exchanger switched on, the Reed meter still measures below 35.0 dBa. The room's dedicated Mitsubishi mini-split HVAC unit is unneeded for music playback except for the warmest months of Summer or when the projector has been switched on for multi-hour, multi-movie marathons. When needed, the Mitsubishi HVAC is exclusively operated at it's lowest 19dBa setting where it increases the noise floor a modest 1.5dB.
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I just measured:
A weighting - 28 db
C weighting - 38 db
-- with air-conditioning zones off and kitchen wine refrigerator and living room wine refrigerator unplugged.
I am still hearing low frequency motor noise which I think is coming from the pool equipment area which is below the deck, and which powers the pool which is just outside of the listening room.
A weighting - 28 db
C weighting - 38 db
-- with air-conditioning zones off and kitchen wine refrigerator and living room wine refrigerator unplugged.
I am still hearing low frequency motor noise which I think is coming from the pool equipment area which is below the deck, and which powers the pool which is just outside of the listening room.
Measured with a cell phone app, a decent SPL meter (a Reed for example), or a calibrated measurement mic and a laptop running REW Ron? If this was with a cell phone app, you can figure on the actual numbers being at least 5db higher.
cell phone app
My old Radio Shack SPL meter does not register with soft sounds.
5dB higher? Eeeesh!
What dedicated, handheld SPL meter do you recommend?
I bought a REED Instruments R8050 Sound Level Meter on Amazon last year to replace my Radio Shack meter for the same reason. It's not very expensive but is accurate down to 30dB Ron. Measurements taken with the Reed meter agree with those taken with the calibrated mic I use with my laptop and REW. In my case my wife's Iphone running a measurement app was recording noise floor SPL numbers almost 7dB lower than did the Reed and the REW rig.
That looks like a good meter. Thank you!
Is the NIST-certified version of the R8050 worth paying up for?
Should one get the calibrator kit with the meter? Or is the meter properly calibrated out-of-the-box?
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I average around 40-45....with an HVAC unit right outside my listening area. It varies (of course) between nighttime and daytime but on average? It's acceptable.
Obviously better at night for those late night listening sessions while the family is asleep. You can hear much more low level detail.
With that said, I do not recall ever trying the SPL with the HVAC off.
Tom
Obviously better at night for those late night listening sessions while the family is asleep. You can hear much more low level detail.
With that said, I do not recall ever trying the SPL with the HVAC off.
Tom
Agree I try to listen as much as possible at night as I find it sounds better.don’t know the noise of my room but I think it would be very quiet as it’s at the back of the house away from roads and noise.
I figured out that what I thought was noise from my pool pump just outside the listening room actually is the hot water heater in the garage above the listening room. When I turn off the hot water heater the iPhone SPL app on C weighting drops to 26dB.
The noise reading would be lower if the listening room were not right next to the kitchen, from which I am hearing motor noise from the refrigerator or the freezer or both. When their compressors go off and I turn off the hot water heater I will take another reading.
The noise reading would be lower if the listening room were not right next to the kitchen, from which I am hearing motor noise from the refrigerator or the freezer or both. When their compressors go off and I turn off the hot water heater I will take another reading.
I've always known our main room to be very quiet, the benefits of living out of the city! System is all on at the moment inc simple pc server with fans (but these never actually kick in)
Excellent!
I really wish my listening room was not right next to the kitchen.
I guess it wouldn't be very practical to re-locate the refrigerator and freezer into the living room?
I guess it wouldn't be very practical to re-locate the refrigerator and freezer into the living room?
A weighting - 30 db
C weighting - 33 db
Amazing how some rooms are reading in the 20s and below, outstanding!
C weighting - 33 db
Amazing how some rooms are reading in the 20s and below, outstanding!
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