[JLM]

Years ago I tried hard to be a DecHead (fan of Decware).  Steve Deckert's electronics have always had many very good attributes (hand built by well paid employees from America's heartland, life-time warrantee, simple  if somewhat "out there" designs, great sound, very reasonable prices) but I ended up loving somewhat less efficient speakers than what his stuff could accommodate (at the time).  Note that I'm a big believer in the amp providing a 'commanding grip' on the speaker for better bass control and improved resolution (detail and imaging), as well as of course avoiding the dreaded clip.

In his forums and still on his website the question of speaker matching still comes up (his "classic" amps are only 2 wpc and love low impedance loads).  Room size, listening tastes, and even musical genres also play into this consideration.  Naturally the logarithmic relationship of power (watts) to dB must be understood in all this.  Another factor is setting a goal of average and peak spls to be obtained with some debate as to what actual peak spls are.  But without a sound pressure level meter it's all speculation.  So I own one and with test tones have discovered two things: 

Most audiophiles over estimate how loud they routinely listen;

Most audiophile over estimate the frequency ranges they're listening to.

Discussion?

[Guy 13]

Hi JLM and all Audio Circle members.
One day I will buy a SPL meter to know what is the frequency response of all my speakers, what is the level at which I listen different type of music, what is the noise level of my listening room and also to found out what is the acoustic signature of my listening room, so I can improve it.
A very useful little device and not that expensive,
I wonder why I still don't own one ???

Guy 13

[Nick77]

I was looking to answer a poll question, but the answer is of course i own one. What home theater enthusiast/audiophile doesn't? 

[srb]

A very useful little device and not that expensive, I wonder why I still don't own one ???

For judging relative SPL music levels, measuring ambient background noise levels or for setting multichannel speaker levels with pink noise, the inexpensive sound level meter works pretty well.

But for analyzing frequency response, particularly lower bass frequencies where inexpensive sound level meters can be somewhat inaccurate, a calibrated microphone and soundcard interface with microphone input hooked up to a computer will give you a more realistic and accurate result for those tasks.

Steve

[goldlizsts]

Years ago I tried hard to be a DecHead (fan of Decware).  Steve Deckert's electronics have always had many very good attributes (hand built by well paid employees from America's heartland, life-time warrantee, simple  if somewhat "out there" designs, great sound, very reasonable prices) but I ended up loving somewhat less efficient speakers than what his stuff could accommodate (at the time).  Note that I'm a big believer in the amp providing a 'commanding grip' on the speaker for better bass control and improved resolution (detail and imaging), as well as of course avoiding the dreaded clip.

In his forums and still on his website the question of speaker matching still comes up (his "classic" amps are only 2 wpc and love low impedance loads).  Room size, listening tastes, and even musical genres also play into this consideration.  Naturally the logarithmic relationship of power (watts) to dB must be understood in all this.  Another factor is setting a goal of average and peak spls to be obtained with some debate as to what actual peak spls are.  But without a sound pressure level meter it's all speculation.  So I own one and with test tones have discovered two things: 

Most audiophiles over estimate how loud they routinely listen;

Most audiophile over estimate the frequency ranges they're listening to.

Discussion?

A must-own because you can't trust the "audiophile"'s ears!

[Dimfer]

Hi JLM and all Audio Circle members.
One day I will buy a SPL meter to know what is the frequency response of all my speakers, what is the level at which I listen different type of music, what is the noise level of my listening room and also to found out what is the acoustic signature of my listening room, so I can improve it.
A very useful little device and not that expensive,
I wonder why I still don't own one ???

Guy 13

you can start by downloading free spl meter app for your iphone or andoid phone

[Guy 13]

you can start by downloading free spl meter app for your iphone or andoid phone

Hi Dimfer and all Audio Circle members.
 
I don't have a Iphone or android...
I don't want an Iphone and Android.
I do have a laptop, maybe I will buy a microphone + software from
Part Express or the same ? ? ?

Guy 13

[Bob in St. Louis]

Guy, Your laptop more than likely already has a built in mic. Al least, I've never heard of a laptop not having one, but I could be wrong. More than likely, you just need the software to use it as an SPL meter. Try downloading software called >>"REW" (Room EQ Wizard)<<.

I've used free apps for my Android Samsung Galaxy 10.1 Tablet, and they are grossly in error. Seems like it's fairly accurate under about 90, but after that, it's way off. It is fun seeing the SPL level of various things in life. I've had the tablet in the truck with me while I'm driving to see how quiet the ride is. I've also taken my digital SPL meter and had it nearby when shooting guns, using loud tools and equipment in the workshop, and I'm even guilty of testing the (extreme) SPL level of my screaming newborn girl several years ago.

Oh...and I use it for home theater and audio use too.  It works great when tuning subwoofer and infinite baffle rigs.

Bob

[orthobiz]

I do. RS digital.

Paul

[orthobiz]

Hi Dimfer and all Audio Circle members.
 
I don't have a Iphone or android...
I don't want an Iphone and Android.
I do have a laptop, maybe I will buy a microphone + software from
Part Express or the same ? ? ?

Guy 13

Monsieur, à mon avis, vous devez acheter un iPhone téléphone portable.

Paul

[Austin08]

Yes, I have one - Galaxy CM140. Help me out a bunch.

[bummrush]

40 to 50 db in smallroom andits plenty loud

[Wayner]

I have the Rat Shack meter and it is as good as the microphone that is built into it. In other words, it sucks. The moral of the story here is that cheap meters bring cheap responses, nothing accurate, at all. I would certainly not base any conclusions for system evaluations based on the responses from this meter.

Wayner

[JLM]

A web search will reveal the correction needed (mostly in bass frequencies) for the Radio Shack spl meter.  Web searches will also provide samplings of spls and frequencies.

Measuring in-room bass spl's is unreliable at best anyway due to inherent wave prorogation of bass and the standing wave effect below the Schroeder frequency (refer to Floyd E. Toole's "Sound Reproduction").  These standing waves can result in +/- 20 dB variations depending on room size, speaker setup, frequency, and measuring location in the room (a good analogy is moving water back and forth in a bath tub with 4 inches/10 cm of water and observing the wave peaks and dips).

My point of creating this thread was to determine if low-wattage users worry about dynamic headroom and/or matching speaker efficiencies. 


bummrush, I'd double check your spl measurements (40 - 50 dB is ordinary conversational levels).  Now if you're saying 40 - 50 dB above background noise, I'd agree that it could be 'plenty loud'.

[Speedskater]

A 'spl meter' is on thing, a 'calibration mic' (with software) is another and an 'iPhone meter' is a toy.  While an 'spl meter' or 'iPhone meter' can be used hand held to answer the casual question of how loud?  Any serious measurement should be done with the meter in a fixed position on a mic stand or tripod with the human as far away as practicable. You use a 'spl meter' to set channel levels in a multi-channel system (5.1 or 7.1).  You use a 'calibration mic' to answer frequency response questions.

[bummrush]

That's possible all I use is the apple app,  I'm in a pretty quiet room . But yes even on the app is there a way to calibrate or change anything on it.

[Bob in St. Louis]

A 'spl meter' is on thing, a 'calibration mic' (with software) is another and an 'iPhone meter' is a toy.  While an 'spl meter' or 'iPhone meter' can be used hand held to answer the casual question of how loud?  Any serious measurement should be done with the meter in a fixed position on a mic stand or tripod with the human as far away as practicable. You use a 'spl meter' to set channel levels in a multi-channel system (5.1 or 7.1).  You use a 'calibration mic' to answer frequency response questions.

Bingo. 

[JLM]

Any serious measurement should be done with the meter in a fixed position on a mic stand or tripod with the human as far away as practicable.

Why not have the listener (human I think) very close by?  As I understand audio, the purpose is for the human to listen.  My audio mancave is for my enjoyment, not a lab experiment to make the numbers happy.  Wouldn't adding a human better stimulate what will be heard?  With my Behringer DEQ2496/mike I've always hand held at the 'head location' to best simulate actual in-use conditions.  And I'm being serious.

[Speedskater]

Because when doing the measurement, the meter represents the human.  You will just get in the way.

Even my old DIY 'Mighty Mic' with a 24 inch wand use sensitive to humans.  But with the cal mic, I could run the mic cable to the computer in the next room.

[Bob in St. Louis]

I think I see what JLM is saying.....
If you tune the room with nobody in it, then when you do introduce a 200 pound watery bag of manliness in the listening chair, then you've changed those numbers you just fine tuned.