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iPhone SPL Meter

post #1 of 12
8/14/08 at 11:40am
Thread Starter 
I doubt it will replace the ever-popular Radio Shack SPL meters any time soon, but some might find this bit of news to be of interest: There is an App available for iPhones that acts as an SPL meter.

http://arstechnica.com/journals/appl...om-your-iphone

Now someone just needs to create a profile for it...
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post #2 of 12
8/19/08 at 9:44am
Quote:


* Measure time-weighted and equivalent sound levels.
* Employ Flat, A, or C frequency weighting.
* Time-weighted measurement options include Fast, Slow, and Impulse weightings.
* Keep track of peak and maximum sound levels.
* Save high-resolution sound level display images to the iPhone's Camera Roll photo album. Descriptive text may be added to the image before it is saved.
* Calibration controls enable automatic calibration, relative to a calibrated sound level meter, or manual entry of the microphone sensitivity.
* SoundMeter supports rotating the iPhone upside down, so the built-in microphone sits on top of the device when measuring sound levels.
* With the iPhone’s built-in microphone, SoundMeter can measure peak sound levels of up to approximately 105 dB. With the iPhone’s included headset microphone, SoundMeter can measure peak sound levels of up to approximately 100 dB.

Can anybody say if it's a good or bad idea to download this if you don't already have a RS meter and aren't too picky?
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post #3 of 12
8/19/08 at 10:39am
I am wondering quality of microphone in iPhone. Can it pick up low base? In what sp level? Do they publish measurement in some kind of graph to show how accurate they are?
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post #4 of 12
8/19/08 at 1:47pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by tsyoo View Post

I am wondering quality of microphone in iPhone. Can it pick up low base? In what sp level? Do they publish measurement in some kind of graph to show how accurate they are?

According to the article I linked:

"According to the company, the built-in microphone that comes with the iPhone 3G and the headset microphone both have sound characteristics that make them suitable for measuring sound levels."

According to the website of the publisher:

"The iPhone's built-in and headset microphones exhibit a remarkably flat frequency response, making them suitable for basic sound level measurements."

They also note: "Even though default sensitivity values are included for the iPhone's built-in and headset microphones, for best results, SoundMeter should be calibrated before use. Sound levels may be off by 6 dB or more when using the default microphone sensitivity."

See: http://www.faberacoustical.com/produ...ne/soundmeter/

The company seems to specialize in fancy acoustic testing software, so I'm inclined to at least give them the benefit of the doubt that they have at least some clue as to what they're talking about.
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post #5 of 12
8/20/08 at 7:02am
They also recommend using an external mic when doing critical measurements. It's a lot easier than carrying around a suitcase and extension cords when all you want to do is pull a quick measurement.
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post #6 of 12
4/12/10 at 9:53am
Has anyone tried the SPL Meter, Decibel Meter, or Decibel app?

These are only 99 cents or $1.99 rather than $19.99 for the SoundMeter app.
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post #7 of 12
4/12/10 at 10:44pm
I've a friend who just bought the top iPhone app from Faber and is quite pleased. He's another anal engineer type like me and researched it dutifully. There are all sorts of articles and info on the Faber website.

Almost enough to make me get an iPhone, by far the cheapest room analysis system around... He did borrow my earthworks measurement mic to compare and I think the results were pretty good, but I'll have to ask him (if he doesn't chime in here himself).
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post #8 of 12
4/13/10 at 6:01am
I have an App called dB Meter Pro that's $3. Have done some testing comparing to a RS and the iPhone is surprisingly accurate. There are at least two caveats though. It has a floor of near 50dB and tops out at about 102dB.
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post #9 of 12
4/13/10 at 6:13am
I have RTA, SPL meter apps etc.

The mics suck and they are not very accurate. Fun but useless for anything really important. No where close to getting a calibrated mic from Parts express and using any of the free sofware packages out there REW, ARTA, HOLM.
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post #10 of 12
4/13/10 at 6:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by penngray View Post

I have RTA, SPL meter apps etc.

The mics suck and they are not very accurate. Fun but useless for anything really important. No where close to getting a calibrated mic from Parts express and using any of the free sofware packages out there REW, ARTA, HOLM.

I think the IPhone apps is more inline with the RS meter. Not a laptop and stand alone software.
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post #11 of 12
4/16/10 at 11:15pm
I glitched -- my friend user the faber s/w got an Alesis ProTrack to use with his iPhone. Better mics, calibration curves available, etc.

See e.g. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ProTrack
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post #12 of 12
4/17/10 at 11:01pm
Make sure you don't us a SPL Meter with the iPhone 3GS, it has a software filter that cuts low frequency's, also stay away from the first Gen iPhone built in Mic(its sample rate is very low). - http://www.studiosixdigital.com/iphone_hardware.html
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