sound level meters...

[purbeast0]

i want to get a sound level meter but am not sure if some are "better" than others. they range in price from like $20 to $100 so i'm not sure wtf the difference is.

i just want to use it to measure the sound levels at different locations in my theater and to know what true reference sound is in my room.

would something like this work well enough?

http://www.amazon.com/Mini-Digital-S.../dp/B001THX3M0

seems to have decent ratings and looks like it is straight to the point. but i just don't know what it doesn't do that the more expensive ones do.

 

[alkemyst]

I like my old analog Radio Shack one. They have the correction factors posted on many websites as well.

 

[fralexandr]

If you don't care too much about accuracy, you can use a phone app. Android has smart tools sound meter (free woooo!) which works ok. It clips at about 80-100 dB though, based on the smartphone' s Mic.

 

[Anubis]

the 20$ radio shack one works fine if all you want a levels

 

[purbeast0]

the 20$ radio shack one works fine if all you want a levels

i don't see a $20 one on their website. plus i'd rather just get it at amazon for $23 since i got prime and won't have to deal with going to the store lol.

i mainly just wanted to know if the cheaper ones are reliable for real basic use, which it sounds like they are.

 

[fralexandr]

If you have a smartphone, would you mind testing a sound meter app to see if they're reasonably accurate? Something like +/-1-3dB would be awesome

 

[Fallen Kell]

If you have a smartphone, would you mind testing a sound meter app to see if they're reasonably accurate? Something like +/-1-3dB would be awesome

Well, that is just it, we already know the app will only be as accurate as the microphone in the phone. And since the microphone will be different from model to model (and even batch to batch as it is probably considered a commodity part and sourced from multiple suppliers), you will have extremely wide range of accuracy.