there is no reason it would meter higher on music than with a tone. there are probably a couple of reasons for this. you either didnt play the right frequencies, or when you were playing music something his the meter causing a spike in the reading.we bumped some music thru it and got a 149.7, threw on a hertz disc and couldnt get past 146. so i will prolly street beat with it. plus if i did anything but street beat i would get ***** because of how much power im pushin. .