Measuring spl at home?Possible w/o Termlab?

[45js45 10+ year member]

First,how much to purchase a Termlab?Second,while watching tv I noticed the show was using a laptop and a micro phone to measure DBs.They did not show the laptop screen,not sure what they were using.

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[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

Termlab used = 400-500 IIRC

There are other SPL meters out there but if you want the numbers to mean anything they pretty much have to be on a TL.

 

[45js45 10+ year member]

What is ment by "certified"?I see some peoples #s say certified after their score.

 

[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

What is ment by "certified"?I see some peoples #s say certified after their score.

Probably means they got that score at a competition on a TL...

 

[-01limited- 10+ year member]

First,how much to purchase a Termlab?Second,while watching tv I noticed the show was using a laptop and a micro phone to measure DBs.They did not show the laptop screen,not sure what they were using.

slimfatty2cake sells some good spl meters. Pm him if you want more info.

 

[T3mpest 10+ year member]

measurements in home audio o alot further than car audio and the TL. Home audio guys care about reproducing movies and music, usually accurately, so the mics are much better. They'll measure down to 10hz in many cases accurately and go well over 20khz. You can use PC software and even check your phase and time delay and get VERY detailed frequency response measurements. It's goes alot deeper than xx.xx dbs' at xxhz. Behringer has some good mics for those purposes for the price. Especially if you spend a few bucks extra and buy a calibration file for the mic. THat'll make it as good as multi thousand dollar mics more or less.

edit: workeed 12 hrs slept 2 just reread post. lol you never mentioned home audio **** im tired lol.

 

[kmanian 5,000+ posts]

you don't need a tl to measure home audio, as home audio almost never gets even close to as loud as the pressure levels that you find in even mild car audio. the precision of the equipment is much higher as discribed above. for simple db readings, a couple hundred bucks can do what I think you are wanting.

 

[MANTI5 10+ year member]

Actually, there are plenty of home sub systems that destroy car audio but they're not "over the counter", they're DIY. But for the average joe, they'll be happy with something from BestBuy or *shudder* BOSE so they'll never reach the levels of DIYers or car audio spl. With that said, you can get a nice measuring setup with this: Behringer ECM8000 RTA Measurement Microphone | BSWUSA.com and a free copy of TrueRTA.

Yes, I am a home audio guy, slowly moving into car audio.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

the mic at makeitlouder.com is verry accurate but requires a good DMM. You can also google trueRTA and see what other mics people are using (though not sure how those do above 120). Although termlab is the standard, you should be able to get consistantly close with something else and if it's moderately accurate you can at least plot your freq response and test to see what various changes gain or lose at various frequencies.

 

[slim2fattycake 10+ year member]

Termlab isn't the only accurate and precise meter. There are meters more expensive than the termlab and cheaper than the termlab.

SPL-Lab meters are priced very competitively. SPL-Lab has an RTA with two options. frequency response of 10hz-20khz with a 90-130dB range. 369 shipped 48 states and there is also the 10hz - 22khz version for 419 shipped 48 states. Audiophil has the first edition of the 10hz-22khz RTA. I'll be getting one for my own for my home theater. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

You can check them out at spllabusa.com (currently only work with ie and chrome while firefox needs IE tab 2 addon) or pm me. SPL-Lab is on CACO as well.