Harley Rider Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 Ok , which one to purchase and why? Analog or digital ? A or C weighted or any other ? What not to buy, or look out for when buying. Thanks this will help when i go buy my meter this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arky Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 A Radio Shack analogue should work just fine. It should have both A & C on it. Keep fresh batteries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 analog since digital rounds either one decibel up or down. A and C weighted should be both included. A weighted is more how the human ear hears it while the C weighted is more a linear hearing of how say a perfect human ear (perfect as in no one has) can hear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harley Rider Posted May 24, 2007 Author Share Posted May 24, 2007 Just returning from town , i did go to radio shack and looked at both analog and digital. The person working today was not to helpful at all. Nor could she find the box or instructions so ill i have is a visual of each. The analog has a sweep type meter that reasd up to a -0-1-2-3-4 +6 db w/ selectable db ranges in 10 db increments. Do you set it to whats closet of your reading , say 90-100-db then use the needle to get as close to the nearest # and thats your reading? Thanks for your replys Chris I see that Parts Express has some really nice ones , but is it worth the $80.00 versus RS $44.99 for analog $49.99 digital Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 the radioshack one is very well documented and even has correction tables Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mas Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 Just get the analog RS SPL meter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 The prevailing wisdom (not just in this thread) is the RS analog. There are some justifications. The price is right. Just about everyone is using one, so you can trade notes. "When in Rome . . ." There are those correction tables. I can't say that the errors are uniform from unit to unit, and therefore the correction is correct. Who knows. It is true that when taking a reading off of just about any source, the reading will fluxuate. People report that it is easier to make a estimated center of meter vane bobbing around reading than reading a digital read out. The RS (both) also has a line level output in case you want to use it as a microphone. Maybe units from other manufacturers have this too. Its kind of fun to experiment. Potentially, it could be used to feed the aux inputs of a sound card - there are lots of computer based free programs out there. = = = = But let me stick up for the RS digital version, which I bought. My thought is that the digital display is more robust than the moving vane. I have not run a drop test on them. The digital display does read out directly in dB. You do have to adjust the knob to get in range, but then it will for example read 83 dB; you don't have to do any mental math. The display does have a bar graph and you can eyeball about as well as with a moving vane. The display does show weighting A or C and does show fast or slow response. I'm not quite sure about the analog unit on this issue. So I think I'm not missing anything with the digital and maybe getting something extra. = = = You can't go far wrong with either RS meter. I do wish they had an auto-off. That is why you'll need extra batteries. = = = = For what it is worth, I saw an RS meter used as a ray-gun /phaser prop in a rather lame Sci-Fi movie. Really! Gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfogg Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 "There are those correction tables. I can't say that the errors areuniform from unit to unit, and therefore the correction is correct. Who knows." Most of the 'correction tables' are just the inverse of the weighting. Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 I agree with Gil that the digital version is likely more sturdy and possibly less likely to get knocked out of calibration. It's also easy to read and if the highest-reading square of the bar graph is flickering (on and off half the time), I take that as a half-dB reading, so you can set up your system within .5dB. They're not a commercial-grade meter anyway, so on successive test runs, I consider 1dB variations irrelevant. If the display is fluctuating too quickly (not so likely with test tones), just set the response to 'slow'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 Just returning from town , i did go to radio shack and looked at both analog and digital. The person working today was not to helpful at all. Nor could she find the box or instructions so ill i have is a visual of each. The analog has a sweep type meter that reasd up to a -0-1-2-3-4 +6 db w/ selectable db ranges in 10 db increments. Do you set it to whats closet of your reading , say 90-100-db then use the needle to get as close to the nearest # and thats your reading? Thanks for your replys Chris I see that Parts Express has some really nice ones , but is it worth the $80.00 versus RS $44.99 for analog $49.99 digital You set the dial on the meter to set the reference of the needle. Basically, whatever the dial reads is the SPL when the needle is at 0 (straight up). That's why the meter is labelled -6dB, -, +6dB. You basically add the number to the number you have set on the dial. Play something that measures a steady 95dB and you'll see what I'm talking about. You should not expect an SPL meter to give you an accurate absolute reading. The only way that can be obtained is with a calibrated unit with a flat frequency response - and even then the number is rather meaningless. The value of the SPL meter is that it allows you to compare relative levels. This is where the analog becomes more advantageous (you're not rounding to 1dB). An SPL meter is also handy in that it will show you the general output levels you're listening at...I use it mostly to identify when my ears have gone through a threshold shift. Btw, you should note that there is a calibration dial on the side of the meter for calibrating the SPL meter. I calibrated mine a while back to read 100dB the same time as a $4,000 calibrated unit. It's interesting to note 2-3dB variances between other identical model meters...not to mention about 1-2dB variances based on battery life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UFObuster Posted May 25, 2007 Share Posted May 25, 2007 It is true that when taking a reading off of just about any source, the reading will fluxuate. People report that it is easier to make a estimated center of meter vane bobbing around reading than reading a digital read out. That's the real reason "most" people like the analog version. It's intuitive to "guess" at a center reading when looking at a meter needle moving back and forth. Very easy. It's mostly a matter of preference. Have fun with this....Roger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricktate Posted May 25, 2007 Share Posted May 25, 2007 In my new Acoustic Sounds catalog they have a meter for a good price looks good to...just thought i would tell you about it.Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted May 25, 2007 Share Posted May 25, 2007 Do they carry analog spl meter in store @ ratshack ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted May 25, 2007 Share Posted May 25, 2007 Do they carry analog spl meter in store @ ratshack ? Yes they carry both analog and digital meters at Rat Shack. I used both analog and digital in the store and went with the digital as it was easier for me to read. I suppose I need to RTFM as I don't understand the weighting A or C. My office is a server room and the readout is currently 67 on A weighting. I may need to find a new office as it can't be good long term. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted May 26, 2007 Share Posted May 26, 2007 Do they carry analog spl meter in store @ ratshack ? Yes they carry both analog and digital meters at Rat Shack. I used both analog and digital in the store and went with the digital as it was easier for me to read. I suppose I need to RTFM as I don't understand the weighting A or C. My office is a server room and the readout is currently 67 on A weighting. I may need to find a new office as it can't be good long term. Wow first time I have double quoted and responded to myself : ) I set the meter at my normal listening position and turned the music up to what I consider loud. This is the volume I listen to by myself when nobody is around. The meter was on C weighting and slow and meter readings were average 85-100 with occasional peaks of 100-108MAX. This really suprised me as I assumed lower. When I have friends over or just have it on in the background that level is 75-88. So with my 108db max how many watts am I using a little over 1watt with my Belles and MC30? How about peaks of 110? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted May 26, 2007 Share Posted May 26, 2007 hello? anyone there? [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted May 26, 2007 Share Posted May 26, 2007 Hi .....Jay [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted May 26, 2007 Share Posted May 26, 2007 long time no see? going to indy this june? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harley Rider Posted May 26, 2007 Author Share Posted May 26, 2007 Thanks once again everyone for your input. Well i was hoping to get that SPL meter this week , not going to happen .Other priorits came up, bills bills bills , you know we all got them lol. Any way i will have one soon enough. Just a note , i came across a old IASCA cd, The audiophile reference series( international auto sound competion association)cd . I used to be in car audio years ago and did some judging and competing. This cd helped me find a speaker that was out of Phase, it has a series of audiable test , which really helps out . Is there any other types of these cds that anyone knows of for the home? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauln Posted May 26, 2007 Share Posted May 26, 2007 Seti, are you saying that with the SPL set on AVE that it goes up to 108dB? That would be about 2 watts average... but... These meters read about 14dB low for instantanious peaks evenwhen set to the PEAK setting (according to PWK). This is becausehistorically they were designed to measure male radio voice and thesummation time is spread to get the right reading for that. Even if yougot the 108dB with the PEAK setting the actual peak level was up around108+14=122dB which is about max output for Klipsch speakers (but I'mnot sure if Klipsch takes into account the 14dB difference in theirmeasurement specs - anyone know about this?). In any case it means you are really listening pretty darn loud. I bet it sound s great, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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