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How do you use an SPL Meter to tune room acustics?


zuzu

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What is the sequence of steps. Saxaphone on many CD's is too bright at higher frequencies. Is it my room? I don't know? Is there a thread already hear that covers room tuning with an SPL meter?. What special CD do I need, if any, to play various frequencies?

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From what I understand, you can't really tune a room using a SPL

meter because it has no way of differentiating between the direct sound

(directly from the speakers) and the reflected sounds from the

room. To do the job more accurately, you will need some

measurement equipment that can seperate direct and reflected

sound. Some pretty good tutorials over in the architectual

section. Perhaps someone like DrWho or mas can elaborate a little

more here??

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I believe it can be used to determine the frequency response of your

audio system (includes the room response) by using a CD of stepped test

tones and then measuring SPL for each frequency. There is a chart

available to correct the known errors of the RS SPL meter.

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So what is the thing useful for??? Seeing how loud you listen?

Yes, that it is all it is useful for. A good SPL meter has a flat frequency response and thus can commonly be used as a mic for more advanced measuring techniques. The Radio Shack SPL meter does not have a flat frequency response so really it is best used as a tool to compare the volume of two speakers. It's also a good tool to see when your ears are going through threshold shifts - which is very common during longer listening sessions.

What speakers, amps, and source are you running? Every piece in the chain can cause the symptoms you describe. The room is certainly not an unlikely source so it wouldn't hurt to do a little research on the modern measurement techniques that look at the output over time, instead of frequency.

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