So how accurate are those smartphone sound measurement apps?

chicks

Lunatic Member

• Nov 16, 2014

• #1

http://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2014/04/09/sound-apps/

 

ConradH

Lunatic Member

• Nov 16, 2014

• #2

Thanks, that's really interesting. I would have thought that mic variation would be a killer, but getting within 2 dB is surprising and pretty darn good.

 

lunchbox22

AK Subscriber

Subscriber

• Nov 16, 2014

• #3

I was just wondering this the other day! Thanks for posting chicks

 

Wolverine

AK Subscriber

Subscriber

• Nov 16, 2014

• #4

Thanks for the thread!!
I just downloaded the Sound Meter app onto to my iPhone.
Will have to give it a try when I get home.

 

mhedges

Super Member

• Nov 16, 2014

• #5

Interesting. I've been using SPL Meter. Guess I should try Sound Meter.

 

SuperjazzyJa

18 Wheel Member

Subscriber

• Nov 16, 2014

• #6

Before reading the article, I guessed that they weren't very accurate. I use a free one for comparing volume levels from different sources. I figure it should at least be able to do that much.

 

whoaru99

Epic Member

• Nov 16, 2014

• #7

Cool...bought SPLnFFT.

 

Dave59

Super Member

• Nov 17, 2014

• #8

These can be surprisingly good, but do need to be calibrated using a professional meter - without this the offset can be more than 10db

 

Bugler

Super Member

• Nov 17, 2014

• #9

I have a couple ADC meters that have been calibrated. I compared it to the sound level meter App I had downloaded to my Samsung Gakaxie Note 4 and was surprised by the results. It's certainly close enough for the way I use it. For more critical applications I use one of my calibrated ADC units. The Radio Shack units aren't bad either. They're cheap and can be calibrated. At least the ones I have seen. I did buy one of their digital ones a couple years ago on closeout. Pretty decent

 

HTHMAN

Super Member

• Nov 18, 2014

• #10

Looks like you might have to do a lot of trial and error to find a good one.


"A total of 130 iOS apps were examined and downloaded from the iTunes store*, of those, 10 apps met our selection criteria. A total of 62 Android apps were examined and downloaded, however, only 4 apps partially met our criteria and were selected for additional testing."