Thoughts on the Radio Shack 33-099 SPL Meter?

[HOHSIS]

I'm considering getting one of these for simple PA design. I plan on using it to measure the average sound level in the venue to both determine optimal speaker placement for coverage, as well as compare the average sound level at various events to use as reference for events I design the system for (for example, estimating how loud the audience will be by using another similar event as a reference). I do not plan to use it for measuring frequency tone response and frequency sweeps. From what I've read, that seems to be the concensus on where this meter falls short.

 

[lakota651]

Do you have an iPhone or iPad? If you do, I recommend simply getting an app like "Audio Tools" from Studio Six Digital *. Even with the internal mic it is close to, if not more accurate than the Radio Shack SPL meter. I have compared mine to a half dozen, and a couple better ones. Plus, if you spring for the FFT function, which overlays a dB meter, you'll still come out ahead. Plus there are a lot of other useful tools like a delay calculator, tone generator, simple dB meter, etc. I wouldn't use it for an actual room calibration (the iPad alone, that is), but for the day to day, gig to gig, I find the app really quite handy.

http://www.studiosixdigital.com/audiotools/


* - I know Android apps exist, I am just not familiar with any of them.

 

[Bubby4j]

Do you have an iPhone or iPad? If you do, I recommend simply getting an app like "Audio Tools" from Studio Six Digital *. Even with the internal mic it is close to, if not more accurate than the Radio Shack SPL meter. I have compared mine to a half dozen, and a couple better ones. Plus, if you spring for the FFT function, which overlays a dB meter, you'll still come out ahead. Plus there are a lot of other useful tools like a delay calculator, tone generator, simple dB meter, etc. I wouldn't use it for an actual room calibration (the iPad alone, that is), but for the day to day, gig to gig, I find the app really quite handy.

http://www.studiosixdigital.com/audiotools/


* - I know Android apps exist, I am just not familiar with any of them.

One thing I've found, is that at least on my android phone, the mic maxes out at 90dB. Depending what you're doing that may or may not be acceptable.

 

[museav]

The old Radio Shack meters, especially the old analog meter SLM, used to be fairly well accepted for getting a basic idea of the overall sound pressure levels but the newer RS SLMs seem to be quite a bit less well received.

One thing to consider as far as speaker coverage is that if you use a broadband noise source such as pink noise and measure overall dB levels then you may not as clearly see the effects of the speaker horn patterns that may apply only to higher frequencies. Because of that, if you are measuring overall SPL levels to assess coverage then it is fairly common to use a noise source that is filtered within a bandpass that will more clearly reflect the typical horn pattern.

If you have an iPhone or iPad then the Studio Six Digital apps are nice. Compatibility | Studio Six Digital addresses compatibility as well as some of the limitations with various devices. Hiowever, they may not be the best option if they would be on someone's personal iPhone or iPad and the metering may have to be performed when the device Owner is not present.

 

[lakota651]

One thing I've found, is that at least on my android phone, the mic maxes out at 90dB. Depending what you're doing that may or may not be acceptable.

You bring up a good point. My 4th gen. iPod touch clips around 102dB, and my 2nd gen. iPad around 107dB ('A' weighted on both). Which for 99% of what I do is enough.

 

[kevlar557]

I've had bad luck using built-in mics from apple devices, they vary from generation to generation. Variance isn't good in test instruments. If you want a quality product, by a B&K 732. MSRP is somehere around $250, and you should never have to replace it. Or go with the iPhone/iPad stuff and get an external mic.

 

[TimmyP1955]

With the FFT app, you need to borrow someone's meter so you can make sure that the iDevice is reading accurately - or trim it if is is not.