I had purchased one a while back and I am not a fan. Just curious what everyone is using and what they like. Thank you all and stay safe.
What Decibel Meter?
- Thread starter brawler1588
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Aloha brawler,
I use the Reeds instrument R8060, I use it for work purposes but it also works in picking up how loud different moderators are and with what tune. It’s not like one of those scientific one but it gets me close.
But I have to tell you that when I was testing different moderators the decibel readings were the same number but sounded quieter, this has something to do with the tone of the moderator when the gun was shot.
Aloha,
Keone
I use the Reeds instrument R8060, I use it for work purposes but it also works in picking up how loud different moderators are and with what tune. It’s not like one of those scientific one but it gets me close.
But I have to tell you that when I was testing different moderators the decibel readings were the same number but sounded quieter, this has something to do with the tone of the moderator when the gun was shot.
Aloha,
Keone
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I always thought it would be cool to hook a mike to an oscilloscope and see the waveform of the shot sound. You could see and compare amplitude, duration, and any secondary air pulses. It seems those secondary pulses would say a little bit about hammer bounce, therefore the gun's efficiency. With modern digital scopes you could even save the waveform for comparison.
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Just use an app on your phone. It's not possible to actually calibrate a meter unless you have a tone generator that's been calibrated and tested at a specified decibel level to reference off of. You're not looking for perfection when you meter the sound of your air rifle. So even if the sound meter app on your phone is off by .1 or .2 decibels, it doesn't matter. You're just looking for a benchmark to show the rise or fall of decibel levels as you rotate through moderators, rifles, and power settings. Whatever the app is calibrated to, it becomes your benchmark. Just set it as close to the muzzle as possible, and make sure it's in the same spot each time you fire the rifle.
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keone touched on it...
ive got an app for my google fone, my ipad... if i measure my form one can for my 10/22 on my .22 airguns, that thing will meausure a db or 2 louder than an airgunspecific device. but the tone is much lower.... borders on “hollywood quiet” on the .22 airgun
IMO two cans with close or identical db reading, one of them will sound quieter because of the tonal characteristics.....
ive got an app for my google fone, my ipad... if i measure my form one can for my 10/22 on my .22 airguns, that thing will meausure a db or 2 louder than an airgunspecific device. but the tone is much lower.... borders on “hollywood quiet” on the .22 airgun
IMO two cans with close or identical db reading, one of them will sound quieter because of the tonal characteristics.....
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I looked at the phone DB apps a while back and they generally had poor reviews so I didn't bother installing one. Would someone recommend an app they found useful.
Thanks!
Thanks!
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If it's on an iPhone, get one with good reviews. One that you have to purchase will probably be better than a free app. If you have an Android phone, get an app with the least amount of permissions and spyware. Lets be honest, why would a sound meter need access to your contacts? I understand it needs access to your microphone, but that's about it.
I'd cycle through a few and see which you like the best. Do a comparison. Shoot your rifle with one, log the dB readings over the shot string to get an average, then try the next app using the same technique. I can't speak for everyone on here, but the only reason I would use the sound meter would be to compare moderators at different power settings. I don't need to know the level down to the 1/10th of a decibel. I just need to know that one is quieter than the other at a given power setting.
I'd cycle through a few and see which you like the best. Do a comparison. Shoot your rifle with one, log the dB readings over the shot string to get an average, then try the next app using the same technique. I can't speak for everyone on here, but the only reason I would use the sound meter would be to compare moderators at different power settings. I don't need to know the level down to the 1/10th of a decibel. I just need to know that one is quieter than the other at a given power setting.
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Thanks for your comments!
I don't really "need" a decibel meter and it was more for (casual) curiosity that I was looking at them. Moderators are illegal in Canada and I live in a rural area where discharge noise is not a problem (I can target shoot with my 30-06 in the backyard if I want) .
After reading your comment about permissions & spyware I decided that I am not that curious and am not going to bother installing one.
Cheers!
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If you have an iPhone, there's no need to worry about spyware or permissions. Apple stringently vets their apps and the app designers. Their apps are always safe. So you can download a sound meter app from iTunes without worry. Android is another story.
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The Apple Watch has an excellent sound meter. Works extremely well and super accurate. Keep the watch near the muzzle with the decibel meter on and it gives you super accurate readings.
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We have highly calibrated sound measuring equipment in our lab for work for ISO noise testing of electronic equipment. The last time I tested an iphone app v. our lab equipment the iphones were not accurate (Probably in he iphone 5s/6 time frame). I tried a paid app and some free ones to test a couple of apps to see if we could use our work issued iphones as a pre testing device we could use in the prototype shops before we moved the units into the acoustic lab. If you had a reference to calibrate them to they did a pretty good job at the decibels we were reading at. They were OK to use as a frame of reference. i.e. measure two items and you can say one is XX db quieter than the other. Not good at saying "this is 65db" unless you have have a way to calibrate the device. I was measuring white noise type tones so what I said might not hold true for the large impulse type sound measurements.
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Have you ever checked out the Silent Thunder Ordinance blogs? There's about 14 pages of articles on moderator development with tons of oscilloscope traces posted. It a really interested read and actually ruled out a few moderator brands for me because of the higher pitched sound they generate versus those that develop a lower frequency sound.
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Also keep in mind that it only takes 3db to double the sound energy. I takes a 10db increase to perceive the sound to be twice as loud or quiet. I think harmonic noises play a big role in a successful moderator. Moderators that are able to create more nodal wave points will be able to cancel out higher frequency sounds more efficiently resulting in a more low frequency puhhh noise versus a signature rifle crack that makes the neighbors look out their window.
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I bought one several years ago and it is totally useless because it only measures average noise not impulse peak noise. It was not advertised that way either. Buyer beware!
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