Sound level meters

A sound level meter is used for acoustic (sound that travels through air) measurements. It is commonly a hand-held instrument with a microphone. The diaphragm of the microphone responds to changes in air pressure caused by sound waves. That is why the instrument is sometimes referred to as a Sound Pressure Level (SPL) Meter. This movement of the diaphragm, i.e. the sound pressure deviation (pascal Pa), is converted into an electrical signal (volts V).

A microphone is distinguishable by the voltage value produced when a known, constant sound pressure is applied. This is known as the microphone sensitivity. The instrument needs to know the sensitivity of the particular microphone being used. Using this information, the instrument is able to accurately convert the electrical signal back to a sound pressure, and display the resulting sound pressure level (decibels dB SPL).

Sound level meters are commonly used in noise pollution studies for the quantification of different kinds of noise, especially for industrial, environmental and aircraft noise. The current international standard that specifies sound level meter functionality and performances is the IEC 61672-1:2013. However, the reading from a sound level meter does not correlate well to human-perceived loudness, which is better measured by a loudness meter. Specific loudness is a compressive nonlinearity that depends on level and also frequency, which can be calculated in a number of different ways.

NTi Audio, Svantek, Cirrus Research plc, Casella, 3M, Brüel & Kjær and Rion are a few of global players in this Industry that provide a complete range of fully pattern approved sound level meters.

The IEC 61672-1 specifies "three kinds of sound measuring instruments". They are the "conventional" sound level meter, the integrating-averaging sound level meter, and the integrating sound level meter.

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