I tried it on my iPod Touch. It seemed to have variable results when compared side by side to my real SPL meter. It's probably not the Apps fault though. I just don't think that the mics found on headphones are made for this sort of thing.

My buddy will be over on Friday morning with the $0.99 'SPL Meter' App on his IPad.

Hopefully it will give me a ballpark Db level at my listening position so that I can determine what is a 'moderate level' to my ears...

TAM

Ex,
I have a pretty decent one from extech. You are more than welcome to borrow it for as long as you need it for.

I will get an SLP measurement off of my iphone tomorrow, so you can compare. The i would guess the ipad and iphone use the same mic, so the readings should be the same level of accuracy.

Thanks guys, for your continuing interest & offers of assistance.

Before I do anything else, I'll see what the IPad does here.

I found this comparison between the 2 'i' devices with the 'mic' section being near the end of the video. Comments from viewers seemed to think that the IPad mic is better, but who knows for sure?:

http://www.speakipad.com/ipad-videos/apple-ipad-2-vs-iphone-4-camera-microphone-comparison

dak - I look forward to your results.

TAM

Since i know we both own the Cameron Carpenter Revolutionary CD, i though this would be the best CD to use for a comparative volume.

I have an Iphone 4s, i don't know how the 4s's mic compares to the ipad 2's mic.. When i was getting the reading i was holding the phone upside down, so the mic would be pointed up to get the most accurate reading i could.

I used the "The Real SPL meter" app, as it was free. Also, this app has a digital readout, and displays the peak reading below the current reading. I also set the response to slow.


On Track #7, the first 40 seconds the highest reading i got was 91.6db, with an average in the low 80's.

On track #10 during the first minute, the highes reading was 85.6db, with an average in the low 80's again. The highest reading was around 45 seconds.


My room is 17ft deep and 18ft wide, and i sit 13ft away from the speakers. The measurements were taking while i was sitting in my chair...


i guess this will verify if i listen to music at a reasonable level or not eh?

P.S. my system was in stereo mode, so only the LFR's and 600's were working...

dak:

Wonderful. I have a feeling that those values are probably close to the maximum that I prefer when I'm sober, ha!!

I sit 5 feet closer, so my power requirement will be somewhat less - which is good as my tube amp is optimistically rated at 65 watts/channel. It never seems to strain though.

After I play with the IPad tomorrow, in a couple of weeks I'll get my daughter's IPhone with the same app as you used to see how that works.

Thanks for your help...

TAM

Doing the SPL reading earlier, it really opens your eyes as to the drastic changes in volume within a single track.. The 91db reading barley lasted a second, if that long. Same with the 85.6db..

Alex, those numbers seem to be reasonable for what I term a "comfortably loud" listening level. Assuming a fairly accurate measurement setup existed, your speakers use about 1 watt at average levels and a little under 10 watts at the peaks.

So, you mean my 1200W amp is a bit overkill?