Which Sound Pressure Meter? (1 Viewer)

[Leon O]

I'm probably going to pick up the $39 Rat Shack SPL meter this week. Are there any reasons to get the digital version, or a meter from another manufacturer?

Thanks

Leon

 

[Scott Bourden]

From what I have gathered (mostly from people's experiences here) is that the digital RS sound meter is not as accurate as the analog one.

No clue on other potential brands though.

 

[Steve Stogel]

I have the digital one. If I had it to do over again, I would get the analog one, though. I haven't seen that the digital one is less accurate, just that you can only get reading in whole decibal amounts. The analog allows you to see exactly how close you are to the number. So, in that sense, I guess the analog gives a more accurate number, not that it is actually more accurate. It just breaks it down into smaller numbers. It's also cheaper, so it's the way to go, IMO. The only advantage of the digital, of course, is that it is easy to read. Save some bucks and get the analog.

Steve

P.S. Don't forget that the RS SPL also rolls off at lower frequencies, so you'll want to get the corrected numbers. My link doesn't work anymore, but I'm sure someone could help you out if you can't find them.

 

[JohnnyHK]

Right. I believe they're equally accurate, but the analog meter has higher resolution and updates continuously.

 

[Steve Stogel]

>>>I believe they're equally accurate, but the analog meter has higher resolution and updates continuously.

 

[Fred Pfeifer]

Every calibration source that I've read specified to use the Radio Shack Analog SPL Meter.

 

[Doug Fraser]

In my travels though the Internet I have only been able to identify a single traceable path to calibrated testing equipment for the purposes of producing calibration values for the analog Radio Shack meter. I suspect that everyone is using and referencing the same work.

Since I have not seen a similar traceable path to a calibration source for the digital meter it is anyone’s guess if the values for the digital meter are the same as the analog meter.

I erred on the side of caution and got the analog meter.

regards,

Doug

 

[Leon O]

Thank guys,

I went with the Radio Shack analog.

Leon

 

[Al Sullivan]

I recently purchased Infinity's $65 RABOS kit, thinking it would likely be more accurate than the RS. It is officially intended for use with Infinity's powered products, but should work with my Fried mains, whose placement I can adjust. I could also buy an external eq or subwoofer at some point.

Of course, the RABOS meter and CD test tones only function below 101 hz.