AudioDoctor Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 And this is what I got. Speakers are my Craigslist find B&W DM601 speakers rated at 88db efficiency and 8ohms. If I am reading this data correctly, I am not using even 1 watt at normal listening levels. No electron left behind. Link to comment
InfernoSTi Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 You must listen in a VERY quiet room. The noise floor of many rooms is somewhere around 40 db, right? What does your room read "silent"? It must be down around 20 db or something... Positive emotions enhance our musical experiences. Synology DS213+ NAS -> Auralic Vega w/Linear Power Supply -> Auralic Vega DAC (Symposium Jr rollerball isolation) -> XLR -> Auralic Taurus Pre -> XLR -> Pass Labs XA-30.5 power amplifier (on 4" maple and 4 Stillpoints) -> Hawthorne Audio Reference K2 Speakers in MTM configuration (Symposium Jr HD rollerball isolation) and Hawthorne Audio Bass Augmentation Baffles (Symposium Jr rollerball isolation) -> Bi-amped w/ two Rythmic OB plate amps) -> Extensive Room Treatments (x2 SRL Acoustics Prime 37 diffusion plus key absorption and extensive bass trapping) and Pi Audio Uberbuss' for the front end and amplification Link to comment
firedog Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 You must listen in a VERY quiet room. The noise floor of many rooms is somewhere around 40 db, right? What does your room read "silent"? It must be down around 20 db or something... +1 my room is around 36db background level if no HVAC is on. 49db would be very low volume for me. Main listening (small home office): Main setup: Surge protector +>Isol-8 Mini sub Axis Power Strip/Isolation>QuietPC Low Noise Server>Roon (Audiolense DRC)>Stack Audio Link II>Kii Control>Kii Three (on their own electric circuit) >GIK Room Treatments. Secondary Path: Server with Audiolense RC>RPi4 or analog>Cayin iDAC6 MKII (tube mode) (XLR)>Kii Three BXT Bedroom: SBTouch to Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Setup. Living Room/Kitchen: Ropieee (RPi3b+ with touchscreen) + Schiit Modi3E to a pair of Morel Hogtalare. All absolute statements about audio are false Link to comment
PeterSt Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 And this is what I got. [ATTACH=CONFIG]17060[/ATTACH] Speakers are my Craigslist find B&W DM601 speakers rated at 88db efficiency and 8ohms. If I am reading this data correctly, I am not using even 1 watt at normal listening levels. You may read the data correctly, but what about the presented data being off all the way. 49dBSPL is "nothing" and most certainly not normal listening levels. Merely think whispering ... PS: Just tried it with a real SPL meter ... 52dBSPL (C weighed - "Fast Response"). Lush^3-e Lush^2 Blaxius^2.5 Ethernet^3 HDMI^2 XLR^2 XXHighEnd (developer) Phasure NOS1 24/768 Async USB DAC (manufacturer) Phasure Mach III Audio PC with Linear PSU (manufacturer) Orelino & Orelo MKII Speakers (designer/supplier) Link to comment
CatManDo Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Have you calibrated the "Sound Meter" app with a real sound level meter? Otherwise, the absolute level indication is useless. On my Sony Xperia Z1 compact, the same app (uncalibrated) shows 40dB while I'm sitting 5m away from my TV, which is not loud at all. Claude Link to comment
AudioDoctor Posted February 21, 2015 Author Share Posted February 21, 2015 Two things, first I have no real sound meter. Second, notice it was a range from 41 to 69 DB. No electron left behind. Link to comment
AudioDoctor Posted February 21, 2015 Author Share Posted February 21, 2015 Another No electron left behind. Link to comment
AudioDoctor Posted February 21, 2015 Author Share Posted February 21, 2015 One more No electron left behind. Link to comment
AudioDoctor Posted February 21, 2015 Author Share Posted February 21, 2015 My room is very quiet. No electron left behind. Link to comment
AudioDoctor Posted February 21, 2015 Author Share Posted February 21, 2015 A few pics from the google play store app page comparing the app to a sound meter. No electron left behind. Link to comment
AudioDoctor Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 I've been trying apps all day. This one seems to be more along the lines of what some of you are expecting. Even with these DB s I am only using just over a watt No electron left behind. Link to comment
cjf Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Come on man...Life is short..crank that beast up and let it stretch its legs a bit After a few drinks I'm usualy touching 105db on peaks My Audio System -Last Updated May 20 2021 Link to comment
Allan F Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Are you sure that the app isn't measuring SPL relative to (i.e. above) the noise floor, in which case the readings would not be out of line? "Relax, it's only hi-fi. There's never been a hi-fi emergency." - Roy Hall "Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." - William Bruce Cameron Link to comment
tranz Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I guess I am missing something. Is your baseline noise floor in the room 49 Db without music playing? Or are you cranking music and seeing that SPL? In that case try another mic. Or do you just listen to music at low levels, which is not a bad thing. Link to comment
AudioDoctor Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 Are you sure that the app isn't measuring SPL relative to (i.e. above) the noise floor, in which case the readings would not be out of line? I really have no idea. No electron left behind. Link to comment
AudioDoctor Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 I guess I am missing something. Is your baseline noise floor in the room 49 Db without music playing? Or are you cranking music and seeing that SPL? In that case try another mic. Or do you just listen to music at low levels, which is not a bad thing. NO, that was with music playing at the moment it said 49db, but the range was from 41db to 69db. No electron left behind. Link to comment
jhwalker Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 FWIW, noise floor in my room is about 25dB - wish it were quieter, but there it is. I can listen to music (and movies) up to about 65-70dB (peak), above which it becomes very uncomfortable to me. Can't imagine being comfortable at volumes 80dB+! John Walker - IT Executive Headphone - SonicTransporter i9 running Roon Server > Netgear Orbi > Blue Jeans Cable Ethernet > mRendu Roon endpoint > Topping D90 > Topping A90d > Dan Clark Expanse / HiFiMan H6SE v2 / HiFiman Arya Stealth Home Theater / Music -SonicTransporter i9 running Roon Server > Netgear Orbi > Blue Jeans Cable HDMI > Denon X3700h > Anthem Amp for front channels > Revel F208-based 5.2.4 Atmos speaker system Link to comment
tranz Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 NO, that was with music playing at the moment it said 49db, but the range was from 41db to 69db. Sounds fine to me. My baseline is around 23 w/o music, and low to mid 40s is comfy. Cranking heavy EDM bass lines is a different story, but I cannot handle high volume for long. Link to comment
PeterSt Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 For those who think that 70, or 60, or even 50dBSPL is painfully loud, do notice that a piano-wing plays at 90dBSPL. And also : you can just as well play a piano through the speakers - some enthusiasm assumed by the performer - set the volume to a level of which you think that the piano sounds quite right for real levels, and then watch your SPL meters. Hold at 1m distance and step aside from the back of it yourself (don't allow your body to reflect the sound). Lush^3-e Lush^2 Blaxius^2.5 Ethernet^3 HDMI^2 XLR^2 XXHighEnd (developer) Phasure NOS1 24/768 Async USB DAC (manufacturer) Phasure Mach III Audio PC with Linear PSU (manufacturer) Orelino & Orelo MKII Speakers (designer/supplier) Link to comment
CatManDo Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I really have no idea. Your Sound Meter app does not know the sensitivity of the microphone built into your smartphone. The absolute dB values that it indicates are just a guess. The app needs to be calibrated (using a hardware sound meter, checking it's values and then adjust the Sound Meter reading with the Calibrate setting) in order to make it usable. Right now, you can only measure relative values (for example to check if the right speaker is as loud as the left one). Claude Link to comment
Musicophile Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Independently of how correct or incorrect the db Meter app really is, your amp probably at typical listening levels is indeed working in the single watt level. This is why people can be happy with tube amps that peak at 20W. The reason you're often better off with more watts is usually the current needed for some shot peaks. This will result in better control of the speakers. Slightly OT: one of the things I'd eventually like to own is a power amp with VU meters to show the current watt level, Macintosh style. I really like this concept since I first saw it at a Hifi shop. Unfortunately they seem to have gone out of fashion in most places. Check out my blog at musicophilesblog.com - From Keith Jarrett to Johannes Brahms Link to comment
Jim Sylva Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 FWIW, noise floor in my room is about 25dB - wish it were quieter, but there it is. I can listen to music (and movies) up to about 65-70dB (peak), above which it becomes very uncomfortable to me. Can't imagine being comfortable at volumes 80dB+! I recently installed an app named "SPLnFFT" on my iPad mini 2. The app has an eleven step subjective scale as well as numerical meters and graphical representations of sound. I have no way to calibrate the app nor compare it to a known accurate meter, but its readings seem reasonable. I live in the country; a relatively quiet external environment (high desert). When the internal environment is "quiet," the sound level is around 30 dB. The refrigerator and central air/heating system are significant sound polluters when on (about 50 dB). The heating system is a major annoyance at my typical listening levels. I look forward to summers when the system never comes on. I have never enjoyed music at high volumes, and most of my listening occurs around a median value of 65 dB ("Moderate" on the app scale). The values mentioned are from the dB(A) fast response scale, taken from my normal listening position, about 7.5 ft. from the speakers. Last year, my wife and I had the opportunity to listen to a private home vinyl system consisting of Magico S3 speakers with commensurate gear. The sound quality was totally different from anything I had ever heard. I could not say the sound was better, for I could not place it on any sound continuum I had ever experienced. I estimate the SPL was a minimum of 100 dB, and it was not one bit annoying; a very memorable experience, indeed! I find 85 dB to be an intolerable level on my modest system. Jim Harlan Howard's definition of a great country song: "Three chords and the truth." Link to comment
EuroChamp Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 And this is what I got. [ATTACH=CONFIG]17060[/ATTACH] Speakers are my Craigslist find B&W DM601 speakers rated at 88db efficiency and 8ohms. If I am reading this data correctly, I am not using even 1 watt at normal listening levels. You are absolutely right. 1 Watt of power is enough for a nice medium sound preassure level. Just for the maths: 1 dB is the absolut lowest level, a person can hear. An increment of 1 dB is the smallest increment, a person can hear. (in general) +3 dB is double the power / energy + 10 dB is doubling the volume level Some examples: 1 speaker is actually playing with 90 dB, but two of them (each with 90 dB) play with 93 dB (=double the power) But ten speakers, each of with plays 90 dB, they all together play 100 dB Your speakers are rated with 88 dB / 1 Watt 2 Watt are good for 91 dB 4 W 94 dB 8 W 97 dB 16 W 100 dB 32 W 103 dB 64 W 106 dB 128 W 109 dB 256 W 112 dB ... When you really crank up the volume, you will reach these levels of sound preassure very fast. But I don't know about everyones imagination of "loud"?! My slogan: Above 100 dB is where the fun begins. P.S.: In my room the iPhone shows a level of 26 dB, I think, this is the lower limit of the equipment. I tried to make some very low noise and the meter did not "shake". But around listening levels the iPhone is not bad at all, I compared it with a calibrated analyzer, and it was ony 1 or 2 dB's away. Link to comment
PeterSt Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Where to begin ... Lush^3-e Lush^2 Blaxius^2.5 Ethernet^3 HDMI^2 XLR^2 XXHighEnd (developer) Phasure NOS1 24/768 Async USB DAC (manufacturer) Phasure Mach III Audio PC with Linear PSU (manufacturer) Orelino & Orelo MKII Speakers (designer/supplier) Link to comment
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