Why Do I Need an SPL Meter?

[@jimpemberton]

Good information here! I've heard the common adage "mix with your ears" applied to SPL as well. You are correct in that you can't rely on your ears for this. I was in a Marine Corps field band back in the day that had a reputation for playing very loudly. We had a drum major that really pushed us and we were loud almost out of rank belligerence. But we were still top-notch musicians. However, the parade deck was over a quarter of a mile long and we had to be able to play at one end and be heard at the other. We marched about 12,000 troops before deploying to Desert Storm. Anyway, the Navy docs on base became concerned that our hearing was being damaged and sent techs out to measure out loudness. We played at a consistent 110 dB with 130 dB transients. I played trombone marching front rank, guide file, which meant that I had the about loudest spot in the band. As you mentioned, out inner ears adjust and I could feel my mid-ears stretch the space between the bones out to minimize the energy transfer to my cochleae. Needless to say, I've set a standard for our FOH tech volunteers. We use a Galaxy SPL meter. The target is 82-85 dBa (slow average sustained level - transients and quiet parts may exceed this range) for music and 62-72 dBa (outside range - no louder or softer) for speaking. This is as measured from the desk.

[@perryfisher3373]

Thank you for your service to our country

[@annasoH323]

[sigh] we had someone who would bring their own SPL meter into services... That was... fun. Right up there with Rogue Tambourine.

[@AttawayAudio]

oh sheesh... that's dedication!

[@acamilloni]

Still have my old Radio Shack one and works perfectly fine

[@AttawayAudio]

My radio shack SPL meter is pretty beat up, but it gets the job done

[@6144reed]

I thank God for you and these videos. I was just recently doing research on SPL meters. Then you come out with this video. I appreciate that you listen to the Holy Spirit and move accordingly. This video was extremely helpful, and I am going to take this advice for our churches purchase!!!

[@armaandutta8266]

Great video! I will say however, I have benchmark tested SPL device readings in comparison to my iPhone SPL apps. The readings from certain (more reputable) iPhone apps are very similar to SPL meter devices. I'm not saying relying on the SPL meter mobile app is the best thing. But in some gigs, I may not have my SPL meter with me. But the app on my phone helps out a lot, especially with some of those apps that have an RTA on them. End of the day, these are all tools for a quantitative reference point. The best judgement to the mix is yourself! :-)

[@AttawayAudio]

That's great! Did you clean the lint out first?

[@PanRider939]

Same, very handy backup. I put the meter and phone side by side got very similar reading, and more information on the app.

[@johnmarshalward]

Deep Dive! Call your friends. Bring out the lab coats, glasses, and pocket protectors.

[@biggbrass1]

Agreed! Let’s go nerds!!

[@igam3r271]

Nerd out

[@robertc1544]

I Have a old radio shack SPL and it works.

[@armingeng]

The ear compressor :D One of the body's reactions to loud sounds is a constriction of the blood vessels (vasoconstriction) which reduces the blood supply reaching the hair cells of the ORGAN OF CORTI. The outer rows of hair cells respond mainly to low intensity sound levels and thus are easily saturated by loud sounds, particularly when their source of blood is diminished. This leaves only the inner rows of hair cells working since they need a higher intensity for stimulation. (Source: Internet)

[@PanRider939]

Designed.

[@AttawayAudio]

Thank you for that super nerdy comment. Love this stuff

[@PanRider939]

And if you're a hearing impaired sound engineer like me, what sounds fine for me is too loud for someone else. So I measure, worship, spoken word. Someone complained about worship volume once, we were in the cafe at the time and it was quite noisy. I measured the cafe and asked them if they thought it was loud (we were talking without shouting) they said no, it measure 5db louder than worship. Needles to say they were surprised and never complained again. Another option if no meter available, stand out in the room (with tablet in hand) set sound loud then reduce it till you can clearly hear your own voice and or talk to someone next you without shouting. It'll be about 85-90db. I literally had that happen, when an elder came up to me and said someone had just arrived and said it was to loud. I pointed out he was talking to me and not shouting, it was measuring less than 90 well inside OSH, and they had walked in late while we were in full swing, he nodded agreed and left.

[@JonFairhurst]

How might you use an SPL Meter in conjunction with the metering at the mixing desk? I assume that the SPL meter would only affect the master FOH faders. But would it be helpful to also see a Dorough or LUFS measurement, so you can get a feel for how it correlates with perceived loudness? For instance, you might wait for a passage with a high LUFS reading and set the master gain to hit a given max SPL. When LUFS reads low, you might want to push up the faders or compensate with side chain compression to keep the SPL from getting too low. It could help avoid excessive levels and also help set a comfortable dynamic range.

[@TheAbrissbirne]

Open Sound Meter has the “numeric” graph wehere you can do time weighted average SPL measurement (like 1, 10 15, 30 minutes) in different weightings like A and C. I still have to figure out how to calibrate my measurement microphone and how to set the preamp for it, so that the dB values the software shows come close to the real dB-values and are not just the result of the mic preamp of my audio interface being turned way up. Otherwise it will show like 98dB if you are just talking three feet away. 😂 I’m still kind of new to that whole PA and room measurement thing, but I’m starting to get deeper into it.

[@AttawayAudio]

The device you're looking for is a SPL calibrator. It goes over your measurement mic or SPL meter so you can set your preamp or trim to a specific level

[@TheAbrissbirne]

@@AttawayAudio Okay, that’s what I thought. Now I know for sure. Thank you! 🙏

[@flyingclint589]

Lets Nerd out on SPL, Bring on the dude! Ha!

[@christiaanbezuidenhout6984]

NERD OUT on SPL!!!

[@biggbrass1]

Let’s do it!! Nerd out!!

[@perryfisher3373]

In our small church situation we have the same singers and players and the same person behind the mixer every service. Watching the output meters on the mixer and avoiding the sound tech solo from the congregation if someone thinks it is too loud works well for us. In different situations with not as much consistency week to week I can see having an SPL meter to make sure things are not too loud is a good thing. Where I differ from many others mixing in church is using an SPL meter to make sure their service maintains a certain level of loud. Call me the old guy if you want, to me that is a concert, not church service.

[@AttawayAudio]

I hear you - but how loud it should be doesn't necessarily determine placement on the worship/performance scale... it's more about how your congregation wants to engage, with music that envelops them so they can sing loud without being heard, or music that provides the support for them to sing and hear others around them singing too. Some people prefer haze and lighting fixtures to decorate their worship space, while others prefer stained glass windows and the sunlight beaming through the dust in the air. Doesn't make one worship and the other a performance. I'll get off my soap-box now :)