Hi, I've been looking around for a sound level meter to be used for measuring ambient levels and PC noise. However, I've only been able to find metering equipment ranging *from* 50dBA upwards (such as Radio schack's stuff), which is pretty useless for measuring noise levels in the 20-35dBA range.
Any recommendations regarding equipment which can monitor way down into the 20ies? Preferably affordable (i.e. not the hundreds of dollars)
Also, I read some comment somewhere regarding some kind of meter using "lazer" to measure specific sound sources. Can anyone elaborate on that subject and perhaps some pointer to where such stuff could be bought?
Recommended sound level meters?
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
Agreed. I've even tried watching ebay hoping for a good deal... no such luck. Honestly, I have no idea what people normally use these things for outside of a scientific environment, but even on ebay I'll see bidding wars where anything capable of 20db and lower goes for $800 and up. It's crazy, you'd think that there wouldn't be such attention paid to online auctions for obscure equipment like this, but there is.
My problem is that I was planning to create a list of PC assemblies for building PCs with a cost / reduced dBA matrix. This in order to help friends and colleagues get affordable computers which doesn't make you go "deaf" (or make people less productive since the constant noise reduces the brains ability to be alert and solve problems much sooner than in a silent location).
As it currently stands, I'm paying a premium of about 50-70% for each equipment I buy, since I also have to buy different noise reduction stuff for each new component (a trial and error situation, even with SPCR input).
This process does *not* scale, i.e. is not an option for the masses and as such I had planned to list the noise of each component, with it built with various modifications in and outside different cases.
Basing such a compilation on *subjective* interpretations won't fly, partly because different people interpret noise differently and because I have a reduced hearing in a certain ranges (due to long exposure of assauly rifle and heavy weapons noise), thus not very representative for perceived noise..
But shelling out $800+ for a gadget such as this is out of the question.
PS. the price curve from previous data and my own experience looks like a logaritmic curve. Cheap to get large gains with jet-turbine-like systems like Dell in the beginning, but when you start hit what I assume (since I can't objectively measure it) is somewhere 'round 30 dBA it's starting to get expensive.
As it currently stands, I'm paying a premium of about 50-70% for each equipment I buy, since I also have to buy different noise reduction stuff for each new component (a trial and error situation, even with SPCR input).
This process does *not* scale, i.e. is not an option for the masses and as such I had planned to list the noise of each component, with it built with various modifications in and outside different cases.
Basing such a compilation on *subjective* interpretations won't fly, partly because different people interpret noise differently and because I have a reduced hearing in a certain ranges (due to long exposure of assauly rifle and heavy weapons noise), thus not very representative for perceived noise..
But shelling out $800+ for a gadget such as this is out of the question.
PS. the price curve from previous data and my own experience looks like a logaritmic curve. Cheap to get large gains with jet-turbine-like systems like Dell in the beginning, but when you start hit what I assume (since I can't objectively measure it) is somewhere 'round 30 dBA it's starting to get expensive.
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MikeC
- Site Admin
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- Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Contact:
ajon --
"As it currently stands, I'm paying a premium of about 50-70% for each equipment I buy, since I also have to buy different noise reduction stuff for each new component (a trial and error situation, even with SPCR input)."
This comment makes me think you're not really studying the recommended pages AND the reviews closely enough. Especially within the past 18 months, our reviews have a huge amount of detailed SPL info. And if you stick to the top of the recommended lists, undervolt fans, cut vent grills when needed and always decouple-mount the hard drives, it's really hard not to build a quiet <30 dBA@1m computer.
Here's a guaranteed pretty cheap <30 dBA@1m PC w/only HDD suspension:
Any <100W TDP CPU
Any of the top ~5 HSF in the rec. list (or cheap Arctic Cooling if CPU is <80W)
Any Seasonic S12
Antec 3000, 3700BQE, or Evercase 4252 case (P180 would be better but price...)
Samsung HDD -- suspended (also some recent WD, Hitachi & WD models) in any number of ways -- many examples in these forums
Any fanless VGA card -- or one modded w/fanless cooler
Voltage controller to knock fan speeds down
Nexus fans as necessary
Recent Samsung, BenQ, Asus Quietrack, LG optical drive (w/software speed lock)
RAM of your choice
In fact, I'd say without much tweaking with the above, you'd have about a 26~28 dBA@1m system even at full load.
warning >> Unsolicited commentary:
If you are driven to try components not reviewed by SPCR, then well, yeah, you'll spend more money and do more trial & error. Take a cue from commercial system integrators. This is the very good reason why they stick to tried-and-true formulas: They know it works, and they have experience enough with it to make evolutionary or incremental changes without having to reinvent the whole package.
Also, don't get sidetracked by illusions about "consumer freedom of choice". Remember that although there may be 28 (or whatever) brands making nVidia xxxx model vidcards, the substantive differences between them is meaningless. If you find a quiet one at a good price then I'd advise you stick to it, mod it in a standard way for noise reduction if necessary, and ignore the rest.
"As it currently stands, I'm paying a premium of about 50-70% for each equipment I buy, since I also have to buy different noise reduction stuff for each new component (a trial and error situation, even with SPCR input)."
This comment makes me think you're not really studying the recommended pages AND the reviews closely enough. Especially within the past 18 months, our reviews have a huge amount of detailed SPL info. And if you stick to the top of the recommended lists, undervolt fans, cut vent grills when needed and always decouple-mount the hard drives, it's really hard not to build a quiet <30 dBA@1m computer.
Here's a guaranteed pretty cheap <30 dBA@1m PC w/only HDD suspension:
Any <100W TDP CPU
Any of the top ~5 HSF in the rec. list (or cheap Arctic Cooling if CPU is <80W)
Any Seasonic S12
Antec 3000, 3700BQE, or Evercase 4252 case (P180 would be better but price...)
Samsung HDD -- suspended (also some recent WD, Hitachi & WD models) in any number of ways -- many examples in these forums
Any fanless VGA card -- or one modded w/fanless cooler
Voltage controller to knock fan speeds down
Nexus fans as necessary
Recent Samsung, BenQ, Asus Quietrack, LG optical drive (w/software speed lock)
RAM of your choice
In fact, I'd say without much tweaking with the above, you'd have about a 26~28 dBA@1m system even at full load.
warning >> Unsolicited commentary:
If you are driven to try components not reviewed by SPCR, then well, yeah, you'll spend more money and do more trial & error. Take a cue from commercial system integrators. This is the very good reason why they stick to tried-and-true formulas: They know it works, and they have experience enough with it to make evolutionary or incremental changes without having to reinvent the whole package.
Also, don't get sidetracked by illusions about "consumer freedom of choice". Remember that although there may be 28 (or whatever) brands making nVidia xxxx model vidcards, the substantive differences between them is meaningless. If you find a quiet one at a good price then I'd advise you stick to it, mod it in a standard way for noise reduction if necessary, and ignore the rest.
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Ralf Hutter
- SPCR Reviewer
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- Location: Sunny SoCal
Jeez, how come that's never been codified into a list before?MikeC wrote:
Here's a guaranteed pretty cheap <30 dBA@1m PC w/only HDD suspension:
Any <100W TDP CPU
Any of the top ~5 HSF in the rec. list (or cheap Arctic Cooling if CPU is <80W)
Any Seasonic S12
Antec 3000, 3700BQE, or Evercase 4252 case (P180 would be better but price...)
Samsung HDD -- suspended (also some recent WD, Hitachi & WD models) in any number of ways -- many examples in these forums
Any fanless VGA card -- or one modded w/fanless cooler
Voltage controller to knock fan speeds down
Nexus fans as necessary
Recent Samsung, BenQ, Asus Quietrack, LG optical drive (w/software speed lock)
RAM of your choice
That really, really needs to be stickied to the top of every forum, and in several spots on the main site as well. If people followed that simple formula there would hardly even be a need for SPCR.
Thanks for the valuable feedback Mike. The stuff in that post is actually something I've tried to parse together from SPCR for years!
I think it would be great if you could make a short summary such as this every 6-12 months in order to "recap" the current state of affairs, since a lot of new stuff creep into the market during that period.
Summaries like this one are excellent for quickly assessing the current landscape and give silent computing a nudge for a wider audience.
Now, as for the specific suggestions.. My main problem is that about 25% of what's reviewed and often recommended on SPCR isn't available for purchase in my country. Getting a retailer to start selling Nexus fans or Seasonic PSUs for example would take ages and petitions. Thus the still existing need for "trial and error" with alternate parts for filling the gap in the assembly.
As for buying "off the shelf" systems, I haven't done that in about 5 years, but the last one I bought sounded like an air plane. At work all our computers are from a "major assembly company" and all of them are noisy, so I'm not exactly hooked on that idea.
I think it would be great if you could make a short summary such as this every 6-12 months in order to "recap" the current state of affairs, since a lot of new stuff creep into the market during that period.
Summaries like this one are excellent for quickly assessing the current landscape and give silent computing a nudge for a wider audience.
Now, as for the specific suggestions.. My main problem is that about 25% of what's reviewed and often recommended on SPCR isn't available for purchase in my country. Getting a retailer to start selling Nexus fans or Seasonic PSUs for example would take ages and petitions. Thus the still existing need for "trial and error" with alternate parts for filling the gap in the assembly.
As for buying "off the shelf" systems, I haven't done that in about 5 years, but the last one I bought sounded like an air plane. At work all our computers are from a "major assembly company" and all of them are noisy, so I'm not exactly hooked on that idea.
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wowimsocute
- Posts: 30
- Joined: Sun Jul 31, 2005 9:06 pm
- Location: Castro Valley, CA
i second this. ive been reading through all this stuff and this simple list would have helped a lot. this info should be stickied!Ralf Hutter wrote:Jeez, how come that's never been codified into a list before?MikeC wrote:
Here's a guaranteed pretty cheap <30 dBA@1m PC w/only HDD suspension:
Any <100W TDP CPU
Any of the top ~5 HSF in the rec. list (or cheap Arctic Cooling if CPU is <80W)
Any Seasonic S12
Antec 3000, 3700BQE, or Evercase 4252 case (P180 would be better but price...)
Samsung HDD -- suspended (also some recent WD, Hitachi & WD models) in any number of ways -- many examples in these forums
Any fanless VGA card -- or one modded w/fanless cooler
Voltage controller to knock fan speeds down
Nexus fans as necessary
Recent Samsung, BenQ, Asus Quietrack, LG optical drive (w/software speed lock)
RAM of your choice
That really, really needs to be stickied to the top of every forum, and in several spots on the main site as well. If people followed that simple formula there would hardly even be a need for SPCR.