Evening All

My copy of CPC's August Focus flopped onto the doormat today & there's a "Mini sound level meter" featured on page 75:

Now, the obvious thing to do would be to put a Link here, but I can't find the damn thing in the online catalogue, so this is (unless I'm being even more thick than usual) aimed at those who've read their magazine: I've tried searching for the order code as IN0546703 & IN06703, with no luck.

My question is: Is such a cheap meter worth popping in the toolbox just for the odd time when it would be interesting to know the SPL at various points in the hall, or is it likely to be totally inaccurate & a complete waste of space?

If the latter, I'll make-up the Order with a couple of XLR leads instead.

Pete

Pete,

It's all in the details... The mini SLM "conforms to IEC651 Class 2"

If this is really a 'class 2' instrument, it's fantastic value. However, accuracy is quoted as +/- 3.5dB and frequency response is stated as 3015Hz to 8kHz.

IEC 60651 states the accuracy of a class 2 instrument should be +/- 1dB, so there's a considerable discrepancy.

Furthermore, a good quality SLM would measure the whole spectrum of interest. My Norsonic will measure the octave band centred on 8Hz up to 20kHz !

Lastly, you have a fixed time constant and a fixed weighting network.

I think it's fair to say you are getting what you pay for here, and the really poor response means you could easily miss much of what you are trying to measure. I can't see that it's worth buying.

The £40.50 SLM above it (still page 75) looks better, but still doesn't meet class 2 specs, as far as I'm aware. Also, it doesn't tell you the frequency response, but it might be OK to give you a ball park figure.

In comparison, a decent class 2 instrument with a few bells and whistles could cost between £1000 and £2000. Class 1 is more...

Simon

Thanks Simon - XLR leads it is, then.

Pete