You may not even notice how your hearing starts to degrade. It depends on how often you are in noisy places, whether you like to listen to loud music or frequent concerts and sports matches.
But if you have a child, or if you choose to take someone else to a concert, it is worth taking care of their hearing. We live in an age of incredibly advanced technology that can help you even in such delicate matters.
Even when you are organizing a party at home, it is worth checking to see if the sound level is within acceptable limits. You don’t have to buy a special device to do this – just your smartphone, which you use every day.
Various applications have been developed for smartphones that can use built-in sensors to measure the sound of your environment, for example, 11 Best Decibel Meter Apps for Android & iOS. We have also found 9 free sound level apps for Android & iOS for you.
Sound Meter – Decibel meter & Noise meter
If you want to measure whether the noise data from the manufacturers is correct, you can use the Sound Meter application. It shows you close to real values, which you will get even if you measure sound with a special device.
The app shows you the current value of the noise that surrounds you (more precisely, your smartphone). For your convenience, you can change the color scheme of the app by changing a dark theme to a light one and vice versa.
For each device, the Sound Meter can be calibrated for more accurate measurements and indicators. If you know the exact level of noise in a particular environment, you can simply enter this value into the Sound Meter and the sensors will automatically calibrate.
For easy use, the application can be converted to a compact interface that does not take up the entire screen. Determine the ambient sound value right now – in your apartment, car, or house. This way, you can protect your hearing from damage.
Decibel Meter (Sound Meter)
If you are using an Apple device and want to know what sound level is around you at the moment, you can use the Decibel Meter app. Decibel Meter measures ambient volume in decibels, which is the most common unit of sound measurement.
The loudness of the environment around you can be devastating to people’s hearing – so you should check this fact and if there is indeed a danger, try to avoid it.
On the screen, after starting the Decibel Meter and measuring, you will see a circular scale on which the sound level is marked. The scale also indicates which area you are in at the moment and whether you are surrounded by silence, speech, noise, or even dangerous loud sounds.
Below you can explore the time scale of the volume – whether the noise is quiet at the moment, or whether it is still rising. The Decibel Meter settings are very sensitive and allow you to calibrate your measurements even slightly – especially if you have a real sound level meter at hand.
Sound Meter Simple Detector
Sound Meter Simple Detector is a simple enough application in terms of interface and functionality. In just one measurement the application will give you information about the sound indicators in a certain room, and you can also clearly see the level.
Sound Meter Simple Detector uses a built-in sound sensor on your smartphone. It is worth noting that such sensors measure noise all the time when testing speakers and microphones, but users do not have this built-in feature.
As well as displaying numbers on the screen, there is also a sound color scale. It varies from yellow to red, depending on the volume. You will also see brief information about which room or event has a similar sound level.
For example, Sound Meter Simple Detector 20 dB is almost perfect silence, and 80 dB corresponds to a noisy and busy street. According to user feedback, this tool defines the environmental indicators quite accurately.
You may also like: 15 Best equalizer apps for Android & iOS (improve sound)
Decibel X – dB Sound Level Meter, Noise Detector
Decibel X is an application for measuring sound levels that you don’t have to calibrate and customize yourself. The developers have pre-calibrated all measurements.
This work makes a real professional noise measurement tool from a simple smartphone. The application areas of sound meters are quite different, but you can use it regularly to check the safety of your hearing in different environments.
Whether you are at a rock concert, at home during a repair, or just enjoying music in your car, you have hardly ever thought that such actions could harm you. In fact, in addition to loud sound, there is also sound pressure, which can also have a negative effect on your hearing.
Decibel X takes these measurements too, providing you with accurate data. The data that you have recorded in the application can be saved in the history of the recordings. This allows you to analyze what changes are taking place. Decibel X also gives you a monthly overview of the entire measurement history, with graphs and data.
Sound Analyzer App
If you need 2 modes of operation – noise level measurement (SLM) and real-time sound level analysis (RTA) – the Sound Analyzer App is a perfect choice. The application has no ads, as well as no paid features that you will have to pay for constantly.
The noise that occurs around you, Sound Analyzer App quickly measures and displays the data for you. The entire analysis is available in graphs that clearly show how the sound is changing over time, as well as other sound indicators.
The sound pressure indicators in the Sound Analyzer App require separate adjustments. If you’ve never seen such devices or indicators before, simply set the default data. Of course, it won’t give you perfectly accurate results, but you’ll know the approximate values.
Settings and calibration are set each time you are going to start measuring – which is not the most convenient solution. Yet, there’s no denying that the Sound Analyzer App is one of the few applications that weighs noise according to time parameters.
Decibel Meter – Sound Meter
This application works with a microphone, so Decibel Meter will ask you to access it during its installation. The developers guarantee that the microphone will only be used while the application is running and will not record your conversations.
With the help of data received from the microphone, Decibel Meter determines the sound level and vibration, and can also calculate several other characteristics. Before you can start using the application, you will need to calibrate your phone a little.
Decibel Meter can also determine what the maximum and minimum noise levels were during the entire measurement period. The values are read by the microphone recording, the duration of which you adjust yourself. You can stop the measurements at any time.
It is also worth noting that calibration can take place in 2 modes: manual if you have a real noise meter, or automatic. In automatic mode, Decibel Meter adjusts itself to the characteristics of your smartphone and makes measurements according to them.
You may also like: 15 Best Sound machine apps for Android & iOS
Sound Meter: decibel meter, noise detector
The sound around you is easy to measure and also to determine if it is dangerous to your hearing. The Sound Meter application does a good job of this. It uses a telephone microphone to obtain environmental noise data and can also measure pressure levels.
It is worth noting that the readings obtained with your smartphone’s microphone may be inaccurate. All devices are designed for the sound of the human voice, and the noise levels above 90 dB may simply not be perceived by the microphone.
Sound Meter can be used to measure too noisy sounds around you. This can help avoid high decibels that can hurt you. Maximum, average, and minimum noise values are detected during the measurement.
So, for example, you can measure with a Sound Meter in different parts of the apartment. The values are shown on a graph for easy visual perception. The calculated sound value in decibels is always shown on the home screen.
iNVH
iNVH is an application developed by Bosch and its engineers. They claim that the resulting application is perfect for household use as well as for students during their research work.
It is worth noting that its functionality is sufficient for simple acoustic measurements that do not require the highest level of data accuracy. Bosch also uses the data you receive in its research – it transmits the measurements you receive during your work.
Because each smartphone has unique accuracy of a microphone and built-in accelerometer, in iNVH this is taken into account. The app immediately comes with built-in values for the latest smartphone models.
You can also calibrate the instrument yourself to make sensitivity corrections. The iNVH is also limited to 100 Hz in vibration and mobile weight. Before you start measuring, you will need to choose exactly what you want to do. The iNVH homepage offers 7 different sections for calibration, graphs, measurements, and more.
Sound detector – Sound meter: Decibel meter by NerdTech Studio
Too much noise or sound is harmful to your health. Sometimes we do not even know that we can be on the verge of hearing damage. A sound detector can help you determine how loud your surroundings are.
You can also use this kind of application to study noise pollution in an apartment, street, or shopping mall. With a Sound Detector, you can easily measure different sound factors – sound level, vibration, or noise.
With a built-in microphone, the Sound detector makes measurements through the decibel meter. The graph will show all the data received by the application. The main decibel that you will see on the screen is the average value.
The Sound detector shows how long the measurements were taken, and all the data is shown in the graph. In a separate tab of the application, you can find out how safe this indicator is – “info” contains the classification of sound in dB.
You may also like: How to balance sound in headphones on Android & iOS
Of course, you should not rely on the obtained measurements as a panacea. Hearing problems can start at any time and for many different reasons – but avoiding sounds that are too loud can help to reduce your risks. This is especially true for children and people whose ears are too sensitive.
Don’t rely on subjective sensations – you may just be too used to constant loud sounds. Sound level apps can help anyone to assess objectively whether there is a risk to your health and hearing.
They can also help you avoid temporary stuns. We hope that our article has helped you and that you will now be more attentive to environmental loudness.
