[Mher6]

I know that the manual says "A" mimicks the human ear and "C" should be used for musical measurements, but I'm still curious as to which weighting head-fiers use.

 

[apnk]

I use c, because I have no reason, I dunno. I need to follow this thread...

 

[Fitz]

"A" weighting for measuring how loud music is, no weighting for measuring frequency response. I never use "C" weighting.

Edit: My meter isn't from ratshack

 

[jules650]

Which one is the default weighting? I've not bothered changing it.

 

[James63]

You should use C for music! "A" is for constant one tone sounds (factories and what not). C measures a wider range of frequencies. You also should set it to fast.

 

[Mher6]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jules650 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Which one is the default weighting? I've not bothered changing it.

Default weighing is C. I'm curious, as setting the weighting to A drops my dB measurements about ~5dB.

 

[James63]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mher6 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Default weighing is C. I'm curious, as setting the weighting to A drops my dB measurements about ~5dB.

"A" cuts off the extreme highs and lows.

 

[Mher6]

Anyone else have any light to shine on this topic?

 

[wolfen68]

As I recall, the ANSI standard that OSHA based their worker exposure regulations on was based on measurements taken from a sound level meter using the A-weighted sampling filter with a slow meter response.

 

[parrot5]

While searching for "cheap SPL meter" in Google, I came across this piece of information:
Quote:

A-weight SPL is for gerneral purpose measured at human ears most sensitive range: 500 - 10,000Hz. But for HiFi audio, C-weighting should be used: 32-10,000Hz.

Also, fast reading is "typically 0.2 sec per reading revision" and slow reading is "typically 0.5 sec per reading revision"

Source

 

[Max F]

As I understand it you would use C-weight for frequency response measurement (i.e., how loud it actually is) vs A-weight for measuring how loud something sounds to the human ear. For anything music related use c-weight. Also make sure you have the correction values for low freq. when using the Ratshack meter.

 

[scompton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Max F /img/forum/go_quote.gif Also make sure you have the correction values for low freq. when using the Ratshack meter.

What do you mean by this?

 

[Mher6]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Max F /img/forum/go_quote.gif As I understand it you would use C-weight for frequency response measurement (i.e., how loud it actually is) vs A-weight for measuring how loud something sounds to the human ear. For anything music related use c-weight. Also make sure you have the correction values for low freq. when using the Ratshack meter.

I'm curious as well..."correction values for low frequency"?

 

[HankTheTank]

These correction values are needed to correct the frequency response of the meter just as headphones/speakers are not flat. I believe the Rat Shack meter starts to roll of around 60Hz and is something around 7-10Hz too low at 20 Hz if I remember correctly. I don't know a particular site off the top of my head that has it but a quick Google should get you something, maybe a web site for a HT set up disc.

Also, A weighting is often useful if you want to measure the spl of the human voice since its frequency response rolls off frequencys the human voice usually doesn't reach but C should be used for any audio calibration (was referring to C above). Hope that helps a bit. Cheers!

 

[wolfen68]

Anyone in doubt on all of this could just use both and follow the results that are the most conservative. This would ensure the best protection for your ears.