Best Decibel Meter apps to measure noise levels
Today we are looking at the best decibel meter app to measure noise levels. You’re bringing the grandchildren to see your favorite professional sports team take on the league leaders. Will the roar of the crowd be enough to warrant wearing ear protection? Or maybe you’ve hired a local band to play outside at your daughter’s graduation party. Is the music too loud for your guests and the neighbors?
Fortunately, you don’t need to rely on your best judgment in order to know the answer. Thanks to modern technology, your smartphone can determine if your environment exposes you to harmful noises that may cause permanent or temporary noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL).
Check out these highly rated decibel meter apps:
Decibel X
Decibel X is a popular decimel meter app. With Decibel X, you can accurately measure the sound levels of your surroundings. Making it simple for you to quickly and easily see if the environment you are in is dangerous to your hearing or not. This highly-rated, free app turns your smartphone into a pre-calibrated, accurate and easily portable sound level meter. It has a standard measurement range from 30 to 130 dB. It boasts many features for measuring the intensity of sound around you built into a nicely-designed, intuitive user interface.
Devices: iOS, Android
Price: Free
SPL Meter
SPL Meter app shows the minimum and maximum sound levels through the analog dial. It uses the phone microphone to detect and calculate sound level so you will get an accurate SPL value. The universal app can be shared on all devices. A simple color-coded display indicates safe (green) and dangerous (red) hearing levels. This professional-grade sound level meter is measured after a traditional sound press level (SPL) meter, including ballistics, ranges, filters and decay rates. The app comes pre-calibrated for most mobile devices but can be adjusted to match professional calibrated meters. The minimum and maximum sound levels are displayed with an analog dial and a detailed graph.
Devices: iOS
Price: Free
Sound Meter & Noise Detector
This app is excellent at graphing sound while running in the background on your device; all while saving battery since your screen doesn’t have to be on all the time. The only reason this app is listed so low in our top 5 list is the fact that it’s a little overpowering in the ad’s department. If that’s something you can live with then be sure to download and try it today!
Devices: Android
Price: Free
Too Noisy Pro
This easy-to-use app is built specifically for measuring noise levels in environments where there are groups of children. Teachers can use the Too Noisy app to keep watch on the sound levels in the classrooms and control the noise level. The interface is simple and designed so children will respond to it, graphically displaying noise levels in a fun and engaging way. Teachers and other childcare workers can adjust the sensitivity of the app to cater to louder activities and sudden noises with the sensitivity and dampening sliders.
Devices: iOS, Android
Price: $4.99
Sound Analyzer App
Sound Analyzer App is packed with so many features that they should be charging… lucky for you and us it’s free! Even beyond the features available the owner is easy to reach for support and is eager to explain how to use certain features in this app. Like a few other apps listed here, this app can be calibrated to the device you are running it on giving you a far more accurate sound meter. Grab yours today!
Devices: Android
Price: Free
NIOSH Sound Level Meter
Developed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), this app is exclusive to iPhone and is a useful tool for anyone working in noisy environments. It can raise employees' awareness about the noise levels in their workplace, help them make informed decisions about their hearing health and determine when hearing protection is necessary. Researchers can also use the app to collect data about noise exposure.
Devices: iOS
Price: Free
SPLnFFT Noise Meter
Designed by a signal processing expert, the advanced features on this app for iOS devices include a frequency analyzer, frequency meter, test signal generator and dosimeter. A simple interface displays the level of exposure using color—orange or red indicates dangerous levels where hearing protection is required. The app is recommended by the Laborers Health and Safety Fund of North America.
Devices: iOS
Price: $3.99
Sound Meter Pro
This app uses your smartphone’s microphone to detect sound and display it in decibels as well as display the last 30 seconds of data on an easy-to-read graph. Because the microphones in Android devices are used to record human voices, the maximum levels on this app are limited and sounds above 100dB are not recognized. It is a very powerful sound level meter, easy to use and with great precision compared to other sound meter apps.
Devices:Android
Price: Free
Sound Meter and Noise Detector
Like most sound meter apps, this one uses your smartphone microphone to measure the sound in your environment. The decibel level is displayed on an easy-to-read dial. The history function indicates how long you’ve been exposed to the noise along with the noise reference, i.e., noisy street or quiet library. It shows the sound level in minimum, average and maximum dB with an accurate value.
Devices: Android
Price: Free
