116 db peak db how loud is that

[8cube]

how loud is 116 what can i compare it to
to get an idea

i dont feel like buying a battery for my meter lol

[soongsc]

What kind of noise is the loudest you've experienced?

[BHTX]

I remember the day I bought my Radio Shack digital SPL meter, my gf and I were in her car on the way home. While she was driving, I had her scream as loud as she possibly could while we were going underneath a bridge. The windows were down. I was kind of covering my left ear that was facing her with the bottom of the SPL meter, so it wasn't really covering it...really just kinda blocking a bit of the scream. The mic on the end of the meter was probably around 1 foot from her mouth. It read 114 dB. Afterwards, my ear was ringing pretty bad for a while. I believe this kind of carelessness has contributed a large part to the severe tinnitus that I suffer in both ears...especially that left ear. The last rock concert I went to a while back was indoors, also extremely loud (Sevendust), and sounded terrible. Great metal band, terrible sound quality. No telling how many decibels exactly, but I went all the way up to the speakers several times. Probably well over 130dB maybe? With peaks near 140 dB probably?? And I was exposed to it for hours. Was awful. Honestly one of the worst sounding concerts I've ever been to. Couldn't make out any of the vocals throughout the entire gig. Ears rang for days. I've been to much louder concerts in the past though, but they sounded better. In my experience, the best sounding concerts are usually outdoors. Also, has anyone ever been to a drag strip and watched the top fuel dragsters in person?? I'm not talking about just any of the funny cars. I'm talking about the big LONG cars with the massive back tires and small front tires...running 325+ MPH in the 1/4 mile in under 4.5 seconds? ..Only here in the states probably, especially Texas. Anyway, it's so loud when they take off from the line that your vision blurs and you can't see straight if you're anywhere within about 100 yards from them. The pavement out in the parking lot hundreds of yards away vibrates when they hit the gas.

[Cloth Ears]

Originally posted by 8cube
how loud is 116 what can i compare it to
to get an idea

i dont feel like buying a battery for my meter lol

Very difficult to judge unless you're being specific about the sound. 116dB at 20Hz is equivalent to about 75dB at 1000Hz from the point of view of listening to it. Listening to anything at that level for any extended period (and we're talking minutes here).

As far as peak levels, that's even more difficult to judge. Striking a standard claw hammer "really hard" on a concrete slab? BHTX's girlfriend? Cricket bat striking a ball (with enough power to hit a six)?

[auplater]

TOO LOUD!!!

http://www.rcaanews.org/noiselev.htm

John L.

[Tenson]

This might help

[Tom Danley]

Hi

If your asking how loud does 116 dB sound to you, the answer has several levels of “depends on”.
For example, 116dB would be just barely audible, if the frequency was 5Hz or so, your hearing sensitivity falls off on the low end and falls off very fast above 20KHz (in reality).
If you had a sound in the middle of your hearing bandwidth say 1 to 4KHz, 116 dB average level from compressed FM radio would be very loud, like at a loud, but not the loudest rock concerts, which can have peaks as much as 10dB louder.
If a sound is very short in duration however, 116 dB in the mid band, would not sound loud, duration is also part of ones judgment of loudness.
Throwing a table spoon onto a tile floor can produce peaks in the 130-135dB range at 6 feet, although it’s so short, it doesn’t seem that loud. If you sit in a car and slam the door with the windows rolled up, you can reach peaks of 135-140 dB, although being mostly very low frequencies and short, isn’t “loud”.
These levels don’t show up on a most meters, which integrates over time but a B,&K 2204 for example has a “peak hold” function just for this.
So, the answer of how loud it sounds depends on duration and frequency spectrum.
Best,

Tom Danley
Get a battery.

[BHTX]

Makes sense, and is pretty much what I've always assumed. Explains why rock concerts are so loud. Seeming like it's in the 130's or 140's and almost unbearable, when it's probably only peaking around 120-130 dB. And eventhough the top fuel dragsters are so loud that it blurrs your vision, it seems to have a strange resonance to it around 50 Hz, sounds weird...kinda hard to explain. But eventhough it's supposedly so loud, it's not very annoying at all when it's that low in freqency, but rather kinda cool instead. Add to that the feeling of staring at 7000 horsepower, and it's just awesome. I can't wait to go again this next summer, but that's a while from now.

[saramac]

When they switch from the alcohol to start them, to the Nitromethane and do burn outs and launch for a run, it is truly a sight and sound to behold. If you have never seen this, you must see it, at least once in your lifetime. The rocket cars are awsome as well. Incredible power!!

[BHTX]

Yeah, the rocket cars are INSANE! The burn-outs of the top fuel dragsters is pretty loud, but the noise seems much higher in freq than when they actually take off. It's not until after the burn out when they hit the gas to go down the track for that 4 seconds that your vision gets blurred from the "bass".

Cool to finally talk to someone who knows what I'm talking about, lol. Most people I mention these races to don't have the slightest clue what I'm talking about, at which point I usually get kinda frustrated and feel sorry for them.