Yeah, looks like I goofed on that one. Time for an Amazon return! But that also leads me to another question. Would there be more value in measuring C-level weighted decibels if my primary goal is to reduce low frequency rumblings caused by suspension and road noise?
I'm also looking in to getting a multi-weighting capable sound level meter, or just buying an A-weighted one and keeping the C-weighted.
Looking at this chart, it shows the C-weighted meters will be reading every frequency almost equally, so if you have an excessive amount of low frequencies that your ears are not hearing, the meter will pick them up.. and if the lower frequencies are in higher
dB(C) than the higher frequencies
dB(C) that your ears are hearing (human ear frequencies), then the meter will be giving
dB(C) peaks to a frequency which you may not be able to hear.
If you look at the A-weight chart, the weighting is curved to hear like the human ear does, cutting off lower and higher frequencies that the average person can't hear. So therefore it will be reading
dB(A) at nearly the same relativity as your ears.
The C-weighting would be beneficial in a scenario where you would want peak measurements at any given frequency, or pure sound pressures, and the A-weighting will give peak measurements relative to how our ears are hearing the sound pressure... so in other words, a
dB(C) measurement could technically be measuring sound pressure levels you
cannot or can hardly hear and the
dB(A) will give you measurements relative to what your ears
can hear.
It's really going to be up to you how in depth you want to get with the measurements, but in my opinion, I think using the A-weight alone would yield satisfactory results relative to what you will be hearing inside the vehicle. Hope I cleared things up instead of mucking it up for you.
Keep it coming!! :banana:
