Do you have an iphone?
Are you an audio tech, an audiophile?
Then I’ve got a couple apps for you.
I’ve been stuck in a few situations where I’ve needed a way to analyze what is going on in a room audio wise. Whether just general loudness or a way to figure out why the room sounds so dang muddy or bright.
App one of two is an SPL meter.
This is a cheap app coming in at $.99 from Studio Six Digital.
It gives you the option of A or C weighted, slow or fast.
If you’ve got the gumption you can also connect an external mic up to the iphone and get a more accurate pick up.
One thing the app lets you know clearly is that the iphone mic has a roll off and so they try and make up up for it with programming. So you get around a 4-6 db difference from an actual SPL meter, but seriously, if you’re in a bind and need a ball park figure for those OSHA complainers pull out your phone and blow their minds.
The next app I haven’t gotten a chance to play with but am excited to have is Pocket RTA. It’s a little pricy ($29.99 to the SPL meters $.99) but it’s worth the investment.
This app gives you a nice real time analysis of what is going on in your space sound frequency wise. It gives you 8 different ways to analyze your room so you can tune whatever your doing and get rid of that mud. This is helpful when you know that your sound pressure levels are within an acceptable limit and you’re still getting complaints of something that is to loud. It’s generally a specific frequency or group of frequencies that are hurting peoples ears.
This isn’t a replacement for a professional room tuner, but for those of you who run audio tech consistently, especially in a church environment another tool in your pocket to make things sound better is invaluable.
