Save Your Ears A Noise Meter
‘Hello… HELLO! Are you deaf? Do you have disco ears?’ If people ask you this and you’re still well below 80 , you may be suffering from hearing loss, which can come from (prolonged) listening to very loud music. You won’t notice how bad it is until it’s too late, and after that you won’t be able to hear your favorite music the way it really is – so an expensive sound system is no longer a sound investment. To avoid all this, use the i-trixx sound meter to save your ears (and your neighbor's ears!). With just a handful of components, you can build a simple but effective sound level meter for your sound system. This sort of circuit is also called a VU meter. The abbreviation ‘VU’ stands for ‘volume unit’, which is used to express the average value of a music signal over a short time. The VU meter described here is what is called a ‘passive’ type. This means it does not need a separate power supply, since the power is provided by the input signal. This makes it easy to use: just conne...