Neat phone apps to measure noise levels and protect your hearing

Neat smart phone apps to measure noise levels and protect your hearing...

Want to know how loud is too loud? Here are three great phone apps you can download that measure noise levels and let you know how loud is too loud. They are easy to use and downloadable to your iphone or android.

Every day, we encounter a wide variety of noises and often we are unaware that we may be being exposed to damaging harmful levels of noise. The inner ear is comprised of a sensitive structure with tiny hair cells that vibrate when exposed to sound waves. These vibrations are transmitted by electrical signals to the brain which turns them into sound we hear and understand. Temporary and permanent Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) occurs when these fine hairs are damaged by loud noise and unfortunately damage can happen quickly and often by loud noises in our everyday environment.

Attending rock concerts, working with shop tools, operating lawn mowing equipment, listening to the radio or movies at a high volume, as well as one-time occurrences like explosions or impulse noise from hunting and shooting can destroy these delicate hair cells, resulting in hearing loss and/or tinnitus, (permanent ringing in the ears). Once the damge is done there is no way of repairing hearing loss. Hearing loss is cumulative and although one loud concert won't leave you deaf continuous exposure to loud environments will affect your hearing. Prevention is the key to long term hearing preservation in the noisy world we live in. 

Modern technology comes in handy to help measure the decibel level of everyday noises. Generally speaking anything over 90db is classed as too loud and can lead to hearing loss. These smart phone apps raise the alarm when users are in an environment where noise levels can damage hearing. Download and try out out in your everyday life to see how loud is too loud.....Ge

dB Volume Meter

The db Volume meter was created by Darren Gates for the iphone and measures audio volume in the environment around you. The dB Volume Meter shows the approximate decibel level, or Sound Pressure Level (SPL), wherever you and your smart phone are located. The app is mainly designed  for measuring noise levels in casual settings such as at airports or loud music venues. Users operating heavy machinery, explosive devices, or exposing themselves to known decibel levels over 90 dB should rely on a professional SPL meter.  The app provides useful examples of noises that may be over the dangerous 90 dB level, such as gun blasts at close range and jet take-offs.  dB Volume Meter must be calibrated to work optimally and requires an external microphone, which is built in to the iPhone 4.  This iPhone app can be downloaded at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/db-volume-meter/id353432115?mt=8.

TooLoud?

Another iPhone app, TooLoud? is a sound level meter app that shows you the noise levels in your environment and warns you if you should be wearing earplugs.  It’s often easy to take loud noises for granted as part of the necessity of living or working in certain conditions but it doesn't have to be that way.  TooLoud? gives decibel level readings in a simple numerical display and allows you to tinker  with filters and offset valuesto adjust  for normal background noise. The offset value can be adjusted positively or negatively to correspond to features in different microphones or other iOS devices.  The Pro version is just $0.99 and removes the advertisements.  TooLoud? is quite popular, receiving a 4 of 5 user rating on iTunes mobile app store, and can be downloaded here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tooloud/id393039065?mt=8.

deciBel

The deciBel sound level meter app is for the Android market and is a simple tool that uses the smart phone’s microphone to measure Sound Pressure Level (SPL).  deciBel displays the current, minimum, and maximum values of sounds around you, in decibels, and then turns this information into user-friendly sound level charts and graphs. deciBel is free and was developed by Peter Tschudin. The app helps with calibrating the program as well as foreign translation. Download this Android app here: https://market.android.com/details?id=bz.bsb.decibel&feature=search_result.