My SPL meter shows ambient/background noise of about 41.x dB. Is that average, hi or low?


Of course that Amazon X-Mass stocking-stuffer is little more than a toy, so who knows if it's calibrated accurately...

So what's the ambient level in your listening room/position?

Michael



mkh1099
I get 29.9dB A-weighed (LAF) with mute on in quiet basement with turntable running.
31dB inter-track vinyl groove noise.
89dB peak at normal listening level.
Thanks!

If yours is 29.9 compared to my 41.x then either your room is VERY quiet, of my meter is a piece of junk.

Probably it's both...
My room is very quiet. 41dB is acceptable ambient noise if you've a window and outside activity.
I can get my iphone db app (however accurate that is) down into the 20’s as well.  I actually have to hold my breathe otherwise my breathing is picked up.  

My room is quiet.  Thats what 12 panels do.  My listening room is a nice place to be even when not listening to music just due to its quietness.

Latenight listening at low volumes is still very satisfying when you are starting from such a quiet background!
Actually, my iphone app is reading down into the teens and lower...  8 db-14db... averaging out at 10db’s...

I wonder how accurate it is.

Sitting here listening now, it’s eerily quiet. Not much, if any, traffic noise outside either due to Covid and we have 2 inches of fresh powder outside which also drastically lowers the noise floor outside of the house.
Mine will pick up the HVAC if running, my room/house has about 40ish dB ambient sound as well. 
The free Android Sound Meter I have can be calibrated.  I go into my walk-in closet and set it for 20 - 25db in that environment.  The closet works pretty well because it's isolated from things like the frig and my noisy DVR and the clothes act like sound absorbers.  I believe the set-up instructions suggested something like that.
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I was rather serious about noise control, both emanating from and entering the custom room I designed and built in my basement. Quietness was paramount. My measurements from three different phone apps:

Decibel Meter  30-32dB   (I presume this is weighted differently)

Noise Meter     16.8-17.2dB

Sound Meter    17-18dB  

Sound Meter compares the ambient noise in my room to a ticking watch. 
That is acceptable to me. The sensation of entering the room is not unlike entering a vault at a bank.  :) 
Great thread - lots of power conditioners get sold late at nite when it is just better acoustic signal to noise- kudos to this group who actually measure and have data ! Rare here on Audiogon 

Measuring our condo using A weight and slow response daytime numbers are mid twenties for background using a B and K mic into iPad running Studio Six Audio tools. My listening level is typically 60-90 db. Nights run low twenties