cheapo mic for minimal testing

i don't have the money to pick up a termlab just yet, but i will need to do some testing here shortly. I know that the radioshak cheapo mic's are crappy, not accurate, use a diaphragm and are inconsistent.. but would or could they be deemed acceptable to test a system at low volume.. below its crappy 126-130 db peak or whatever its rated at.. just to find resonating freq's? Or would it even peak differently as well from a TL?

Also, are SPL measurements linear? What i mean by this is, if i measure a low volume run at get 2 db louder at the kick than the dash.. would this be true and the same at a loud volume per the vehicle? could certain points inside the vehicle be louder at lower volume and other points be louder at higher volumes? If i'm not clear or need to clarify, lmk.

i think when stuff starts flexin, things change. test at full tilt.

dbdaddy wrote:

i think when stuff starts flexin, things change. test at full tilt.

so obvious.. not sure why i didn't think of that.. hmm.. i just hate it that no one here has a decent mic to use only mic i have access to is 45 min away, a goldline and they guy charges like 10 bucks to do about 5 min of testing..

yeah i did about 3 hours of low volume testing gained 1.2 db but once I went full tilt it was only .1 but i think my woofers have something to do with that.

low volume will result in diff peak freq than high volume in my testing

i guess this is the case in stock interior cars, but not super mod cars that already have a very dense solid interior and will not result in much resonant change in low and high power.

yeah my rex goes from saying its peaking at 56 hz at low volume to 64 at high volume.

well this is all very useful info, i guess i will just have to wait till i can get on a decent mic

spllab meters. there about 360 bucks new.. not the termlab but great for testing. and pretty accurate too..

i will keep that in mind in case i find a cheap used one.. i figure for 360.. may as well spend another 100 and find a used term lab.. i see them usually go for 400-600

that's a pretty cool little meter, had never heard of it, did a quick research and found reviews.. supposed to be close to TL, will check it out more this evening

kool

yeah its usually just .1 or .2 off a tl if you can get access to a tl and do side by side testing u will at least have a idea and it has all the features. its pretty accurate from what i hear so you will know within .5 at most

yes, i can live with .1-.2 db difference.. units are $394 on their site, i'm assuming shipped.. not sure, i just emailed them to ask.

ear meter thats what i use the most

T

The_Rowlands wrote:

ear meter thats what i use the most

X2 that's the only way to be sure!

my ear meter needs to be calibrated.. i think the sensor has been damaged.. the penny bouncing meter still works just fine..

If your going to get serious about spl a tl is the first tool you buy

well i'm slowly getting back into it, started competing 7 years go but slacked off.. looking for a meter now, so that's kinda what i'm doing. Getting married, paying bills alone, going to school, hard to jump in with both feet right this moment.

I don't have a silver spoon ether man

We work on one car and pool our money together
Nothing about this sport is cheap

yea, i am coming back to audio since its cheaper than my other projects.. was building an integra.. got about 10k into it and decided not to further it any more.. plus.. when your transmission goes.. your screwed.. but when you stereo pops.. you can at least still go to work, ha.
yea i want a tl, but if this cheaper spl labs mic will do the job, i'm gonna opt for it. although i have yet to see anyone on this forum say they have or use one.

I use a hyperdynamics meter with a fluke meter. Got it new on ebay for $100. Works perfect for finding my freq. and read .2 lower than the tl at a show. If none on ebay the sight is makeitlouder.com

well the manufacturer site www.makeitlouder.com builds it up to sound like a nice mic! But whats your opinion, i wanna hear what an end user has to say. Does it use a sensor like the TL or a diaphram like older mic's? How many times have you used it and how often to calibrate it?

I love my Audiocontrol Epic-160... but it's not nearly as accurate as the SPL Labs. 1 dB resolution, but it's fairly consistent with the TL. I picked mine up for $100 used, so it's hard to compare to high-end models.

Sell the Teg. Grab a Rex. Get a TL, if you're 100% committed. Othersise, SPL Labs would get the job done just fine.

that integra been gone, but i'm just going to compete in the gmc for now until i get out of college and have more time to fully commit to a dedicated vehicle for spl.

yeah if u get a rex u will need a mic its pretty freakin hard to tune a rex with no tl i gained 3 db in 2 hours in my rex after i got a tl.lol maid me realize how far off i was.lol

I have had it for close to a year and it still reads within .2 db of the tl when I go to shows. I did have to get my fluke recalibrated, but it is an old one and needed it anyway. I knew it was the fluke since my other 3 all read the same but the one with min max hold was off. It works great in my opinion

which configuration do you have? I see the site offers a few different combo packages.

I have the sensor only. Already had a bunch of dmm so didnt need those.