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Gear / Technical Help => Recording Gear => Topic started by: JK on July 21, 2013, 12:07:04 PM

Title: Level Meter App for Android devices
Post by: JK on July 21, 2013, 12:07:04 PM
Hello!

I am looking for a level meter app for android devices which displays the input of an internal or external microphone in dBFS.

Perhaps somebody can give me a clue?

Thank you!
Title: Re: Level Meter App for Android devices
Post by: Ozpeter on July 22, 2013, 08:13:24 PM
Searching the app store brings up loads of matches for "sound meter" - but assuming you've done that already, I guess they don't fit the bill.
Title: Re: Level Meter App for Android devices
Post by: JK on July 23, 2013, 10:50:35 AM
Searching the app store brings up loads of matches for "sound meter" - but assuming you've done that already, I guess they don't fit the bill.

That's true ...

Because I'm looking for a PPM and not for Sound Level Meter which measures the sound pressure level.

Cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_programme_meter#PPMs_and_digital_audio_levels
Title: Re: Level Meter App for Android devices
Post by: page on July 23, 2013, 11:00:38 AM
I am looking for a level meter app for android devices which displays the input of an internal or external microphone in dBFS.

out of curiosity, are you using it in place of level adjustment on a different recorder, or are you feeding the android unit a digital signal? (where I'm headed is dbfs is somewhat related to the ADC and each ADC will have a different threshold for what produces 0 dbfs)
Title: Re: Level Meter App for Android devices
Post by: JK on July 23, 2013, 11:54:02 AM
Thank you very much for your answer.

I am trying out recording software for Android devices and I want to avoid clipping.

Every editing software and every digital recorder has a PPM but I haven't found one for Android smartphones.

Title: Re: Level Meter App for Android devices
Post by: page on July 23, 2013, 01:04:30 PM
Thank you very much for your answer.

I am trying out recording software for Android devices and I want to avoid clipping.

Every editing software and every digital recorder has a PPM but I haven't found one for Android smartphones.

gotcha.

feeding it a digital signal or analog in on the phone?
Title: Re: Level Meter App for Android devices
Post by: JK on July 23, 2013, 02:19:23 PM
feeding it a digital signal or analog in on the phone?

Analog from an external microphone (optional: pre-amplifier)
Title: Re: Level Meter App for Android devices
Post by: Chuck on July 23, 2013, 02:21:36 PM
You could record a 1k sine wav. You can visually see the clipping that way.
Title: Re: Level Meter App for Android devices
Post by: page on July 23, 2013, 02:32:20 PM
feeding it a digital signal or analog in on the phone?

Analog from an external microphone (optional: pre-amplifier)

I was more curious about after that, namely between the preamp and the recording device if you had a separate ADC so you weren't relying upon the phone's but instead just using it as a bitbucket.

You could record a 1k sine wav. You can visually see the clipping that way.

and assuming you don't hear distortion on playback of that sample, you'd get a rough approximation of max dbu that the adc chip in question can handle before it overloads. That's beneficial if you have an external preamp and but even if you know the mv/pa of a set of mics then it would give you an idea of how that will pair in terms of avoiding overloading.