I am planning to measure the oregon regional DB level, and want to see what other regionals are like.
IF you have a portable DB meter, and want to participate, please measure the MAX volume at your regional and mark it in the poll
If you don’t have a portable meter, click one of the poll items that best describes the volume.
thanks,
-Z
also, here’s a table comparing DB values and real things!
DB’s.doc (59.5 KB)
DB’s.doc (59.5 KB)
Not really sure. I know that I had many conversations at GSR with friends this weekend where I had to shout with my face pretty darn close to theirs. Sometimes you could talk in a reasonable tone too.
I woke up this morning and sounded awful.
Z,
Where did you get your table? Several of the groupings seem off to me. Loud voice should be higher, 40 dbSPL should be nighttime home, etc. Also, were the readings specified as “A” weighted or “C” weighted?
the groupings came with my DB meter… i believe the readings are A weighted, but am not sure… i usually average the two…
my meter is a RadioShack meter, and works quite accurately (i’ve checked it at a local sound studio)
last year, at the Seattle regional, the readings went above 130dbSPL (the max for my meter) whenever people started stomping on the bleachers… it was, needless to say, earsplittingly loud.
-Z
Apparently I have a high threshold of pain. :rolleyes: 
“Standing 2 yards from the speakers at a Rock concert” is ranked above the “Human pain limit”??
Who knew? 
no, you’re just deaf… :rolleyes:
really, have you ever thought of hearing protection? it makes the music sound better, since it only block the base…
-Z
DC got incredibly loud due to the metal bleachers and the kids stomping repeatedly on them. It sounded like an approaching storm.
It was really quite impressive.
I expect FLR to be quite loud with 49 teams wedged into the Gordon Fieldhouse and it’s designed for spirit (large floor space for teams to basically come down to and get their spirit thang going).
As for standing next to the speakers I was next to the speakers alll weekend in DC. The sound in that opening video actually vibrates through you and I swear it’s displaced something internal.
Oh darn… I completely forgot about the metal bleachers in CT.
Between that & the Oink Oink Boom team coming this year & the rest of the already loud CT/MA/NY teams attending…
Aye… I should have gone and voted higher than I did & should have chosen the "Standing next to a jet on takeoff " option! :eek:
jersey was really loud… for most of the last two days, i had to shout to talk to someone in the row in front of me… also, the DRP was one of the loudest things i have ever heard… we had all these crazy chants going on… the weird thing was, we were rooting more for some other peoples’s teams than they were… 
Readings showing high levels of foot stomp are almost certainly “C” weighted. “A” weighting simulates the Fletcher-Munson human sensitivity curves which compensates for the reduced sensitivity to low frequencies and slightly reduced highs. I have modified your table with stated levels from a table in the Audio Engineering Handbook by K. Blair Benson from McGraw Hill. It includes OSHA industrial exposure limits but is by no means a comprehensive list.
SPL.doc (59.5 KB)
SPL.doc (59.5 KB)
That Blair is such a trouble maker.
I felt for the robot inspectors who were placed right next to the back of bleachers. It must have been very difficult to ask questions at times.
Yea, I bust out the ‘ultimate strength’ Tylenol for FLR headaches after hearing all the noise.
I was scorekeeper at Seattle last year and NEVER took my earplugs out. I’m bringing along my 29db Peltor hearing protectors to wear OVER my earplugs this year.
NJ was definitely a lot less loud than in previous years, specifically from the A/V system. The crowd was kinda loud, to the point of interrupting conversations and causing pain to the ears. Someone even had an amplified megaphone…
I only wanted to have earplugs for maybe 30 minutes, rather than almost the entire weekend.
it was very loud at the buckeye regional that right now i still have a headache… it ended Saturday and today is Monday:(
throughout the Portland regional, volumes were above 95 dB, and if you were on the field, they were closer to 115 dB.
The highest volume i measured whas when our team got awarded the Rookie All Star award, at which point, the volume was too high for my dB meter (126 is the max)
if you look at the match archive : http://www.bpsepaa.com/video/main.php?view=event_selected&event=13
you can hear us during alliance selections (selected second by alliance 4)
that’s just a glimpse of how loud we are…
-Z
I am sorry but that was poorly thought out, multiple times another programmer and myself would have to leave the building and program outside. The good news is I don’t think there are metal bleachers at Key Arena.
I have a feeling that our robot will be making up for the drop in noise from the stands.
Our shooter takes care our the higher pitch sound, while the conveyor belts take care of the low growl… It is part beast.
It is acceptable to ask the staff there to see if they can turn it down a bit? Team spirit and energy is nice, but in any case, health should be evaluated first. My regional is week six. I don’t want to ruin the fun for people but this would really be a health concern…
This should definitely be acceptable if you find that the volume is too loud. From what I remember I don’t think it was all that bad last year at MN (in Williams where 10,000 Lakes is). If you are really concerned about it you may want to send Regional Planning Committee Chair Mark Lawrence an email before the event to make sure it gets addressed with the DJ and A/V crew. If you don’t have his email drop me a PM and I’ll get it to you.
At San Diego, I had to tell one of the safety advisers that people were going to get permanent hearing damage if the volume of the pit speakers was not reduced. They were placed approximately 15 feet from pit areas, directly adjacent to a main aisleway, and at a volume so loud that I saw several people cover their ears and duck/dodge away any time something was announced over them. Holding any sort of conversation 20 feet away from these speakers was impossible while their was audio on them. I was also concerned for the safety of all the judges sitting directly in front of the cheering section. A hundred screaming kids can pack quite a punch on the eardrums.
I will note that the music, MC, and match announcer levels seemed fine.