Issue 3, 2011

On the ability of consumer electronics microphones for environmental noise monitoring

Abstract

The massive production of microphones for consumer electronics, and the shift from dedicated processing hardware to PC-based systems, opens the way to build affordable, extensive noise measurement networks. Applications include e.g. noise limit and urban soundscape monitoring, and validation of calculated noise maps. Microphones are the critical components of such a network. Therefore, in a first step, some basic characteristics of 8 microphones, distributed over a wide range of price classes, were measured in a standardized way in an anechoic chamber. In a next step, a thorough evaluation was made of the ability of these microphones to be used for environmental noise monitoring. This was done during a continuous, half-year lasting outdoor experiment, characterized by a wide variety of meteorological conditions. While some microphones failed during the course of this test, it was shown that it is possible to identify cheap microphones that highly correlate to the reference microphone during the full test period. When the deviations are expressed in total A-weighted (road traffic) noise levels, values of less than 1 dBA are obtained, in excess to the deviation amongst reference microphones themselves.

Graphical abstract: On the ability of consumer electronics microphones for environmental noise monitoring

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 Oct 2010
Accepted
18 Nov 2010
First published
15 Dec 2010

J. Environ. Monit., 2011,13, 544-552

On the ability of consumer electronics microphones for environmental noise monitoring

T. Van Renterghem, P. Thomas, F. Dominguez, S. Dauwe, A. Touhafi, B. Dhoedt and D. Botteldooren, J. Environ. Monit., 2011, 13, 544 DOI: 10.1039/C0EM00532K

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