soundproofing for urban people

For a quick lesson on how to use the NIOSH (National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health) app to measure decibels and noise, check out my latest Soundproofist  video. This handy app is free, although only available for iOS devices right now. It's a great app to use if you want to measure average and maximum noise levels with either A-weighted or C-weighted decibels. You can save each measurement as a report. Learn more about measuring noise and about soundproofing from  Soundproofist . Download the free NIOSH app from the App Store and learn more about it from this CDC documentation .

If you're having noise problems in your home or business, you can measure the decibel level with inexpensive apps on your iPhone or buy a decibel-reading device. I downloaded a free app from the App Store called "Decibels" and purchased an inexpensive one - with more features -- called "SPL Meter," but there's many to choose from (just search for "spl meter"). Basically these apps help you measure the decibel volume in your home when it's quiet, and again in different noise situations -- your neighbor's TV or stereo, the sound of cars and trucks outside your windows, the sound of barking dogs, crying babies, etc. [update, Dec 2013: see this review of 30 decibel-reader apps.] All rooms have a decibel level, even when you think you're sitting in silence. So let's say the dB level in your home is 40 when it's quiet, but increases to 60 when your adjacent neighbors watch TV on their home theatre system. What does this mean w