Has anyone got any experience of sound level meters?

My neighbours are noisy as hell - I mean properly noisy, the bass rips through my entire house at times.  I’ve been down the nice route and asked them to stop more than once, but it never lasts.  It’s also been going on for some time - my previous cries for help

Anyway, I’ve had some informal chats with a solicitor and the local council and they’ve suggested that I start recording all incidences and the type of noise made.  It was also mentioned, that whilst it might not be admissable in court (if it ever got that far) additional details like volume readings would be useful.

So, I’m now looking about for a reasonably priced sound meter.  I’ve found this:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=46362
Thing is, most of the noise is thumping bass.  By it’s nature it’s not really that loud, it just permeates the entire house and drives me potty.  Does anyone know if sound meters can pick up the lower bass tones, or do I need something more specific?

I thank you all in advance…

I know of several cases in which the council was involved.First they require you to inform the parties in letter,if

it persists they then provide a sound level meter,which is turned on during a disturbance and remains on for 5

minutes.In the cases i know of,the council refused to side with the complaining party,which suggests that the

equipment was less than useless and the council is spineless.Case law also seems to be in favour of the

perpetrators at the moment-i saw one case fail in court and the other sides costs had to be paid.

Nice idea but the meter can’t prove what the sound is/was nor the time you measured it. A better idea would be a good quality digital camcorder with calendar so you can record the date & time. Also, if it’s still loud enough to be heard outside, a recording with the sound level increasing as you approach the door proves where the sound is coming from.

A camcorder can probably be rented for a lot less than the 55 quid for the meter and when there is no noise you can use it to record you and the missus for the FPS section.

oldwilli

I agree with Oldwilli, the best if you want to prove something is certainly a good recording.

and if all else fails....kidnap their family pet and boil it alive.....

charlie75 - 05 May 2008 10:24 PM

and if all else fails....kidnap their family pet and boil it alive.....

You jest, but there are points where you start debating just what you can do to make them stop.
At one particularly bad moment, I actively planned how I could break into their house, smash the stereo and feed the dog a sleeping tablet.

My wife told me to discuss any such plans with her before actually going ahead though.  She’s not so keen on me going to prison.

As they said above, a sound meter is only measuring the current db.  The frequency is the key, you need a decent range, but in all honesty, i doubt anything you buy will do the trick as the audible level is low (i think vibration is the main problem).

Iv seen officers at night time who work for the council get called to premises that have high db music playing, ask your council if the next time you hear it can your local officer visit.

Tip:
If you live next to your neighbour in a terrace/semi house, knock a couple of bricks out so you can fit into there loft, bring a neutral + earth from the junction box to your side of the house and connect into a pull switch.. every time the music gets too loud, pull the switch and leave it latched for 10 mins..this will knock out there RCD and they will loose power to the music system.  Just mention one day your a sparky and that if music reaches a certain level the sound waves make your circuit breakers etc think its a fault and trip.
Trust me, this one works.. :D

Tried and tested. haha

If needs be, get your mrs to stand next to the pull cord and ask them to turn the music up to the level it usually trips out at, but tell your mrs.. as soon as the music can be heard your side to pull the cord.  This way you can regulate how much noise you can allow them before you turn off there juice.

Im evil.
lol

Bovine - Cowboy touched on a good point I hadn’t considered earlier - what kind of dwelling are you in? Is the wall between you and the neighbors a shared structural wall (semi-detached, townhouse or apartment) or is there a gap between your place and theirs?

If there’s a gap, you may have a better case with the council than a shared wall. And you really need the time recorded. Unless you work late shifts so you sleep during the day, a noisy stereo at 13:00 won’t be considered as seriously as one at 01:00 when the council guys are trying to shag their stepdaughters.

Many years ago (early-70’s), I lived in a semi- and had a kickass 400W receiver feeding a pair of speakers that could handle 600W per cabinet and were 5 ft high x 3 ft wide x 2 ft deep with two 12 inch bass kickers, two 6 inch midrange and a high-efficiency bullet tweeter in each. Never had a peep from the other side of the wall where a similar audio nut lived but one night the cops beat on my door around 20:00 because the next-door neighbour (about 3 ft between houses) complained about the noise. Cops told me if the other side of the semi complained they would have told him to go pound sand until midnight or later but, because it was a (barely) separate dwelling that complained they had to give me a warning which would be followed by a citation on the second visit.

oldwilli

Old Willi, it’s a typical Victorian terraced style house.  I’m just gonna have to start an ######### campaign of hate against them.

Anyone know of laxatives that I can give to the dog that won’t actually hurt it (it barks like a bastard, but it’s not the dogs fault that it’s not looked after properly), but will make it shit all over their house?

And thanks Cowboy, I may try something like that - or just smash their electricity meter off the outside of the house when they’re not in.

lol.. snip the metal ties which hold the fuse in.. ring said electricity company informing of a certain bastard stealing electricity.. they’l find no ties, but they’l send a nasty letter followed by regular visits from a tossers asking to check the meters.  haha

its almost toooo easy.

Or the local druggies will wanna no if some bloke has an expensive music system.

Obviously these idea’s are only comic book idea’s which should never be tried or tested.  Karma will win
haha

Cowboy, there’s a part of me that really fucking likes your meter suggesion.
MMM…