Console Sound Levels

thedoc46 · 5 Sep 2009 at 04:13

Hi,

Bought a new app on my iPhone called SPLMeter, so I took it upon myself to test the sound levels of some of the consoles i have at home.

Here are the results.

Dead silence 25DB
Original XBOX 31DB
PS3 SLIM on Startup 27DB
PS3 SLIM warm playing game 31DB
Soundproofed PC IDLE 28DB
XBOX 360 NO GAME 37DB
XBOX 360 WITH GAME SPINNING 38DB
PS3 60GIG on START 28DB
PS3 60GIG warm playing game 33DB

Some sounds are just easier on the ear though and some worse, like a 360 humm from a DVD spinning even though it's not much louder than just the fans, it makes it all that much more irritating.

All these were tested in the dead of night, and i live in a community far enough from any roads to not have any background noise whatsoever..

Margaret · 5 Sep 2009 at 05:26

Does anyone actually care about console noise anymore? I mean it's not like any of them are particularly loud unless you have an oddity within your unit. I mean my 360 isn't audible over my sound system on a low night-time volume, nor is my PS3.

That said I am assuming you are installing games to the 360, otherwise it is annoying.

Kreeeee · 5 Sep 2009 at 10:24

You can't use the iPhone's mic to accurately record the sound level, and some of those figures are off from proper tests, even accounting for hardware differences.

thedoc46 · 5 Sep 2009 at 14:01

Margaret said:
Does anyone actually care about console noise anymore? I mean it's not like any of them are particularly loud unless you have an oddity within your unit. I mean my 360 isn't audible over my sound system on a low night-time volume, nor is my PS3.

That said I am assuming you are installing games to the 360, otherwise it is annoying.

Each to their own... I find my 360 annoyingly loud and the biggest thing on my mind about my PS3 slim while i was waiting for it to turn up, was how loud will it be? So in answer to your comments.. Yes some people do care.

No i do not install games on my 360 cos it has a puny harddrive and i refuse to spend out any money on something that will probably RROD on me in a couple of yrs.

thedoc46 · 5 Sep 2009 at 14:07

Kreeeee said:
You can't use the iPhone's mic to accurately record the sound level, and some of those figures are off from proper tests, even accounting for hardware differences.

Agreed that it doesn't give an accurate exact scientific measurment. However it does do exactly as intended and give people some indication and something to compare it too.

wannabedamned · 5 Sep 2009 at 14:10

aslong as all results are taken using the same device, The results are usable as an indication of which produce the most to least noise. DBs are probably not accurate when compared to a device made especially for measure sound. But they're probably accurate enough to show which is noisiest to quietest.

Streeteh · 5 Sep 2009 at 14:39

Now that the 360 is able to play games from the hard drive i feel that console noise is now nothing to be worried about. When i do have to play a game from the disk (Halo 3) i find the incredible noise my 360 churns out rather annoying so i'm glad they've added the install feature.

manic111 · 5 Sep 2009 at 14:43

Margaret said:
Does anyone actually care about console noise anymore? I mean it's not like any of them are particularly loud unless you have an oddity within your unit. I mean my 360 isn't audible over my sound system on a low night-time volume, nor is my PS3.

That said I am assuming you are installing games to the 360, otherwise it is annoying.

I don't care when gaming, but when using my PS3 for media it's a pretty big issue for me.

james.miller · 5 Sep 2009 at 18:56

wannabedamned said:
aslong as all results are taken using the same device, The results are usable as an indication of which produce the most to least noise. DBs are probably not accurate when compared to a device made especially for measure sound. But they're probably accurate enough to show which is noisiest to quietest.

as long as they are all measured from exactly the same distance. with the iphone pointing in the same direction for each measurement

Nanoman · 5 Sep 2009 at 19:53

Margaret said:
Does anyone actually care about console noise anymore? I mean it's not like any of them are particularly loud unless you have an oddity within your unit. I mean my 360 isn't audible over my sound system on a low night-time volume, nor is my PS3.

That said I am assuming you are installing games to the 360, otherwise it is annoying.

Bit of a silly thing to say most care about noise.

D.Roberts · 5 Sep 2009 at 20:35

damn my old xbox sounded like a aircraft carrier it was so noisy dvd spinning or not now it was like that from new but it died the other day and now i have a new/old one back from MS ive only tested it for 10mins but damn its so much quieter.

djinuk · 5 Sep 2009 at 21:01

i remmber the original playstation being damn noisy when scanning

thedoc46 · 5 Sep 2009 at 22:00

james.miller said:
as long as they are all measured from exactly the same distance. with the iphone pointing in the same direction for each measurement

Yes all measured from about 5FT away in complete silence, which in itself was the most frustrating part to do.. I had to kill the AC and wait for my fridge to go into silent mode.. Even the slightest of sound was being picked up... so it had to be right in the dead of night when the kids were asleep and no ambient noise at all...

I will say my 360 is the BenQ drive, which (since I've had five of the things) noticed that the ordinary fans are louder but the DVD drive whilst spinning is quieter than my previous models. Also worth mentioning is the 360 measurement is with the machine warmed up.. It's a little quieter on startup.

djinuk205 · 5 Sep 2009 at 22:17

must say aswell u have to much spare time. interesting to read though