Will this loudspeaker work for measuring your room?

Three numbers from the datasheet are enough. The answer tells you how large a room the speaker can measure and which score the app will return.

Shortcut: pick a loudspeaker we have looked up

It fills in every step below. Not listed? Skip this and enter the numbers yourself.

1

Name the loudspeaker

For your notes only. It does not affect the result.

2

How loud can it play?

Enter the datasheet’s maximum sound level — or, if none is published, expand the box below and use the output power instead.

Maximum sound levelOn a German datasheet, maximaler Schalldruck. Not the “signal-to-noise ratio” line — that is a ratio between the device and its own noise, not a level, and it lands in the same range as a real one, so nothing here can catch the mistake for you.Listed as max SPL or peak audio output.

dB

…measured atDatasheets that give a level often leave the distance out. If it was measured at 0.5 m the figure is 6 dB optimistic, so by default 1 m is assumed and 3 dB is taken off the level — halfway between the two. Entering the real distance removes that and makes the room size larger.Printed next to the level as “@ 1 m” or “@ 0.5 m”.

m

The datasheet states the distance — enter it aboveDefault in use: 1 m assumed −3 dB

No maximum sound level on the datasheet? Use the output power insteadExpand and enter the output power — the level is estimated from it, with a wider margin of doubt on the answer.Tap to openClose

Output powerUsed only when no maximum sound level is published. Take the figure for how it will run: a portable delivers less on battery than on mains, and most datasheets print both.Total RMS.

W

What kind of wattsThe estimate is fitted on total device ratings, so a per-driver figure reads low. One datasheet here prints both, four times apart: a 2 × 38 W amplifier driving 2 × 10 W drivers. Picking the driver figure does not change the number — it adds a warning instead.

Amplifier / total device powerSpeaker (driver) power

Bass driver diameterThe largest driver, in mm. A small one runs out in the low bands first.

mm

ConnectionA wired input takes the Bluetooth path out of the measurement.

Not sureBluetooth onlyWired only (AUX / USB)Bluetooth and wired

Bluetooth codecRecorded with the answer. It does not affect the result.

3

How deep and high does it go?

Listed as frequency range or frequency response, e.g. “80 Hz – 20 kHz”. Use the loudspeaker line, not the microphone one. A stated limit is where the output is a few dB down, not where it stops.

20501002005001k2k5k10k24k

Hz

to

Hz

=

The answer appears here as soon as step 2 has a number.

You can also pick a loudspeaker from the shortcut at the top to see an example.

How the answer is calculated, with every formula and source: Method.