Jump to content
Chapala.com Webboard

In Search of Ambient Noise Recorder (Not Expensive)


Recommended Posts

I am searching for ambient noise level recordings (outside my house, even outside my street, Carnaval concerts for example).

Handheld recorders up to $100 usd if possible.

The articles all seem to focus on recorders that will cancel ambient noise so that voice can come through clearly. That is the opposite of what I want. I would like to establish ambient noise levels of normal surrounding life in my neighborhood, versus when things go nuts, like late at night or 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. or during Carnaval.

Anyway, Evistr 16gb handheld gets high marks $40 plus $10 freight, but again it uses noise cancelling and does not mention an option to stop that function.

I want to record the full blast of all frequencies (ambient) to get what I want.

Anyone techie enough to know about handheld recorders?  Thanks.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Decibel X is free for Android. Others are free for iPhone. Decibel X automatically records your tests, and you can name them for future reference, then email them to yourself.

You can of course also buy handheld noise meters, digital (analog meters don't record), but considering the alternative... even for my studio needs... they are no longer worth it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, southland said:

I am searching for ambient noise level recordings

Do you want to record the actual sounds, or make a record of the dB levels?      If just the latter, there are many good free apps that make a graph of the dB levels with a time stamp on them.    "Sound Meter" is the name of one in the PlayStore.     

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you want to use these readings to report violations I'm afraid the regulations are very specific about which equipment is to be used. Yes, it is expensive. Even then, they are not doing corrected readings which increase bass level decibels by quite a bit, because they travel over long distances.

We need a good neighbor device. It measures the decibel levels of your neighbor, then returns an equal decibel level of your choice of sounds. Swedish death metal is often a choice, another, Scottish kid learning the bagpipes.

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, CHILLIN said:

If you want to use these readings to report violations I'm afraid the regulations are very specific about which equipment is to be used. Yes, it is expensive. Even then, they are not doing corrected readings which increase bass level decibels by quite a bit, because they travel over long distances.

We need a good neighbor device. It measures the decibel levels of your neighbor, then returns an equal decibel level of your choice of sounds. Swedish death metal is often a choice, another, Scottish kid learning the bagpipes.

I have used early Bob Dylan with great success.

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, TelsZ4 said:

Here we go again, another newbie wants to change the culture here.  You know it’s only 475 peso for a taxi to the airport..

If you are referring to the OP, they have been posting 7 years longer than you, and make no reference to culture change. 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, TelsZ4 said:

Here we go again, another newbie wants to change the culture here.  You know it’s only 475 peso for a taxi to the airport..

 

3 hours ago, Natasha said:

The noise wherever you are was here before you came and it will be there when you leave.  It's Mexico. Get over it!

Screaming loud ampified music isn't Mexican 'culture', as evidenced by all the Mexicans who are also disturbed by it.

The notion that one can't or shouldn't work to make their community livable for all and that everything has to be accepted unquestioningly is really misguided nonsense.

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

35 minutes ago, mudgirl said:

 

Screaming loud ampified music isn't Mexican 'culture', as evidenced by all the Mexicans who are also disturbed by it.

The notion that one can't or shouldn't work to make their community livable for all and that everything has to be accepted unquestioningly is really misguided nonsense.

So what your saying is concerts at Carnival time in Ajijic  isn’t Mexican culture.. Can you give us the source of your information, or show us some evidence of all the Mexicans that are opposed to the concerts at carnival time... Do you have any  ? or you just stating your own  opinion. ?  There is lots of evidence on this board from expats who don’t like to be disturbed, I haven’t seen evidence of Mexicans being disturbed by the noise, other than posts by expats stating they heard from their gardener who heard it from someone who knows a maid who doesn’t like the music...


Maybe if you went to a concert in the plaza at carnival time you might notice that about 99.9% of the people there are Mexican. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Of course I knew people would leap to conclusions about why I am seeking the noise recording device.

Perhaps that is not something I wish to reveal, and not only have I been on the board for 7 years, I have been in Latin America since 1975. I probably can discuss the merits of several Latin countries with those who presuppose why I am interested in a recorder.

One of my friends sells amplifiers for the electronics markets in Latin America. The manufacturer of the amplifiers is interested in the noise levels that Mexico produces, and how that quantifies in their market opportunity, how their products might fit, or not.

Yes, all the extraneous preacher posters lecturing and admonishing about who does and who does not fit in Mexico sometimes should check their own high horse and make sure they're even on the correct trail and not assume their assigned attitudes fit the original poster's intent. However, that would take more mental discipline and courtesy and restraint than some possess.

Thanks to those who took the question and gave me good non-presumptive answers: the app route, etc. and the notes on those in the recording industry. I think I am looking at a $200 investment to get any kind of separations that I need for ambient noise, and of course the measurements. Thanks.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, TelsZ4 said:

Can you give us the source of your information, or show us some evidence of all the Mexicans that are opposed to the concerts at carnival time... Do you have any  ? or you just stating your own  opinion. ?  There is lots of evidence on this board from expats who don’t like to be disturbed, I haven’t seen evidence of Mexicans being disturbed by the noise, other than posts by expats stating they heard from their gardener who heard it from someone who knows a maid who doesn’t like the music...

Believe it or not, some of us actually speak fluent enough Spanish and have quite a lot of Mexican friends and acquaintances we interact with, that we don't need to get our information 2nd or 3rd hand.

You really think I'm going to give you names of all the individual Mexicans who have told me how disgusted and disturbed they are by this sort of thing?

And I wasn't referring to the occasional festivities at holiday times, a wedding, or a quinceaños party. I had in mind venues which operate continuously at volumes which exceed the decibel level that has been determined to be hazardous to people's health and hearing, yes, even in Mexico.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, mudgirl said:

Believe it or not, some of us actually speak fluent enough Spanish and have quite a lot of Mexican friends and acquaintances we interact with, that we don't need to get our information 2nd or 3rd hand.

You really think I'm going to give you names of all the individual Mexicans who have told me how disgusted and disturbed they are by this sort of thing?

And I wasn't referring to the occasional festivities at holiday times, a wedding, or a quinceaños party. I had in mind venues which operate continuously at volumes which exceed the decibel level that has been determined to be hazardous to people's health and hearing, yes, even in Mexico.

I didn’t think you would be able offer any evidence to support your point of view..  Not sure if you are fluent in English but if you are able to read the OP the poster did specifically mention carnival time..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, southland said:

 think I am looking at a $200 investment to get any kind of separations that I need for ambient noise, and of course the measurements. Thanks.

If you are looking to separate the different sounds, then you are looking at mid-side recording and investing in some excellent computer software. I assume you've already looked at device, because you did list a price. That's out of my area, and I don't think anyone here knows either or you would have had some better answers. But, I have to say, it would have been easier if you hadn't buried the lead.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, TelsZ4 said:

Not sure if you are fluent in English but if you are able to read the OP the poster did specifically mention carnival time.

Nice passive-aggressive tone deaf response. Yes I'm quite fluent in English, and yes, the OP did mention carnival, but he didn't say for what reason he wanted to take the readings, which he explained further down. Yet you were quick to tell him he could take a taxi to the airport and assumed he wanted to 'change the culture'.

And my Mexican neighbor down the block is the first one to call the cops when someone in our neighborhood has an ear-shattering amplified party until the wee hours of the morning.

Do you want her name, address, phone number and copy of her birth certificate for "proof"?

And the very fact that noise bylaws and restrictions do exist in Mexico (enforcement is another story) means those laws are driven by Mexicans- gringos don't make laws here and politicians really don't care what people who can't vote think.

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This 'noise pollution' movement began in CDMX, with the UNM crowd of academics who want to make the world better, like it or not. It was supported by additional resources of the United Nations, etc., who had managed to document the environmental, human health and human developmental health effects of noise. Quite alarming, and significant, and surprise, surprise, the lower income people were the worst effected. It was a Mexican movement started in Mexico.

Now it has evolved, as these things do, with Mexican Phd. and Masters students discovering which ambient sounds are uniquely Mexican.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...