Electronic – How to get output voltage of microphone

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I am really confused at this moment. I have the following microphone: http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/1660938.pdf

What I want to do is make a actual dB meter with this sensor. So I would net to know how much the voltage changes for example when the sound changes with one 1dB? How do I calculate that with the above datasheet? It has something to do with the sensitivity but what and how?

Best Answer

You assume the microphone is linear.

This means that when the sound level input to the microphone changes by 1dB, the output voltage of the microphone changes by 1dB.

Some old (very old) pointer type AC reading meters actually have a dB scale, but I've not seen any digital meters, at least down the hobby end, that offer a conversion from volts to dB.

To make a dB reading, you take a reference at one level, make your measurement at another level, then take the ratio. For a voltage ratio, the dB difference is 20*log10(ratio).

Conventionally, 0dBA is the threshold of hearing, not easy to judge.

So you have two issues. One, to get a meter that reads dB ratio, or use an Arduino or something that can compute and display dB ratio. Two, to establish your sound reference level.