Pushed by a growing concern for environmental noise, new European directives have been released in order to limit the noise emitted by equipment for outdoor use . In this case as in many others, the parameter used to evaluate how much sound is generated is the Sound Power. The directives, based on international ISO standards, describe in details the procedure to be followed to measure the Sound Power generated by a noise source.
For 22 sorts of outdoor equipment, a maximum acceptable sound power value is defined whereas 35 others are subject to noise marking meaning that each product should be labelled with the measured sound power value. This measurement is required for each concerned product in order to get EC approval. In order to get the relevant sound power value, a specific procedure is involved, calling for a high level of precision. While testing, this procedure will be repeated a large number of times involving several products, product configurations or test parameters. The allocated time for each cycle is short, especially when weather conditions are part of the hazards. Consequently, the tools used for that type of measurements should allow a maximum efficiency.

Sound Power measurements have been common for many years in other fields than outdoors equipment including domestic appliances or office equipment. Traditionally the technique used is based on a procedure using a sound level meter, meaning that only one channel can be measured at a time. The time required by that method is not corresponding to the stringent demands on tests time and cost applied in the industry nowadays. This is without mentioning the increased risk of errors due to an unstable source and the difficulty to treat this case with a single microphone approach. To respond to the need of the industry, OROS is proposing a fully dedicated Sound Power Solution. Based on a real-time multi-channel sound analyzer, the system provides unbeatable efficiency and accuracy. The instrument hardware, featuring multiple inputs and high embedded computing power allows to measure all microphone channels at once and in real-time meaning that all sound power, results are available right away after the last second of the test cycle. No later post processing is necessary. In addition, results metrology quality is fully secured as the microphone signals are processed by the instrument itself giving a result with type-1 accuracy.

Because the system should be easily operated without any particular knowledge in acoustics,
the day-to-day test configuration can be simply reloaded leaving the software guiding the operator through the different measurement steps defined by the standards. The report is available the minute the tests stop.
The Sound Power package can also be configured to provide additional modules for deeper investigations for development purposes such as signal recording or narrow band analysis for more detailed source characterization. By combining the performance of a genuine measurement instrument with a dedicated and adapted software, the OROS Sound Power Solution will secure and optimize your tests with no compromise.

For further information or pictures, feel free to contact:
Sylvie Souchon, Communication Manager at .

Please, download the picture: SoundPower.jpg