About SoundMeter

SoundMeter is a free, browser-based sound level meter. You open the page, press start, allow your microphone, and it shows you how loud your surroundings are in decibels. There is nothing to install and no account to create. This page explains who runs the site and why it exists, because you should know who is behind a tool you let near your microphone.

Who runs this site

My name is Pankaj. I am the founder of One2Infinite Recruitment Solutions, a placement agency based in Vaishali, Ghaziabad, India. Before starting the agency I worked as a data analyst and a quality analyst, so a lot of my day was spent cleaning up measurements, questioning numbers, and figuring out when a reading could actually be trusted. That habit is really where this project came from.

I hold a Master's in Computer Applications (MCA). Outside of running the agency I spend time building small software tools, mostly with Python and Power BI for data work, and lately a good amount of AI-assisted "vibe coding" to turn ideas into working SaaS-style products quickly. SoundMeter started as one of those side projects and grew into something I kept using myself, so I decided to make it public and maintain it properly.

Why I built it

I tried several online sound meters and kept running into the same odd problem: a quiet room and a genuinely noisy one would read almost the same number. After digging into it, the cause was clear. Browsers apply automatic gain control, noise suppression, and echo cancellation by default. Those features are great for video calls because they smooth your voice out, but they quietly destroy any attempt to measure actual loudness. The browser keeps nudging everything toward a comfortable speaking level, so you end up measuring its guess, not the room.

SoundMeter asks the browser to switch those three processors off through the getUserMedia settings, so the audio reaching the meter is as raw as the browser will allow. Not every browser fully respects the request, and I am honest about that on the methodology page, but it gets you much closer to the truth than the defaults ever will. That one fix is the reason the site exists.

What the site offers

Over time I added more tools around that core meter, so most common "how loud is this" questions have a dedicated page:

Alongside the tools I write guides that explain what the numbers mean in plain language, because a reading of "72 dB" is useless if you do not know whether that is safe or how long you can be around it. The guides reference published standards from OSHA, NIOSH and the WHO.

Being honest about accuracy

This is not a calibrated instrument and I never claim it is. Your laptop or phone microphone is not a measurement-grade sensor, and absolute readings can drift by several decibels from one device to the next. Where it works well is relative comparison: is this room quieter than that one, is the fan making a real difference, is my recording space acceptable. For anything that has to hold up in a workplace audit, a legal matter, or a medical context, you need a proper calibrated meter, and I say so clearly on the accuracy and methodology pages.

Your privacy

Your audio never leaves your device. There is no server receiving the microphone stream; the site is static files served from a CDN. You can confirm this yourself by opening your browser's Network tab while measuring and watching for outbound audio requests, of which there are none. I use Google Analytics to see which pages are useful, and nothing more. The full details are in the privacy policy.

Get in touch

I read everything that comes in. You can reach me directly at info@one2infinite.com, or use hello@onlinesoundmeter.com for general questions about the tool. Bug reports, corrections and feature ideas are all welcome - see the contact page for the best way to reach me.

SoundMeter is an independent project maintained by Pankaj. It is not affiliated with any hardware manufacturer, acoustic consultancy or regulatory body, and all guidance is based on publicly available standards (OSHA, NIOSH, WHO) and my own testing.