[sdiy] [SDIY] Measuring the sound levels from a microphone using an ESP32 board

[David G Dixon]

I've used the circuit in Figure 6 in lots of places, in my own experiments
and in commercial circuits.  It works very well.

  _____  

From: Synth-diy [mailto:synth-diy-bounces at synth-diy.org] On Behalf Of Spiros
Makris
Sent: Monday, July 06, 2020 7:01 AM
To: synth-diy mailing list
Subject: Re: [sdiy] [SDIY] Measuring the sound levels from a microphone
using an ESP32 board


I have been studying some of the circuits there. I'm leaning towards those
on figure 6-6A, but I will use the lm324 opamp instead (to get an output
down to 0V), followed by a simple LPF (so basically increase C1 on the
schematic shown below), making a very simple envelope follower. Taking the
average of that is an easy task and doesn't need much speed.  
The peak detection circuit will catch sudden noises better, though. Perhaps
I could employ both, for sustained and impulsive noises, respectively.

image.png


On Mon, Jul 6, 2020 at 2:58 PM Richie Burnett <rburnett at richieburnett.co.uk>
wrote:


Do the calculations digitally on the audio data as Tom said, if your micro
is up to the job.

If you have to use an analogue circuit approach because the micro isn't fast
enough or draws too much current, then take a look here... 

https://sound-au.com/appnotes/an001.htm

This excellent web page shows many precision rectifier circuits that go a
long way towards eliminating the dead band that you otherwise get using just
a single rectifier diode.

Good luck with your project! 

-Richie,


Sent from my Xperia SP on O2

---- Tom Wiltshire wrote ----

>I'd sample the incoming audio directly at a good rate (48KHz maybe) and
then do any processing on the data. Much easier to do math inside the uP,
rather than outside in analog circuitry.
>
>As to what algorithm you use to measure sound level, there are an absolute
ton of them, as I discovered when I looked into VU meters.
>
>Tom
>
>==================
>       Electric Druid
>Synth & Stompbox DIY
>==================
>
>
>
>> On 6 Jul 2020, at 09:18, Spiros Makris <spirosmakris92 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Hello list,
>> I have to develop a small metering application for a university project.
The idea behind it is to demonstrate the internet of things and how it can
be used to monitor the (audio) noise levels in a room, to be used in places
like studios, production facilities or even bars. 
>> The sensor used is a common electret type microphone, which is
preamplified using a current to voltage opamp stage, based on the OPA172
amplifier. The supply voltage is 3V (same as the microcontroller), but I
have the option of 5, 9 or even 12V if needed (only unipolar, though.) Then,
this amplified signal needs to be converted to a measurement that will
somehow relate to "how loud" the sounds are. Accurate SPL measurements are
not required (although they would sure be nice if this was a commercial
application). I may have access to a measuring microphone in order to
calibrate this when I'm done. I'm using an ESP32 board and its onboard ADC.
>> 
>> I first tried to use the RMS Arduino library, which measures an AC signal
coming into any analogue pin (no external processing, other than
prequalification). I couldn't get it to show any coherent readings - I'm not
sure if this is due to the sample number or sampling period I'm using.
Making an RMS calculation method from scratch wasn't much better either -
the variations I could detect were (or seemed to be) minuscule - definitely
not enough to be meaningful in this application.
>> I'm now trying a more analogue approach: the preamp signal is passed
through a Schottky diode, connected to a large capacitor. A transistor is
placed parallel to the capacitor, to be used as a reset switch (controlled
by the processor).
>> <image.png>
>> I have tried AC coupling and DC coupling the input - both methods work
(DC coupled version is shown). When the input goes over the threshold of the
diode, the capacitor is charged (with a pretty large current), and the droop
rate is small enough to measure it with the controller, then reset it, to
take another measurement. So far so good, but I need some way of eliminating
that 0.3V threshold.
>> <image.png>
>> The graph is taken from the AC coupled version (but is identical to the
DC-coupled one, save for some DC offset). The X-axis shows the input
amplitude and the Y-axis shows the capacitor's final voltage.
>> The ESP32 has adjustable attenuation for the ADC - the maximum range can
be adjusted to ~1.3V, ~2.5V and ~3.3V (approximate values). The resolution
is 12bits.
>> 
>> I thought of using a rail to rail opamp to make an ideal diode - however,
I only have a SOIC8 version of an OPA172 and no time to print a PCB. Perhaps
I can source adapters quickly though - is there a single opamp circuit that
could help me?
>> I can also mess around with the preamplifier stage, adjusting the dc bias
or gain. 
>> I'm kinda stuck. Any ideas?
>> 
>> 
>> 
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