Monday, January 30, 2012

Hillsong Sound Level

My new 2012 hobby is to discover the noisiest Church in town. So I kicked off with Hillsong last night. They are clearly in the championship league. The sound level frequently exceeded 110 decibels, and hit a top reading of 116.6 decibels. But I was seated in the back row -- so looking at the sound sources, and applying the inverse square law, it is safe to say that many congregants were exposed to well over 120 decibels. What does this mean? Firstly, the sound level is staggering. It is (at times) louder than a 747 passenger jet on take-off. Damage to one's hearing may occur within seconds. It is several hundred times the limit in draft provincial legislation PN14. OBSERVATION: My interest here is not a serious one -- it's just a fun new hobby. Let me not discourage anyone from attending Hillsong -- but do take ear-plugs along to avoid near-certain damage to your ears. (I did an IEC 61672 Class 2 measurement with acoustic C-weighting. My calculated maximum for Hillsong is 122.6 decibels). See also Hillsong Cape Town.

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