Yes, Felix; "loud" is subjective. If your next door neighbor complains, it is too loud, no matter what your calibrated instrument reads. At the muzzle, or 50 yards away.Let me try to keep this short: Unlike with firearms, measurements that are captured 1 meter off the ground and 1 meter to the side of the muzzle are not very useful with airguns. Not unless the point is to develop a device, to protect the hearing of the shooter (more likely with big bore airguns, or those exceeding 100 FPE).Most airguns shooters care about how loud their airguns are, based on the perceptions of their neighbors; or their own family members even closer by. Neither of the latter care about actual dB. They only care about being disturbed by the noise; or not. Thus, to be useful to the majority of airgun shooters (who should speak up, if I am misappropriating them) want a system of sound measurement that more closely reflects backyard shooting concerns, than hearing protection.I am not suggesting that instrumented measurements have no place. I am suggesting that the industry standards do not apply, and that new ones need to be developed. Such standards need to reflect the subjective needs of not even the airgun shooters themselves, but their disinterested neighbors. No easy task. One that hinges on subjectivity, not instrument calibration. I would start the process by measuring the airgun sound at the distance neighbors ears are likely to be. As there is no standard for that, it will have to include multiple distances. With and without fences and hedges in between.Not only does radiated sound level drop off by the inverse square rule, higher frequencies are naturally more attenuated than lower ones. So, any meaningful measurement system and standard must take these factors into account. Sound quality matters as much as sound pressure.Who gets to decide what measurement methods and standards are appropriate? The first person or team to develop a sensible system... Else, I vote for a free-for-all, allowing people to explain their system. If it makes sense it likely will be adopted. If it does not make sense, it will be rejected... Nobody is forcing anyone to abide by a given measurement system; except for the adherents to the "hearing safe" methodology used for firearm sound evaluation
An instrument that can capture and report sound quality objectively would be invaluable: The sound of someone stepping on a twig in my backyard is much more attention grabbing, than a much louder car cruising swiftly by. Ditto for anything that sounds like a gunshot, regardless of the actual dB.
You're talking about taking into account frequency along with loudness, in particular those that stand out to human ears...which is exactly what the 'A' mode weighting of a db meter does.
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