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Jan 15 / Ozymandias

Next-gen Console Sound Levels Measured

Looks like a guy with all three consoles took some measurements of sound output of all the next-gen consoles with an SPL meter. The results were interesting to me as they don't have the 360 as the loudest (as conventional wisdom seems to say). I certainly wouldn't point to this as being definitive as there are all sort of things that can make taking a reading difficult. The different sizes of the enclosures for each console is a big one as reflected noise can throw off the readings. But hopefully this'll spark some more measurements out there!

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  • http://www.rossgilmore.com r0ssta

    Pretty interesting.. I can barely hear my Wii, while my 360 is very loud.. makes me want to try the test as well!

  • http://www.klio.org/marks/ Mike Kozlowski

    When measurements are that far at odds with unambiguous direct observation, the question isn’t "Has everyone been wrong all the time?" but "How did this guy *** up the measurements?"

    If your data show the Wii as louder than the 360, your data are wrong.

  • vittala

    Yea, I still find the 360 way too loud. One of the reasons I have not picked up a HD-DVD add on is I find the 360 a bit loud to watch movies with.

  • Misframed

    Well… I love my 360 but my one complaint would be that it is frickin’ loud.

    That’s interesting to see that the 360 was not the loudest…

  • Blackfish95

    Regardless of comparison, my 360 is too friggin’ loud.  Sometimes it’s the disk, sometimes the fan.  The disk can be the worst.  I think some of the blame can fall on the game developer…

    IE. sometimes in Rainbow Six Las Vegas multiplayer, it slows the disk down (my best guess as to what’s happening) as it doesn’t need to read the level anymore.  Certain speeds make the thing vibrate like MAD.

  • Aedrin

    "If your data show the Wii as louder than the 360, your data are wrong."

    My impression was that the Wii had the same loading noise as the Gamecube while moving the laser. But I didn’t get to play much, and I only noticed it while starting it up. Afterwards I didn’t notice it anymore.

    But I think the dreamcast can be quite loud too and I got used to that.

    I think this is one of those non issues. If you put it in the right place you will hardly notice any sound coming from the console itself. Maybe when there is no sound but most games don’t have much of that.

  • Dave

    Having used the 360 with the HD-DVD add on, I found that the sound isn’t nearly as loud as when you are playing games. Actually, you can hardly hear it at all. So, if you are resisting buying it because of noise during movies, find another reason. Also, Batman Begins in 1080p is sick.

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  • Matt

    The 360′s drive is way too loud in comparison to my PS3. I wish I could play games driectly from my HD-DVD 360 drive since that is nice and quiet.

  • Jason Cross

    I don’t dig the article. He used a TERRIBLE SPL meter, the photo shows the switch set to C-weighting, and the methodology is flawed.

    Great idea, but it needs to be done a little more carefully.

  • http://www.slashcry.com dozenz

    "Having used the 360 with the HD-DVD add on, I found that the sound isn’t nearly as loud as when you are playing games. Actually, you can hardly hear it at all. So, if you are resisting buying it because of noise during movies, find another reason. Also, Batman Begins in 1080p is sick."

    If it’s as loud as the 360 when playing movies than I’ll pass.  It is the cheapest option for me to upgrade to HD movies but it’ll wind up being too annoying.  I’ll wait for a cheaper standalone player (after the format war is over too) a few years from now.

  • http://www.satori.org madsax

    I definitely agree about the noise coming out of the Wii.  While in general it seems very quiet, when the head seeks across the disc it goes BANG BANG BANG.  Gah!  Sounds like a floppy disc seek from times long past ;)

  • FleetingThought

    Well, I suspect there are manufacturer variations that render any such comparison moot.  My first 360 (died in 4 days) was super-loud, like an airplane taking off; my 2nd is still loud, but a lot quieter. My PS3 is both cooler, and quieter, even when the fan kicks in. A friend’s PS3 however runs hot, and he says it’s louder than his 360. So, who knows?  For me though, I’d never play a movie with a high-quality soundtrack on my 360… and probably not on my PS3, either, it’s still loud enough to be noticeable during quiet passages, which my Sony DVD player has never been. :)

  • Techni

    They said they measured Wii’s hard drive. No one has realized yet that Wii does not have one?