Sound sensor sensitivity

Hi!

I have a sound sensor like this:

So I guess the KY-037 or the KY-038.

I wired it and am reading analog out.

It reads allright, when I snap my fingers, shout or clap, the analog value shoots up from ~22 to between ~800 - 1023. However, whenever the room is silent, or even when I'm speaking on normal volume, the value hovers around ~22.

So the difference between speaking (normal value) or silence is 0.

I want to be able to tell the difference between those (I'm not interested in registering shouts or claps :wink:

Is there a way to increase the sensitivity? I'm aware of the potentiometer, but I read it only influences D0, not A0

jobjan:
Hi!

I have a sound sensor like this:

So I guess the KY-037 or the KY-038.

I wired it and am reading analog out.

It reads allright, when I snap my fingers, shout or clap, the analog value shoots up from ~22 to between ~800 - 1023. However, whenever the room is silent, or even when I'm speaking on normal volume, the value hovers around ~22.

So the difference between speaking (normal value) or silence is 0.

I want to be able to tell the difference between those (I'm not interested in registering shouts or claps :wink:

Is there a way to increase the sensitivity? I'm aware of the potentiometer, but I read it only influences D0, not A0

I don't understand. Are not able to tell the difference between 0 and 22?

Your room will never be zero sound as long as someone is breathing in the room or the AC or heating system is running, or there is sound outside the room. Only if the room is specifically designed and built to be sound proof.

Paul

The difference is 0, not the reading.

Have you adjusted the sensitivity?

MarkT:
The difference is 0, not the reading.

Have you adjusted the sensitivity?

That's correct, thanks for clarifying :slight_smile:
Yes I have. Doesn't make a difference.

@Paul, thanks for your reply, let me know if it is still unclear: There is no difference in output during silence <> speaking at normal value. It's both around ~22. I can tell I wired the sensor correctly, because it does give a different output when I shout or clap.

Hope I clarified enough, let me know if it's still unclear :slight_smile:

The analog output is directly off the electret microphone load resistor. NO amplification what soever. IF you need an amplified audio, you will have to provide it.

If you only want to know if the audio is below the set limit or above the set limit, use the digital output pin and adjust the sensitivity pot.

Your application seems to only want the limit information, so use that pin and change your program to digital input on the pin.

Paul

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Thanks for the advice @Paul! I prefer the analog output though, because:

  1. It allows me to easier tweak the limit value
  2. I expect that when there is no difference in analog output between talking & silence, there will hardly be a difference in digital output either, making it difficult if not impossible to set the pot to the correct value.

Open questions

  • Any advice on how to provide amplified sounds? Or where can I find more information about that?
  • Are there more sensitive sound sensors for Arduino? What are name / typenumber or where can I buy?
  • Could there be another way to improve sensitivity in order to better tell the difference between silence <> normal talking
1 Like

jobjan:
Thanks for the advice @Paul! I prefer the analog output though, because:

  1. It allows me to easier tweak the limit value
  2. I expect that when there is no difference in analog output between talking & silence, there will hardly be a difference in digital output either, making it difficult if not impossible to set the pot to the correct value.

Open questions

  • Any advice on how to provide amplified sounds? Or where can I find more information about that?
  • Are there more sensitive sound sensors for Arduino? What are name / typenumber or where can I buy?
  • Could there be another way to improve sensitivity in order to better tell the difference between silence <> normal talking

An AC coupled opamp would certainly give you amplified sound.

The electret mike is probably the most sensitive we can afford.

Do you actually understand that normal talking has lots of silence?

Paul

1 Like