Are you struggling with noisy venues?
Help for people struggling with noisy restaurants, bars and cafés
We all know it can be a struggle to hear in venues like restaurants, bars and cafés. Even people without, or with only a mild case of hearing loss profess that it is a real struggle to follow a conversation in some venues.
Now there’s an app that can help you seek out venues more suitable to your level of hearing.
SoundPrint let’s you evaluate and find quiet venues
SoundPrint is an app that allows you to search venues around you and ranks them based on noise levels, so you can seek out a venue with lower ambient noise, which could provide a more pleasant experience for you and your friends.
Using the search function, you can filter based on distance and sound level. So you could look for places within a 5 km radius with a quiet or moderate sound level ranking.
The search function gives you the following levels of detail to filter on:
- Distance: .5km, 1km, 5km, 15km, 25km, 50km.
- Order by: Closest, Quietest to Loudest, Loudest to Quietest
- Sound Level (dBA): Quiet (≤70), Moderate (71-75), Loud (76-80), Very Loud (≥81)
- Categories: All, Restaurants, Nightlife, Coffee/Tea, Retailers, Arenas, Gyms, Parks and Libraries, Other.
You can even filter on FourSquare ratings ensuring you select a venue with at least a modest level of service and quality.
The app is relatively new to the Australian market but it is great to see a few venues already listed and ranked in Brisbane.
Soundcheck a venue
You can also use the app to perform a soundcheck at a restaurant, café or bar. In fact, SoundPrint encourages you to do this every time you visit a venue—even if it has already been soundchecked—to ensure the app gets as much information as possible about sound levels at different times and with varying amounts of patrons.
It is pretty simple to run a soundcheck with the app, and the app guides you through the steps. You can then provide further information like time and how busy the venue was to give context to your measurement.
We think this app is a great tool and could be helpful for so many people—not just those with hearing loss.
Download the app today and get sound checking. You’ll help the hard of hearing community around you and improve their experiences.
