Schematic Diagram

This is a one chip sound level meter that can be use for displaying sound level of an amplifier or simply the sound level from a microphone.The heart of the circuit is IC LM 3915 Audio level IC.Even though it is a stand alone IC , a peak detector based on Transistor BC 558 and diode 1N4001 is also included for better performance.

Supply voltage can be from 3V to 20V.The input is set for audio line voltage (1V peak to peak) and has a max input voltage of 1.3V. To make the circuit use a moving dot display instead of bar graph display,Pin 9 can be should be disconnected from +V.

Part List

C1 2.2uF 25V Electrolytic Capacitor
C2, C3 0.1uF Ceramic Disc Capacitor
R1, R3 1K 1/4W Resistor
R2 10K 1/4W Resistor
R4 100K 1/4W Resistor
R5 1M 1/4W Resistor
D1 1N4001 Silicon Diode
Q1 BC 558 PNP Transistor
LED1-LED10 Standard LED or LED Array
U1 LM3915 Audio Level IC
MISC Board, Wire, Socket For U1