Larson Davis Measures Guinness World Record for Crowd Noise at Arrowhead Stadium

October 16, 2013, Farmington Hills, MI -Larson Davis, a Division of PCB Piezotronics, announced earlier that it supplied noise monitoring equipment to measure crowd noise at the Kansas City Chiefs outdoor stadium. This event took place in week 6 of the 2013 NFL season with the Kansas City Chiefs playing the Oakland Raiders. The crowd noise measured in at 137.5 decibels and broke the Guinness World Record for the loudest crowd noise at an outdoor stadium. Larson Davis Model 831 Sound Level Meter was used to take the measurement.

On Friday, October 11, Larson Davis received a call from the Chiefs organization requesting assistance in making the crowd noise measurements during their upcoming game. The Chiefs main objective was measurement accuracy, therefore the Model 831 was the most appropriate choice for the task given its engineering sophistication and state-of-the-art technical attributes. It was also Larson Davis sound level meters that recorded the World Record in Seattle just a month earlier. The Chiefs primary goal was to break the Guinness World Record and as such to ensure measurement accuracy that’s required to capture the roar of the crowd during their attempt. The Model 831 features a PCB class 1 microphone, capable of sampling at 51.2 KHz, with a peak rise time of 30 microseconds with simultaneous recording of the noise in wave format.

Zach Aaron, the Chief’s Audio Engineer said “Measuring the world record with the Larson Davis 831 sound level meter was critical to our success. The 831 had the specifications required to accurately capture the sound in this very loud and transient environment. This meter was also very easy to use while working under pressure in an environment like Arrowhead on game day." Zach added “The response time that Larson Davis provided after our initial call and the technical support available was exactly what we needed to make this event a success and to show the world whose fans are the loudest!”

Two new Model 831 sound level meters were shipped the same Friday that the request for assistance from the Chiefs came in, and system training was conducted the next day so that the Chiefs organization was prepared on Sunday to use the equipment to measure the crowd noise in their attempt to break the world record. Arrowhead Stadium marked this historic victory as the Sound Level Meter measured the peak crowd noise at 137.5 decibels, eclipsing Seattle’s previous record of 136.6. The noise level captured at the game is similar to standing 100 ft away from a jet engine during take-off.

For this big event Guinness sent the same representative that was present when Seattle broke its record in September. “In the fourth quarter, as the Chiefs fans were celebrating their victory, all of the sudden it peaked at 137.5 decibels,” Philip Robertson, the Guinness World Record adjudicator noted. “They screamed for an incredibly long time, probably longer than what I heard in Seattle.”

Kansas City Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt was there to celebrate the record after the game. "Congratulations to our incredible fans at Arrowhead today, who set a new Guinness World Record," Hunt said. "Not only were they loud, but they knew when to be loud and helped propel their Chiefs to victory. They proved what we've known for a long time - Chiefs fans are the best and loudest in the NFL."

“While that noise level may sound like an unpleasant experience to many people, the Chief fans have been waiting for a long time to have something to cheer that loud about,” said Jeff Williams, Director of Sales and Marketing at Larson Davis. “It was double the victory for the Chiefs that day – breaking the world record AND leading the NFL 6-0,” he added.

For more information, click here: http://www.larsondavis.com/Stadium_Crowd_Noise_Monitoring.htm