Measurement And Instrumentation Laboratory

EEE 2212
Group No- 06

Volume Unit Meter

Project Done By
Mushfikur Rahman Ashik Khan (20200105188)
Asif Shahriar Khan (20200105189)
MD. Jubaer Alam (20200105190)
MD. Khalid Sultan (20200105191)
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Objectives
1. Understanding how a electret microphones works
2. Designing a high pass filter for reducing noise
3. Designing a amplification stage for the input wave
4. Understanding internal circuit of LM3914 to get the output of the
sound intensity

Introduction
A VU or volume unit meter is one kind of an audio metering device.
This meter is mainly designed to measure the volume of an audio signal
visually. In audio equipment, this device displays the level of a signal
produced by input sound. It is also used to avoid overloading, distortion,
and noise of a sound signal.

Equipments
1. Op-amp (LM358)
2. IC LM3914 (10 Bit Comparator)
3. Electret Mic / Condenser Mic
4. Resistors- 100KΩ (2 pieces) , 1KΩ (3 pieces) , 10KΩ (1 Piece)
5. POT (50KΩ)
6. Capacitors- 100nF (2 pieces) , 1000uF (2 pieces)
7. LEDs (10 pieces)
8. Battery (3.7V-2 pieces)
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Circuit Diagram

Fig 1.1: VU meter using LM358 and LM3914

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Working Principle
1. Removing Noise Using High Pass Filter
The Electret microphone is a transducer (device that converts an energy
source to another) that converts sound into electrical signals. This MIC
is very sensitive to sound and also to environmental noises. If certain
measures are not taken the amplifier will amplify noise along with the
music which is totally undesirable. So, we are going to filter out the
noises using High Pass Filter. The filter here is a passive R-C filter.

Fig 1.2: A High Pass filter

The Cut Off frequency of a high pass filter can be found by formula,

F = 1/ (2πRC). Now for values of R =100KΩ, C = 100nF,

F=1/(2*π*100*103*10*10-9)=16Hz

So,we will have a Cut Off frequency around 16Hz, which only allows
signals having frequency higher than 16Hz, to appear at the output.
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2. Amplification of Sound Signals

After removing the noise element, signals are fed to Op-amp LM358 for
amplification. Here, we are going to use the op-amp as a negative
feedback amplifier to amplify the low magnitude signal from MIC and
bring them to a level where they can be taken by the LM3914.

Fig 1.3: LM358 in Negative Feedback Connection

The formula for output voltage is,

Vout = Vin ((R1+R2)/R2). With this formula we can choose the gain of
the amplifier.With the MIC signals at µVolts, we cannot feed it directly
to the voltmeter for reading, as it will be practically impossible for the
voltmeter to pick these low voltages. With the op-amp having a gain of
100, we can amplify the signals from MIC, and further feed it to the
Voltmeter.
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3. Visual Representations of Sound Intensity Using LEDs

Now we have filtered and amplified the audio signal. This filtered
amplified audio signal from the op-amp is given to the LM3914 for
measuring the strength of the audio signal. LM3914 is a chip which
drives 10 LEDs based on intensity of sound/voltage. The IC provides
decimal outputs in the form of LED lighting based on the value of input
voltage. The maximum measuring input voltage varies depending on
reference voltage and supply voltage.

LM3914 chip has many features. But here we only discuss the features
which help us in construction of VOLTMETER.

LM3914 is a 10 stage voltmeter that means it shows variations in 10 bit

mode. The chip senses the measuring input voltage as a parameter and
compares it with reference. Say we choose a reference of V, now
whenever the measuring input voltage rises by V/10, we have a LED of
higher value glowing. For instance, if we give V/10, LED 1 will glow, if
we give 2V/10 LED 2 will glow, if we give 8V/10, LED 8 will glow. So
greater the music volume, more the visual LED representation (more
LED glows).

How LM3914 IC Works in the Circuit

LM3914 is basically a combination of 10 comparators. Each comparator
is an op-amp, gaining reference voltage at its negative terminal.
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Fig 1.4: LM3914 BLOCK DIAGRAM

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Reference value should be chosen, based on maximum measuring

value. There is a problem with resistance division based voltage
reference, that it is somewhat dependent on supply voltage. So we have
connected a 50KΩ POT as shown in circuit diagram (Fig 1.1). With the
POT, we can adjust the reference value, depending on our convenience.

(The LM3914 in the project is built in BAR mode, That’s why all the
LEDs will be turned on linearly/serially)

Summing Up
In a nutshell, when there is sound, the MIC generates voltages
representing the magnitude of those sound waves. These signals from
MIC are filtered by R-C filter. The filtered signals are fed to op-amp
LM358 for amplification. These filtered and amplified MIC signals are
given to the LM3914. The LM3914 comparator acts as a voltmeter that
glows the LEDs according to the strength to the given signal. Hence we
have a sound measuring instrument, particularly known as VOLUME
METER.

The End