Apps that Display First Crack Visually?

Discuss roast levels and profiles for espresso, equipment for roasting coffee.
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drgary
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#1: Post by drgary »

I just saw a post in another thread that reminded me that it can be hard to hear first and second crack.
cuppajoe wrote:The main benefit of the Quest for me is the ability to hear cracks. As a long time tinnitus sufferer, hearing the cracks with the fluid bed was difficult and slightly better with the Behmor.
Sometimes the roaster is loud, the listener (like me) is hard of hearing, or both. Awhile back yakster (Chris) showed me an app on his smartphone that displayed those sounds in real time as spikes. This was about three years ago. Can anyone recommend a low cost or free app that will work on smartphones, including recent iPhones? Thanks for listening! :roll:
Gary
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yakster
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#2: Post by yakster »

I'll have to see what I can find. I was using a Tricorder app on an old Android phone that was free and had a graphical display of audio inputs, but I'm not sure it's still available.

Update: after a quick search an app called Decibel 10th, available for both IOS and Android, looks promising. It has digital readouts, a representation of an analog meter, and a time-scale waveform readout that should give a graphical representation of the noises of roasting to help distinguish first crack. I won't make any representations on how accurate the dB (decibel) readings are compared to a professional meter but this should work even if it's just displaying relative audio measurements.
-Chris

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Marcelnl
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#3: Post by Marcelnl »

A FFT analysis tool may show you a waterfall plot which may be easier to recognize than just spikes, but I'm not sure if a smart phone plus app that can manage that ...just had a quick look and found some FFT apps for ipad but none seem to be able to show a waterfall plot, yet FFT may be good enough...just give it a try if available for iphone too.
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mfortin
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#4: Post by mfortin »

You may want to have a look at this website to see if they have what you are looking for: https://www.faberacoustical.com/
Possibly Signal Scope application.
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yakster
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#5: Post by yakster »

Here's a screenshot of the Decibel 10th app take in a small, loud communication shelter with lots of screaming fan noise. The app is free, ad sponsored (I trimmed the add from the image below).

-Chris

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drgary (original poster)
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#6: Post by drgary (original poster) »

I've got that app. When I crinkle paper next to my iPhone it shows spikes. I'll have to try it next time I roast.
Gary
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JojoS
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#7: Post by JojoS »

Cool app! I have to give it a try on my next roast with the Behmor 1600. Will it work better with a clip on type bluetooth device? I don't really want my smartphone to be too close to a hot roaster.

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drgary (original poster)
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#8: Post by drgary (original poster) »

You shouldn't need to be closer than you would put your ear. I would try that first. I've used the app to measure the sound level in noisy restaurants.
Gary
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mathof
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#9: Post by mathof »

Decibel 10th may well be the solution for me too. It is notoriously difficult to hear first crack on the Gene Café that I use, compounded by my poor hearing. I'll give it a go and report back. My thanks to those who have been participating in this thread.

Matt

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FotonDrv
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#10: Post by FotonDrv »

Thanks for these suggestions. My ears have not been so great since cannon and machineguns gave me that ring back in '67.
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