For most consumer and HVAC equipment (1–8 Sone range), a verified empirical relationship developed by acoustic engineers at the University of Salford and adapted by ASHRAE is:
For sources in a diffuse field (typical room): sone to dba verified
A: Partially. iPhone apps (like NIOSH SLM) are surprisingly accurate for dBA above 40 dB. Android phones vary wildly. You can verify relative differences, but absolute calibration is poor without external hardware. For most consumer and HVAC equipment (1–8 Sone
To perform a technically verified conversion, you must understand the intermediary unit: the . sone to dba verified