So, referencing the chart, the Glowforge at 75dB is just over 1/3rd as loud as a vacuum cleaner, assuming everybody has the same vacuum cleaner as a reference. 
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Isn’t it 75/80 as loud? Yes the power might be a third but we don’t hear power linearly. That is why a logarithmic decibel scale is used.
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not quite. loudness is, as that implies, subjective. 10dB is roughly equivalent to doubling.
when it comes to speakers and audio, it’s generally suggested that a 6dB increase ups the loudness by about half. assuming an average of five here, a bit less, but for ease of math lets say that the laser is roughly 67% as loud, but given that there are peaks of 90 in there (i know, i know, moving around), potentially quite a bit louder on occasion.
and of course, this is without the filter running; i’m not sure there’s been any suggestion anywhere about how the filter affects the overall sound (it might not make that much of a difference; i guess it depends on the extent to which glowforge has to add additional boosters to go through the filters).
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Just pointing out the inherent flaw in saying “the glowforge is about as loud as a vacuum cleaner”.
Fussing over the math is pointless when the perceived noise level a vacuum cleaner makes is subjective and varies across makes and models.
Not to mention @henryhbk’s meter (app) is a measurement of an actual pressure wave hitting a transducer, not a perceived loudness level.
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Awesome @henryhbk! Thanks for the pajama-lab exercise.
dB(a) is the correct way to measure.
This sucker is loud. Need to adjust expectations accordingly. Would be interesting to get user feedback from the first filter users out there.
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Well actually there is so little low frequency that dbc likely is identical. As a former sound engineer a long, long time ago, some things it makes a huge difference (like when I worked a few shows for the Kodo drummers, man plaster was raining down, but A vs C was like 20-30db different… In that case about half the sound was probably perceived by your colon rather than your ear drums…
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Thank you
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The sound of the Glowforge was not something I considered when I made my purchase. I envisioned it in an office or public room.I quickly learned in the forum that sound was something I had to consider, especially as I looked at YouTube videos on laser cutting, exhaust and air assist. As the first few months of the fall of 2015 gave way to the new year of 2016, I had learned enough to understand that smell and sound were things to consider in placement. There are objective physics and chemistry here, but there is also a lot of subjective experience.
At BAMF I talked to a lot of people about the smell and the noise and whenever I discuss it with people, especially asking them what is their use case and potential location, these are very practical issues. So asking how to mitigate, understanding the challenges of dealing with sound and smell, and making practical decisions are part of the conversation.
Until we have some data on the Glowforge filter, there is a lot of FUD to deal with. Kind of hard to prepare for smell and sound without it.
I note that on the Glowforge FAQ, it does not discuss sound or smell. Here is the text from the front page regarding the air filter:
The unique Glowforge Air Filter lets you put the Glowforge anywhere, no matter what material you’re cutting. It snaps right under the Glowforge and makes it just 7" taller. It’s $750. Alternately, you can use the Basic model near a window with the included duct.
The smell doesn’t bother me at all and never did, except immediately after opening after a natural rubber engrave. I do have people who visit and they note the scent of Glowforge pretty quickly. I vent out a window. No one has had to leave the room because of the smell yet, and I have some pretty sensitive family members. The sound seems to not be a big issue, except that it makes me talk louder and I talk very loud, using my preaching voice out of habbit. So they tell me to speak more softly.
But how this would work in an open area in a house where people might be watching TV or cooking dinner? Could be interesting. As to sound, I liken it to my KitchenAid mixer. You don’t mind it working, but you are relieved when it stops.
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FWIW, I’m highly sensitive - even brief exposure to perfumes and such can be migraine triggers for me. With that said, the only time that the smell from the GF really bothers me is if I am doing an extended period (i.e - several hours) of leather cutting. Even so, I’m fine after a quick break outside.
The sound level is similar to that of a vacuum cleaner. One of my dogs is terrified of the vacuum (or any other loud machinery) and even she has grown comfortable being in the same room as the GF when it’s running. She still hides from the vacuum, though 
The only time we’ve had a noise issue with the GF was when hubby decided to watch a movie on his computer (which sits right next to the GF) while I was using it. Even with headphones, the laser was too loud for him to sit right beside it and watch a movie … so he simply went to another room.
Again, I’m highly sensitive to sound and scent, so I’m looking forward to my pro w/filter in hopes that both factors will improve. Until then, the PRU vented out the window is not too loud or smelly for my tolerance level. YMMV, but I do tend to be fairly wimpy on both counts, and neither have been especially bothersome for me.
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oh imagine if you had to push the glow forge around to cut and engrave. your dog would never regain her sanity.
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Dogs (at least mine) are weird. They are freaked out by the vacuum, yet I have to shoo them out of the way when cutting the grass, or blowing snow. The Glowforge sounds like a vac, but doesn’t bother them a bit.
Perhaps they hate the vacuum because it captures a bit of them each time it runs. Actually, a whole lot of them via their hair (I have Golden Retrievers). It might be like the superstitious folks that think a photo captures a bit of their soul.
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instead you just collect another sweater.
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Perhaps the vacuum has a loud ultrasonic component that you can’t hear but the dog can.
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The vacuum is seen as much more threatening because it’s a moving, snarling preditor. It’s at eye level and from a dog’s perspective the vacuums only job is to chase the dog around the house. It can also be like the learned behavior of getting really worked up over the mailman. Some dogs take on the threatening vacuum by barking at it or jumping at it and us humans thinks it’s cute. As the dog barks or reacts to the vacuum we laugh and give positive reinforcement to the behavior. Then eventually as the dog takes on the scary vacuum, the dog wins because the vacuum is silenced and put away. From the dog’s perspective he saved his humans from a pretty evil monster and he drove it away 
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My pro machine that I am so happy to finally have is as loud as my vacuum! It actually doesn’t bother me I mean with 5 kids it’s like a noise buffer 
however, my husband is annoyed with it lol he keeps trying to have conversations with me and I can’t hear him so he’s pretty much talking to himself, poor guy! I will say this will be the last time I run it past 10 pm I am worried our neighbor might complain, Not neighbors… just the one lol. He called the police on our construction workers because he thought they were stealing his power and called the city about us having an RV in our RV parking… he’s a fun guy!
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Tell him turnabout is fair play. Guys are often accused of not “hearing” their wives 
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Women have the ability to multitask, whilst men are blessed with selective hearing.
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You know, I thought the insulated duct sound reduction claims were probably exaggerated… but nope. it’s way quieter. Strong recommendation, can’t believe it took me this long to do it.
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