Zio Loudness Sensor
Measures ambient noise level. Electret microphone with ATtiny85 MCU provides raw loudness values (0-1023) over I2C.
Say it to PAL
“Tell me when it gets loud.”
The code PAL writes
p.onSensorChange('zio-loudness', 'loudness', (level) => {
if (level > 700) p.notify('Loud noise detected! Level: ' + level);
});
await p.waitUntilStopped();“Keep a log of how loud it is.”
The code PAL writes
const level = await p.read('zio-loudness', 'loudness');
p.log('Noise level: ' + level + '/1023');When to pick it
Use for detecting ambient noise levels, sound-reactive effects, or noise monitoring.
Good to know
- Reads amplitude, not frequency — cannot distinguish between sounds.
- Electret microphone is omnidirectional. Picks up all ambient noise equally.
About it
The Zio Loudness Sensor uses an electret microphone and ATtiny85 MCU to measure ambient sound levels. The MCU samples the analog microphone signal and provides a 10-bit ADC reading (0-1023) over I2C. Higher values indicate louder environments. Useful for noise monitoring, sound-reactive displays, and noise-triggered automation. Not a precision dB meter, but effective for relative loudness detection.
Where to buy
Facts
Tested
It is in our catalog, but nobody has checked it on a real board. It may not work yet. Its driver is written, but it has not been tested on hardware yet.
I2C address
The Zio Loudness Sensor answers at I2C address 0x38. Whether the address can be changed is not recorded in this catalog.
Current
5 mA
The catalog lists a typical draw of 5 mA for the Zio Loudness, copied from the maker’s description and not measured by Palpable.
Board size
36.48 × 36.48 mm
The Zio Loudness board measures 36.48 × 36.48 mm and stands 6.1 mm tall with its parts. It has 4 mounting holes. These dimensions are from the maker’s mechanical drawing.
Chip
ATtiny85
Its microcontroller is the Microchip ATtiny85.
Free to reuse
Every fact here is open data under CC BY 4.0. Copy it into your own docs or code, and credit Palpable. Download it
This record was last changed on October 6, 2026.