No thats good info but if a design has a 3915 can I use a 3914 instead or will that not work like for example this circuit here **broken link removed**
The 3915 is internally set up to respond in decibels...proportionally larger steps. The 3914 has all steps equal (voltage wise). The lights will come on, but they won't mean the same thing. The 3915 was designed to fit a VU meter because that's what is useful in a sound situation. Use the right chip or you will be displaying almost useless information.