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Everything Is Getting Louder

theatlantic.com

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Re: Everything Is Getting Louder

#41

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

htk wrote: post #20
abjKT26nO8 wrote: post #6

For me the trigger is TVs. I've been renting a flat in a poorer area for over a year now. The walls are a lot thinner than in other places. There are a lot of people today (mostly 50+ year-olds) who cannot fall to sleep without the TV on. My neighbor is one of them. And the thing with TVs is that the most irritating sound frequency they emit is the one that is barely audible when you're in the same room, but when you…

I use Howard Leight’s Max every night during sleep to keep my sanity.

I used to sleep with earplugs very nicely until I got an ear infection and the doctor told me to lay off them.

So I bought a bluetooth speaker that can play files off a SD card, and loaded it up with a 1 hour rain sounds file and play that in a loop as white noise when I sleep.

Feels better as my brain can focus on the soothing sounds of the rain instead of the thoughts that sometimes creep up in the silence of the earplugs.

Re: Everything Is Getting Louder

#43

Post by tempestn »

myroon5 wrote: post #39

The number of appliances that intentionally make noise and cannot be configured to stop making noise irks me. I never want microwaves, dishwashers, laundry machines, etc. to make any noise. Even worse is how many of them continue making noise until you unload them. I'd like to one day be able to run a load of laundry or dishes overnight without being constantly woken up.

Many newer washers and dryers can be configured not to make a noise at the end of the cycle. (Of course they will make some noise when running, but I assume that's not what you're talking about.)

Re: Everything Is Getting Louder

#44

Post by heymijo »

Waterluvian wrote: post #38
heymijo wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have neighbors and/or are you in an area with lawns that need maintenance? Suburbs in the midwest are inundated with noise: lawnmowers, leaf blowers, trimmers, and cars.

Our neighborhood is built into a protected maple forest. Beautiful 100foot maple trees. The side effect is that most back yards don't have grass. Mine is artificial. And front yards grow a shade grass that people cut irregularly. Leaf blowers just aren't a thing anywhere I've lived. Another random tidbit I thought about corded electric mower is not quiet but far quieter than my neighbours' mowers. They aren't bad!

That sounds very nice!

Re: Everything Is Getting Louder

#45

Post by jcrawfordor »

CalChris wrote: post #19

I have 3M PELTOR X5A Ear Muffs. I use them all the time, from getting a snooze while my car charges, to working in louder than necessary cafes, to getting decent if slightly uncomfortable sleep in a hotel. They're $31 delivered from Amazon. It amused the hell out of me that I had to click through an agreement saying I was a profession. I am a professional. Since these are 31db ear muffs, they're heavier than somethin…

A local industrial supply house like Grainger should have a range of Peltor products available in-store, so you'll get to try them on first. Look for any general industrial supply or specifically safety distributor in the warehouse-and-factories part of town, they're almost always happy to sell you one unit. Otherwise these kinds of things can be hard to find.

Otherwise McMaster-Carr is a mail/online-order industrial supply house, their online ordering is just a bit old-fashioned and they do more 'white-box' than name brand.

Re: Everything Is Getting Louder

#46

Post by tempestn »

btrettel wrote: post #12

Whoever decided to make cars beep when you lock or unlock them did humanity a disservice in my view. I don't think the small benefit of helping the driver locate their vehicle outweighs the shear number of times that has woken people up.

No beep is my preference as well, except as a workaround to another poor design choice: key fobs with a single button for both lock and unlock. My car has this, and it's extremely annoying without a beep. Often difficult to tell whether it registered a lock, especially in bright sun when it's easier to miss the signal lights flashing.

Re: Everything Is Getting Louder

#47

Post by crazygringo »

blunte wrote: post #26

Many people either cannot hear very low frequency sound, and they cannot understand what it’s like for those of us who can. The sounds don’t necessarily get louder at night - there are just fewer competing sounds to mask them. Earplugs and other sound barriers make it worse by filtering out higher frequency sounds, making the remaining VLF sounds seem louder. VLFs also penetrate earth, stone, concrete, etc. And becau…

I have never heard of this and have a hard time believing it but I’m curious.

What causes “low frequency sound” for you?

And why do you think other people can’t hear it? At low frequencies tones degrade into individual pulses but can still be heard/felt.

Noise-cancelling headphones actually work best with low frequencies like train and plane noise... do those help you?

Googling “VLF” only gives results about radio waves, none I can find referring to sound waves...

Re: Everything Is Getting Louder

#48

Post by tempestn »

heymijo wrote: post #36
Waterluvian wrote: post #32

My wife and I bought our first house this summer. We moved from a city of 300k to the suburbs of a city of 40k about 45 mins away. We thought through a ton of things when buying but the one thing that caught us by surprise was the change in noise level. It's quiet here. The only ambience is a train that runs through the middle of the city like 10-20 times a day but we are far enough away that this this wonderfully pe…

Do you have neighbors and/or are you in an area with lawns that need maintenance? Suburbs in the midwest are inundated with noise: lawnmowers, leaf blowers, trimmers, and cars.

One nice thing is that battery electric versions of all of those are now quite good and are becoming more popular. They still make some noise of course, but far, far less than gas powered versions. The lack of maintenance is great too. I could have a conversation at a normal speaking volume beside my lawnmower if I wanted. (Of course I would probably shut it off, since it's only a pull of a switch to start it again!)

Re: Everything Is Getting Louder

#49

Post by neilv »

btrettel wrote: post #12

Whoever decided to make cars beep when you lock or unlock them did humanity a disservice in my view. I don't think the small benefit of helping the driver locate their vehicle outweighs the shear number of times that has woken people up.

My apartment is bordered by around 100 housing units, and a large number of car parking spaces. Very few of the cars beep anymore, but a large number honk their horns whenever (loosely) anyone gets in or out of the vehicle.

To those of us with especially poorly-placed apartments, this gratuitous honking throughout the early morning, day, and night is always annoying, often jolting, and sometimes awakening.

I understand that this can be disabled by the user, if they realize it's a noise pollution problem, and know that they can disable theirs, and how.

One thing I don't understand is why the automakers would ever think this was a good idea.

Another thing I don't understand is why safety regulatory authorities would permit car horns (i.e., urgent emergency signaling devices) to be misused in this new manner.

Re: Everything Is Getting Louder

#50

Post by myroon5 »

tempestn wrote: post #43
myroon5 wrote: post #39

The number of appliances that intentionally make noise and cannot be configured to stop making noise irks me. I never want microwaves, dishwashers, laundry machines, etc. to make any noise. Even worse is how many of them continue making noise until you unload them. I'd like to one day be able to run a load of laundry or dishes overnight without being constantly woken up.

Many newer washers and dryers can be configured not to make a noise at the end of the cycle. (Of course they will make some noise when running, but I assume that's not what you're talking about.)

That would be perfect.. still unfortunate for renters stuck around less configurable appliance models
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