Everything Is Getting Louder • Hacker News Board

Re: Everything Is Getting Louder

#71

Post by grzm » Sun, Oct 13, 2019, 1:35 AM UTC

rootusrootus wrote: post #69

neilv wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 understa…

My Tesla honks when it locks and I'd prefer it did not. But if it were silent, I wouldn't know when it fails to lock because someone didn't fully close their door. I wish they'd do a Subaru beep instead. Or just send me a push notification on my phone. Having it honk in my garage every time I walk away gets a bit irritating.

That's the default on VWs as well. You can have that changed so it flashes the lights instead. I wonder if Tesla's have that option?

Re: Everything Is Getting Louder

#72

Post by austhrow743 » Sun, Oct 13, 2019, 1:38 AM UTC

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.

There's a special place in hell reserved for the people responsible for all of the beeping and LEDs in the modern home. An eternity of never ending beeps and blinking lights.

Re: Everything Is Getting Louder

#73

Post by clSTophEjUdRanu » Sun, Oct 13, 2019, 1:49 AM UTC

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.

You're woken up easily. Makes me wonder if my Subaru with loud pipes wakes people up.

Re: Everything Is Getting Louder

#74

Post by tomrod » Sun, Oct 13, 2019, 1:53 AM UTC

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #41

htk wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 e…

Check out the ambience apps. It's doing this, but very customizable!

Re: Everything Is Getting Louder

#75

Post by CalChris » Sun, Oct 13, 2019, 1:54 AM UTC

jcrawfordor wrote: post #45

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…

I've used McMaster but they don't carry the Peltor. However, Grainger does carry 3M Peltor and carries the X5B behind the ear model. It's $47.45 at Grainger and the X5A is $30.97 from Amazon delivered. Strange that it's not more available and less expensive.

An alternative is the Peltor Optime 105 Behind-the-Head Earmuff which is 28 dB (vs 31 dB) and readily available at $23.99 from Amazon delivered. It also weighs slightly less, 11.4 oz vs 12.6 oz.

zoro.com has the X5B for $40.83.

Re: Everything Is Getting Louder

#76

Post by jdietrich » Sun, Oct 13, 2019, 1:55 AM UTC

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…

As a trained sound engineer, I don't find this explanation wholly plausible. Human hearing is increasingly less sensitive at low frequencies; the threshold of hearing is typically around 60dB at 20Hz and 72dB at 10Hz. Anyone who has configured a large public address system knows that vast amounts of power are needed to deliver useful response at these frequencies; many systems simply fake the presence of low bass by tuning in a big peak at 40 or 50Hz, which requires two or three orders of magnitude less power.

Structure-borne noise is a real problem in many buildings, but I'm aware of very few instances of neighbourhood-wide noise problems at very low frequencies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contour

Re: Everything Is Getting Louder

#77

Post by monster_group » Sun, Oct 13, 2019, 2:01 AM UTC

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 sold my previous house precisely because of noisy neighbors (or rather their dogs). Their three dogs lived in the backyard permanently no matter what the weather - never seen them walked. Talked to the neighbors twice about the noise - no action. Called the cops at 3 in the morning - still nothing. Finally, I decided to sell the house and move somewhere where there is low dog density. I developed a dislike for dogs because of my previous neighbors. Even now, three years later, a barking dog drives me nuts, gets my heart going fast and blood boiling.

Re: Everything Is Getting Louder

#78

Post by jackvalentine » Sun, Oct 13, 2019, 2:02 AM UTC

clSTophEjUdRanu wrote: post #73

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.

You're woken up easily. Makes me wonder if my Subaru with loud pipes wakes people up.

It does. As a courtesy to my neighbours with my loud subaru I cut the engine and roll down the street when I come home late at night.

Re: Everything Is Getting Louder

#79

Post by jfnixon » Sun, Oct 13, 2019, 2:02 AM UTC

Ao7bei3s wrote: post #51

WalterBright wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> bells from catholic churches The huge bronze bells in Germany are another thing entirely. They sound wonderful (dare I say heavenly?). But the cheap electric klaxons used in American churches are horrible.

There's nothing wonderful about them when you live half a km/mi from them and they go off at 9AM, don't stop for 10-15 minutes and you really wanted to sleep.

I'm sure they put them up after you moved to that location, correct?

Re: Everything Is Getting Louder

#80

Post by jfnixon » Sun, Oct 13, 2019, 2:05 AM UTC

austhrow743 wrote: post #72

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.

There's a special place in hell reserved for the people responsible for all of the beeping and LEDs in the modern home. An eternity of never ending beeps and blinking lights.

Find the speaker/chirper/noisemaker and disable it, using wirecutters if necessary. Black tape works great on LEDs.