Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The volume is too damn high on flights

blog.42floors.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 180 posts

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#121

Post by [deleted] »

leephillips wrote: post #116
omegant wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A very good private party DJ(He plays for artist and actors) told me that if you want people to dance, the volume must be very high. As it was my party I told him to do it as he saw fit and indeed almost all the people (200) danced. Then one neighbour complained and he lowered the volume (just for a while ;) ) and most people stopped dancing almost immediately. When he boosted the volume again, they all jumped to dan…

Glad you didn't let consideration for the rights and comfort of the people who live around you interfere with your need to party as you saw fit.

[deleted]

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#123

Post by MichaelGG »

6stringmerc wrote: post #99
MichaelGG wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there any indication the safety announcements are effective? The fact they dedicate so much time to taking about smoking makes me doubt they are evidence based. United's 787s have a no smoking sign built in to every single seat, at eye level. I suppose it's possible that they fly places that have such a strong smoking culture that this is an important and useful reminder, but that seems doubtful. Which makes me ca…

Have you noticed a change to include "no vaping" as well? The briefings do change with the times. Before lobbying / tantrum throwing gadget junkies allowed devices to be on non-stop, there were times when they were permitted to be on or off, and that was part of the briefing. As you might be able to tell, I tend to pay attention in spite of having heard them time and again, because thankfully I'm an infrequent flyer…

No, and FAs seemed to be of uncertain opinion if vaping was covered, although I only asked on one flight. Probably from a don't-be-rude perspective, it'd not be a good idea. Certainly the risk of fire isn't there.

There's still a fair amount of time dedicated to talking about "airplane mode". Which can simply not be a safety issue, as it'd be a trivial attack vector for malicious passengers to use. Or, if it is a safety factor, it just further illustrates the security theater.

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#124

Post by Alupis »

logfromblammo wrote: post #113
seany wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can get a basic set of electronic ear pro for ~$70 ( http://amzn.com/B007BGSI5U ), there are even cheaper options with a lower NRR.

Those look a bit bulky for use by police or military in the field. You would need to miniaturize down to an in-ear version. Then you need to add very generous padding in your procurement contract. If an over-the-ear tech is available for civilians for $70, I would guess that an in-ear police/military version is $850, with an upsell option to integrate with your existing radio communications system for only $1150 per…

These seem to be more along the lines of what is issued:

http://archive.armytimes.com/article/20090908/NEWS/909080313...

> Soldiers can adjust the rocker with a quick "click" depending on the amount of protection they need. When it's in the open or "weapons fire" position, sound can travel through the sound channel filter into the ear.

> For noisy environments that don't require an acute listening capability, such as around helicopters, troop carriers or generators, the rocker can be switched to the closed or "constant protection" position.

There's also larger over-ear kinds that are integrated with comms:

http://www.bosssafety.com/p-10356-peltor-comtac-iii-a-c-h-he...

This style has both active and passive configurations.

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#125

Post by abduhl »

e40 wrote: post #119
Alupis wrote: post #56

Few thoughts: > and opened the decibel meter on my iPhone These are notoriously inaccurate. To get accurate decibel readings, the mic must be calibrated to absolute known levels (something your App can't do). The App's are basically just comparing relative sounds (this sound is more prominent than this other one, and therefore must be louder... after establishing some relative baseline). Real decibel measuring equipm…

The PA system is not there just to provide something to listen to in case you are bored. Yeah, but there's no reason for the people operating the PA to blast our ears for mundane drivel. I was on a flight last weekend where, because I was right next to a speaker, I had to cover my ears for 5 minutes while the flight attendant droned on about non-emergency stuff. It was so loud it hurt my ears. I already have tinnitus…

The PA system is used to announce to the cabin non-trivial details: emergency exits, how the safety features of the airplane work, what is expected of passengers during the flight, flight times, expected turbulence, late arrivals, etc. These are not "mundane" details.

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#126

Post by KeytarHero »

ashark wrote: post #59
rottyguy wrote: post #27

I've always wondered why bars crank up the music so high to the extent you're yelling to convey conversation to the person next to you. One of my friends hypothesized that it was done to focus patrons on drinking and not chatter, but socializing is a big part of the bar scene... Anyone know?

Relatedly, does anyone know why so many bars with live acts crank the volume up so high that it becomes extremely loud white noise with thumping bass under it? It really sucks if you want to hear the music, and the point at which it's ears-ringing-the-next-day and clothes-vibrating loud but you can still at least tell when a key change happens is usually well under where they set it. I love small venues, but I hate h…

At small venues it's often just because the band is playing loudly. Some drummers play pretty loudly, some guitarists play amps that sound better with the volume cranked, and then singers are going to want the vocals louder in the monitors so they can actually hear themselves over the loud drums & guitar.

If stage volume is loud, the sound guy is likely going to push the volume even louder, both so that he has some level of control over it, and because sound coming off the mains is going to sound a lot clearer than if you're hearing everything off the stage monitors and then reflected off the back wall (yes, even if that means things are louder, they can still be clearer).

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#127

Post by grandalf »

ashark wrote: post #59
rottyguy wrote: post #27

I've always wondered why bars crank up the music so high to the extent you're yelling to convey conversation to the person next to you. One of my friends hypothesized that it was done to focus patrons on drinking and not chatter, but socializing is a big part of the bar scene... Anyone know?

Relatedly, does anyone know why so many bars with live acts crank the volume up so high that it becomes extremely loud white noise with thumping bass under it? It really sucks if you want to hear the music, and the point at which it's ears-ringing-the-next-day and clothes-vibrating loud but you can still at least tell when a key change happens is usually well under where they set it. I love small venues, but I hate h…

I have a few theories:

- The people deciding already have significant hearing loss and don't realize

- People who are into venue sound stuff tend to like music very very loud

- The majority of customers are actually relieved not to have the burden of needing to carry on a conversation (b/c doing so is impossible).

Not sure which of the above it is. A similar mystery is why it's considered OK for motorcycles to be extremely loud, even with modified mufflers designed to make them louder. I don't buy the safety argument, since the same could apply to any motor vehicle or pedestrian.

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#128

Post by ufmace »

I could believe it. I just flew Spirit (never again, for reasons in addition to this) a couple of weeks ago, and they spent the last 20 minutes or so of the flight hawking some kind of credit card deal. Even wearing earplugs barely put a dent in the volume.

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#129

Post by arrrg »

GrinningFool wrote: post #120
leephillips wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Glad you didn't let consideration for the rights and comfort of the people who live around you interfere with your need to party as you saw fit.

You had me up until "rights". Consideration (or lack thereof) for their comfort - and just for them as individuals- yes definitely. For their rights? that's a lot less clear.

Well, in my country people do have the right to sleep unimpeded (between 10pm and 6am). One that is regularly enforced, actually, so it’s not just on the books.

Is that such an outlandish concept?

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#130

Post by ChuckMcM »

I think the author answered their own question with this statement: "I’ve been on flights where the sound of the flight attendants over the PA system was loud enough to sound like the attendant was shouting directly into my ear despite having two layers of sound protection."

The PA system in the airplane is part of the safety equipment, the crew uses it to inform the passengers during an emergency what they should do to prepare. Everyone knows that during a flight people will have noise cancelling earphones on and possibly dual layers of protection. Also the ambient noise in an aircraft with its nose pitched down at a steep angle or in an uncontrolled spin is likely to be quite high. The PA has to cut through all of that in order to communicate with you.

I agree it would be nice if they didn't use full emergency power during non-essential communication, but the FAA considers the safety briefing to be essential communication so you are out of luck there.

Post reply on HN