A door.
Preferably with walls around it.
Best method to cancel human voices at work or public space?
21–26 of 26 posts
Re: Best method to cancel human voices at work or public space?
#22Ultimately, technology is limited. What you need is a culture of "library voices". To wit: "Don't raise your voice unless you absolutely have to. Better, don't use your voice, period, if you can just do a chat session with the person. If you must use your voice -- just keep the volume down, and and the duration minimal. If you must have a full-volume conversation for any length of time -- get a room." Basically, peop…
Thanks for your reply. I agree with your "library voices" concept and I'm very respectful in regards to keeping volume down and minimal duration if there was a need for a chat. The issue is when others are not and you have no control over it, making it difficult to focus on the task at hand.
Agreed, that type of cultural change takes time, and is particularly difficult if you're a newcomer.
In the mean time, get some nice headphones. I second the recommendation of the HD-280s; they're great. Note that over-the-ear headphones come in both open-ear and closed-ear varieties; the former don't provide any isolation (they're designed to let you keep your situational awareness, which is often desirable).
Re: Best method to cancel human voices at work or public space?
#23Whatever you do, don't go for an office that has a "noise suppression" system in it. A company that I used to work for has one, when I first joined I thought it was just a loud HVAC system (until I was informed what it really was). It took a lot of getting used to, or so I thought, then the headaches started coming. Headaches that would start at work and then dissipate an hour or two after leaving the office. After doing some reading and discussing with a relative who designs buildings for healthcare, I realized the connection between the two. I started working from home, no headaches. Apparently a not insignificant percentage of people have this reaction to a constant "barely audible" white noise. I'm not sure if I would have the same reaction to the headphones, but at this point I'm not trying it.
Re: Best method to cancel human voices at work or public space?
#24I have good experience with foam ear plugs. Silicone doesn't fill up your ear canal as these do. https://www.cvs.com/shop/personal-care/ear-care/ear-plugs/cv...
I think I have used them in the past but did not have a great experience. Maybe I didn't rolled/tested them properly. Will try again. Thanks for the link.
There are also different sizes that may work better for different people's ears.
Re: Best method to cancel human voices at work or public space?
#25For me it is the sharp spikes in sound curve that is annoying and distracting, like honking of vehicles, screaming kids etc in an otherwise quieter environment. Any uniform/sustained sound, for that matter even constant blaring of horns on busy roads or bunch of noisy kids playing, will quickly melt into the background. I suppose this is what happens to most people too. So I just have to tolerate a bit for the easing up to happen. Earplug like contraptions make me claustrophobic of sorts. Also, I like to do things "naturally" and condition myself in general, so this approach might be due to that as well.