The volume is too damn high on flights • Hacker News Board

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#41

Post by guelo » Fri, Feb 06, 2015, 4:01 PM UTC

6stringmerc wrote: post #37

Having many, many years of travel experience leads me to one Occam's Razor type observation: If people would actually pay attention to a safety briefing instead of playing with their gadgets / not taking off their headphones, then the flight crew wouldn't be trying so hard to get the attention of the passengers. With this unpopular opinion, I'll see myself out the nearest exit, which is actually located behind me.

Except the safety briefings are a useless bureaucratic formality. We don't need to hear them.

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#42

Post by sukilot » Fri, Feb 06, 2015, 4:02 PM UTC

userbinator wrote: post #22

I've had the opposite experience - PA systems so quiet they're drowned out by the plane's noise. Perhaps he was sitting very close to one of the speakers. Given that the announcements are usually important, not continuous but made in short bursts, and that volume level (99dB) is discomforting but only harmful with prolonged exposure, I don't think it's too loud. The whole idea of an announcement is to get the attenti…

If the announcements were safety related they would he repeated several times and FAs would single out individuals who needed to react.

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#43

Post by MichaelGG » Fri, Feb 06, 2015, 4:03 PM UTC

ZoFreX wrote: post #36

nakedrobot2 wrote: post #7

The PA when heard over the headphones (when watching a movie, etc.) is even worse - I wouldn't be surprised if it was over 100dB. Sometimes a movie has quiet audio, or quiet moments requiring you to turn up the volume a lot. More than once I have been painfully ear-raped by the flight attendant PA system in my earphones for this reason. Just another instance of outrageously bad customer service in the airline industr…

I've stopped using the in-flight systems because of this. I use in-ear earphones on flights, as the design of them (basically ear plugs with speakers in the middle) blocks out sound and as a result I can have the volume lower, with the idea of preserving what's left of my hearing. Because of that design I not only _can_ have the volume low, but _have_ to have the volume low - and when the PA announcements override th…

I'm sorta curious why anyone is using in in flight systems in the first place. Doesn't nearly everyone own personal devices capable of playing hours of music or videos? Even with 32 GB of storage, total, I'm able to hold more video than I can watch in a day.

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#44

Post by wycats » Fri, Feb 06, 2015, 4:04 PM UTC

guelo wrote: post #41

6stringmerc wrote: post #37

Having many, many years of travel experience leads me to one Occam's Razor type observation: If people would actually pay attention to a safety briefing instead of playing with their gadgets / not taking off their headphones, then the flight crew wouldn't be trying so hard to get the attention of the passengers. With this unpopular opinion, I'll see myself out the nearest exit, which is actually located behind me.

Except the safety briefings are a useless bureaucratic formality. We don't need to hear them.

They're very useful for infrequent (or first-time) travelers, but pointless for frequent travelers.

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#45

Post by sukilot » Fri, Feb 06, 2015, 4:04 PM UTC

6stringmerc wrote: post #37

Having many, many years of travel experience leads me to one Occam's Razor type observation: If people would actually pay attention to a safety briefing instead of playing with their gadgets / not taking off their headphones, then the flight crew wouldn't be trying so hard to get the attention of the passengers. With this unpopular opinion, I'll see myself out the nearest exit, which is actually located behind me.

Occam's (and Halon's) razor says that volume is set to an arbitrary default ("loud " == "audible") and no one cares to change it. It boggles that any other option is in consideration. In airline has done actual measurements of attention vs volume.

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#46

Post by nate_meurer » Fri, Feb 06, 2015, 4:07 PM UTC

My comment from another thread on this subject:

---

Earplugs! I bought a box of foam earplugs that has supplied me for years now. I cut them in half; half an earplug is the perfect length for unobtrusive everyday wear.

I have quantities of half-earplugs stashed in all my pants pockets, in my car, my work bag, and in a little container on my keychain. I wear them in the car, on planes, at the shooting range, when grinding coffee, and especially when putting away dishes. Fucking clanging-together dishes are the loudest things I encounter in my regular routine.

For my kids I bought silicone putty plugs. They work perfectly for little ears, and I keep them with the foam plugs. My kids know where the big orange jar of earplugs is, and they've acquired some of my discipline.

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#47

Post by sukilot » Fri, Feb 06, 2015, 4:07 PM UTC

superme wrote: post #34

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?

They do it on purpose. The less patrons talk to each other the more alcohol they drink. That's why the music volume is increased as the night progresses. They get them into the establishment, customers start drinking, eventually it gets to a point where they can't hear each other so they just focus on drinking. Not all places do this, just the places that are strongly focused on the profits.

Why would such a bar have any repeat customers? The music is loud at a bar because the people are loud because the bar is crowded.

If bars wanted to sell more drinks, they would have more bartenders to reduce the wait times.

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#48

Post by MichaelGG » Fri, Feb 06, 2015, 4:08 PM UTC

6stringmerc wrote: post #37

Having many, many years of travel experience leads me to one Occam's Razor type observation: If people would actually pay attention to a safety briefing instead of playing with their gadgets / not taking off their headphones, then the flight crew wouldn't be trying so hard to get the attention of the passengers. With this unpopular opinion, I'll see myself out the nearest exit, which is actually located behind me.

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 call into question the rest of the announcements.

Though, I've found United's new safety video to be so well done, I watch it every time despite having seen it dozens of times already.

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#49

Post by marcosdumay » Fri, Feb 06, 2015, 4:08 PM UTC

MichaelGG wrote: post #43

ZoFreX wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've stopped using the in-flight systems because of this. I use in-ear earphones on flights, as the design of them (basically ear plugs with speakers in the middle) blocks out sound and as a result I can have the volume lower, with the idea of preserving what's left of my hearing. Because of that design I not only _can_ have the volume low, but _have_ to have the volume low - and when the PA announcements override th…

I'm sorta curious why anyone is using in in flight systems in the first place. Doesn't nearly everyone own personal devices capable of playing hours of music or videos? Even with 32 GB of storage, total, I'm able to hold more video than I can watch in a day.

DRM?

I never tried watching movies in an airplane, and if I wanted to, I know I'd do it easily. But most people do not get video in a format that they know how to watch in an environment without an internet connection.

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#50

Post by mikeash » Fri, Feb 06, 2015, 4:09 PM UTC

userbinator wrote: post #22

I've had the opposite experience - PA systems so quiet they're drowned out by the plane's noise. Perhaps he was sitting very close to one of the speakers. Given that the announcements are usually important, not continuous but made in short bursts, and that volume level (99dB) is discomforting but only harmful with prolonged exposure, I don't think it's too loud. The whole idea of an announcement is to get the attenti…

I can't remember the last time I heard an in-flight announcement that I actually needed to hear. They're far from "usually important." 99% of flights could happily go from start to finish without a single use of the PA, if it were legal to do so, and if the airline could exercise self-control.

The PA system should be reserved for actual important safety-related announcements. It's outrageous that the same system that would be used to tell you to brace for a crash is also used to repeatedly flog credit cards, duty-free sales, and other such nonsense, training everybody to ignore it.