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The volume is too damn high on flights

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Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#61

Post by djb_hackernews »

sukilot wrote: post #51
djb_hackernews wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the same reason most bars are set up to be cramped spaces, it forces people to be closer together which makes people uncomfortable which makes them drink more.

They are cramped because a lot of people want to be there. If people were uncomfortable they would stop going.

I agree it's not intuitive and obviously bars taking advantage of this trick need to actually have the foot traffic. Volume (as in volume of business) based bars are specifically designed to get more people closer together. Next time you are at one ask yourself if they are being the most efficient with the space.

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#62

Post by edsykes »

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…

definitely true on the inaccuracy.

however, in the absence of anything else it is an indication.

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#63

Post by uptown »

Sort of off-topic, but maybe somebody commenting on audio acoustics and decibels will know -- When you call a business and they pipe their automated music into the call while you're on-hold, why is the audio quality of that music frequently horrible? You'll get fuzzy music, or drop-outs of the music track - but when a human picks up the phone, it tends to sound just like most other phone calls. It seems like such a basic solvable problem, but I don't know where to attribute the blame.

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#64

Post by edsykes »

cryptoz wrote: post #4
xenonysf wrote: post #2

So when are we all starting to measure sounds around us (including cafes, vehicles, cities) and create a map of quietest things and places?

There is work being done on crowdsourcing ambient sound: http://www.technologyreview.com/view/520606/noise-pollution-... It's a neat problem. You can turn on smartphone microphones and listen for noise levels to measure for noise pollution and law violations, etc. However, you have to develop algorithms that filter our human conversations (for this application linked above), and the privacy implications are astronomi…

we've also developed an early version of this. Still very early stages and we aren't making use of all the data yet:

http://noise.1self.co

disclosure: I'm a founder

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#65

Post by spectre256 »

uptown wrote: post #63

Sort of off-topic, but maybe somebody commenting on audio acoustics and decibels will know -- When you call a business and they pipe their automated music into the call while you're on-hold, why is the audio quality of that music frequently horrible? You'll get fuzzy music, or drop-outs of the music track - but when a human picks up the phone, it tends to sound just like most other phone calls. It seems like such a b…

I'm not an expert, but I believe the reason comes down to cost: call center lines can be configured either to have a few high quality calls, or more lower quality calls (think of how many more audio files you could stream simultaneously at a lower bitrate). Of course, having lower quality calls lets them handle the same number of calls at the lowest cost, and most businesses consider customer service to be a huge cost center, so they go for the cheapest thing.

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#66

Post by city41 »

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…

I often take issue with the "pilot greeting". Many pilots just ramble on and on. Often on and off throughout the entire flight. I really don't care nor do I want that blaring in my ears. I don't understand why airlines think this is a good idea.

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#67

Post by scott_s »

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?

Have you ever been in a bar at closing, when they turn the music off and the lights back on? It's a stark moment: Oh, right. This is reality.

I can't say that the sibling comments are wrong, but I don't think that's the real reason. Bars (clubs, really) do it because it fosters a feeling of unreality. It makes being at the bar different, and you feel different, and it's (supposed) to be special - it's a party. People show up because it does not feel like normal life.

Personally, the practice drives me crazy. As I intimated above, bars that do this are really clubs at night. I prefer places where a group of people can sit around a table and actually talk over some drinks.

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#68

Post by aleh »

MichaelGG wrote: post #48
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 ca…

Some people are better at noticing visual signs, some react only to what they are being told. Smoking on board is really dangerous, so why to take risks?

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#69

Post by Alupis »

edsykes wrote: post #62
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…

definitely true on the inaccuracy. however, in the absence of anything else it is an indication.

The only thing it's an indication of is the App feels the PA is louder than the other ambient noise in the cabin... which in order to be an effective PA, it must be.

The number it assigns it might as well of been made up... or put on some App-specific scale like 1-10, 10 being "we think this is really loud".

Re: The volume is too damn high on flights

#70

Post by userbinator »

uptown wrote: post #63

Sort of off-topic, but maybe somebody commenting on audio acoustics and decibels will know -- When you call a business and they pipe their automated music into the call while you're on-hold, why is the audio quality of that music frequently horrible? You'll get fuzzy music, or drop-outs of the music track - but when a human picks up the phone, it tends to sound just like most other phone calls. It seems like such a b…

Music is basically never going to sound good over a POTS because it's a low-bandwidth channel optimised for human voice:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiceband

It may also be a legacy system using old worn-out looping casette tapes for the music.

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