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The Sound of Silence: A Noise Map of the U.S.

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Re: The Sound of Silence: A Noise Map of the U.S.

#91

Post by genewitch »

mdp2021 wrote: post #84
i13e wrote: post #60

To all those suffering from noise pollution: go to the hardware store and buy foam weatherstripping for your doors and windows in your room experiencing the noise pollution. Door sweeps, white noise machines, and earplugs also help significantly. Cheap, easy, and high ROI. Other than that buy IEMs, for noise reduction I recommend the Etymotic ER2SE or the Sony WF-1000XM4 if you want wireless noise cancelling IEMs

> earplugs Can be unhealthy. Earmuffs seem to be as effective and, while you can still get damaged (risk of suction), it's difficult. Issue: earplugs and earmuffs are designed to reduce noise, not to cancel it - to facilitate that you don't get damage from a bang but can still faintly but clearly hear your colleague calling "watch out". And, reduction in background noise amplifies the impactive - not in absolute but…

I can't use noise cancelling headphones, at least on-ear and over-ear. I've never liked earbuds/IEM, so I never test them.

However, active earmuffs are amazing. I had my favorite pair finally give out, they had FM radio and an aux jack, but we're not active. It was fun to run a chipper and listen to a podcast, for instance.

For things I want hearing protection I have 4 choices now. The industry standard earplugs, which are foam that you roll and insert - Howard Leight, passive cans style muffs - generic, generic aviator style muffs with active microphones, and a fancy pair of Howard Leight active muffs.

The active ones are amazing. I can't believe I waited so long.

I live someplace so quiet now that I have to run fans or I can't sleep. The silence feels like a huge weight. When there's a widespread power outage I barely get any sleep, for example. I don't know that I could ever live near a thoroughfare ever again, for any amount of money.

Re: The Sound of Silence: A Noise Map of the U.S.

#92

Post by zerocount »

twiddling wrote: post #21
tothrowaway wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cars, trucks and motorcycles with booming exhaust pipes are insufferable. I despise hearing them revving by. I feel like I'm crazy for how much it bothers me. But then I read a story about a man shooting a driver who was just revving up and down his street, so I'm not alone. I spent a week in Helsinki, and was blown away by how quiet it was despite being far more dense than my city.

"Loud pipes save lives" ugh

I roll my window up if I'm near motorcycles. There's been too many times when my ear got blasted all of a sudden.

Worse is booming bass. Not while driving, but at home from the neighbors. Hours on end... boom... boom...

Re: The Sound of Silence: A Noise Map of the U.S.

#93

Post by spockz »

kubafu wrote: post #85

I often have this thought of how different the world sounded when combustion engines (cars, motorcycles, planes, tractors, etc) weren't ubiquitous. I happily grew up in the 80s in a place (communist Poland, so rather small car ownership) with very little artificial noise, but that is gone now. How was it hundreds of years ago?

I’m not sure whether the clatter of (ironed) hooves on cobblestone combined with the carriage wheels on stone plus the grind of the axles was so much quieter. It’s just that there are so many more sources of sound around us within our daily habitat that it is hard too escape it.

Even in our relatively quiet city life (no heavy industry) people already seem adapted that they have trouble sleeping in our country side where it is relatively dark and quiet.

Re: The Sound of Silence: A Noise Map of the U.S.

#94

Post by spockz »

etempleton wrote: post #67
kortilla wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, as someone who used to live next to an expressway (45-50 mph traffic), the problem is 95% tire noise. Modern cars not accelerating make very little noise from the ICE. The tires are like nails on a chalkboard to me after living that way for a 5 years. It cut through my apartment walls and morning rush hour served as a mandatory alarm clock. The only time engines were an issue were people with modded exhaust or pe…

This is why I always think it is funny when the topic of creating fake engine noise for electric cars for safety comes up. On a normal modern car you won’t likely hear the engine unless under heavy acceleration.

The tire sounds are way less at low speeds. Where the sound matters for safety is where people are and around corners and situational changes. These moments tend to be where speed is Low and varying. As well of the type of sound. If you hear a revving engine come towards your direction you pay it attention.

This is why it is useful for cars to make sounds. It also is the reason why that sound is so annoying. It is a constant trigger for our brains to react.

Re: The Sound of Silence: A Noise Map of the U.S.

#95

Post by pkdpic »

This is a really reassuring resource for those times when it feels like the walls are closing in.

I will say though after living in the middle of the desert for the better part of a decade the silence (more mental / social than literal) did start to make me crazy. Not like manic or anxious crazy but more out of sync with the world of the living and the bearing on time. It was tempting but luckily I needed to find more stable work.

Oddly now that I'm back in a dense urban area its quieter in a lot of ways too in terms of barking dogs and generally loud neighbors. Much denser but different etiquette maybe. Its an interesting phenomena that Ive observed pretty consistently.

That said the comments here seem to be more centered on wilderness silence not urban vs rural silence. But it got me thinking.

Re: The Sound of Silence: A Noise Map of the U.S.

#97

Post by Daub »

One abiding memory I have is visiting a desert in the Middle East. Sitting on top of a hill, looking over the flat landscape, there was no evidence of human habitation as far as the eye could see. More remarkable was the complete silence…, no wind, no sound of birds… nothing at all. The overwhelming impression was that I was in the middle of a huge stage. Sublime.

Re: The Sound of Silence: A Noise Map of the U.S.

#98

Post by kzrdude »

w-ll wrote: post #23
cheschire wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is pretty close to what you're looking for, assuming you're in the US. https://maps.dot.gov/BTS/NationalTransportationNoiseMap/ Also for those interested in the data side: https://data-usdot.opendata.arcgis.com/

I find it interesting but not surprising how you can pretty much plot air ports and the in/out routes from this heat map. Also interesting things like Whiteman AFB, from the recent stealth bomber post, shows nothing.

The default view doesn't show rail traffic, which also seems to add a lot of heat to the map. I haven't quite understood what the map is based on, but it says 24-hr LAeq - is this a 24-hour average or 24-hour max?

Re: The Sound of Silence: A Noise Map of the U.S.

#99

Post by joshspankit »

fortran77 wrote: post #96

I get odd looks, but for large parts of the day at the office I wear 3M hearing protectors like this: https://www.3m.co.uk/3M/en_GB/p/d/b00037383/ I just like _quiet_ and there are so many things around that make noise.

If you attach a “headphone” cable the odd looks will practically go away

Re: The Sound of Silence: A Noise Map of the U.S.

#100

Post by joshspankit »

Anyone else notice this?

> Also, it is not feasible for NSNSD to collect samples at all park sites within a reasonable time. Therefore, NSNSD created a geospatial model that predicts soundscapes in parks across the nation.

Doesn’t that defeat the intent of measuring?

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