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SoundBrake 2.0 device makes headphone users less oblivious

kickstarter.com

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Re: SoundBrake 2.0 device makes headphone users less oblivious

#2

Post by slang800 »

Cool concept, but why isn't it an app? Couldn't you use the mic on my phone to listen for volume spikes, or even fine-tuned sound patterns?

Surely a modern phone CPU can do audio processing a great deal faster than a common microcontroller. Plus it would be far easier to keep the phone charged than to worry about a second device running out of battery.

Re: SoundBrake 2.0 device makes headphone users less oblivious

#3

Post by smt88 »

slang800 wrote: post #2

Cool concept, but why isn't it an app? Couldn't you use the mic on my phone to listen for volume spikes, or even fine-tuned sound patterns? Surely a modern phone CPU can do audio processing a great deal faster than a common microcontroller. Plus it would be far easier to keep the phone charged than to worry about a second device running out of battery.

I agree that an app has better ergonomics, but I believe it would murder the phone's battery life. Better to run out of battery on a third-party device than your phone.

Plus, a separate device allows you to use it with your laptop or your phone.

Re: SoundBrake 2.0 device makes headphone users less oblivious

#5

Post by sharieskenas »

slang800 wrote: post #2

Cool concept, but why isn't it an app? Couldn't you use the mic on my phone to listen for volume spikes, or even fine-tuned sound patterns? Surely a modern phone CPU can do audio processing a great deal faster than a common microcontroller. Plus it would be far easier to keep the phone charged than to worry about a second device running out of battery.

Thanks slang800...to add to smt88's good points, phone apps that are supposed to perform a similar function don't work well and reduce the audio quality- as you can see from the reviews on this phone app: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/awareness-the-headphone-app/... This is due to hardware/app limitations. Another advantage of being a separate device is you have the freedom to place it where you want with an extension, so you won't have the microphone buried in your pocket for instance. Also, it adjusts the alert level to your surroundings after a button press. A phone app wouldn't be as convenient because you would have to unlock your phone and go to the app for adjustment. Lastly it has 50+ hours of life on a charge (rechargeable) and can be used with any audio player and headphones.

Re: SoundBrake 2.0 device makes headphone users less oblivious

#6

Post by sharieskenas »

smt88 wrote: post #4

This is a cool idea. When posting your own projects on HN, it's better if you prefix with "Show HN:" so that it's clear to us that you're advertising something, rather than a random person endorsing a product you like.

Thanks smt88!

Re: SoundBrake 2.0 device makes headphone users less oblivious

#7

Post by slang800 »

smt88 wrote: post #3
slang800 wrote: post #2

Cool concept, but why isn't it an app? Couldn't you use the mic on my phone to listen for volume spikes, or even fine-tuned sound patterns? Surely a modern phone CPU can do audio processing a great deal faster than a common microcontroller. Plus it would be far easier to keep the phone charged than to worry about a second device running out of battery.

I agree that an app has better ergonomics, but I believe it would murder the phone's battery life. Better to run out of battery on a third-party device than your phone. Plus, a separate device allows you to use it with your laptop or your phone.

> murder the phone's battery life

I don't think that kind of audio processing would be an issue for battery life. They're able to do everything on a coin-sized battery in their system. From their prototype pics, they're using this: https://www.adafruit.com/product/1572

That's a 120mAh coin cell that they say lasts for 50 hours. They might be using something different in their final product, but we can safely assume that their algorithm isn't super power-hungry and running a small mic isn't going to do anything to your 3000-something mAh phone battery.

Obviously implementing this is a higher-level language like Java is going to incur some overhead, when compared to their microcontroller implementation... But the point is, they're not doing some advanced pattern matching on a database of sounds or anything that's going to use crazy amounts of CPU-time.

> Better to run out of battery on a third-party device than your phone.

I disagree on that - it's really easy to remember to charge my phone. I do it every single night. Other devices that I don't use for days at a time are easy to forget about.

> a separate device allows you to use it with your laptop or your phone.

True - it would need to be ported to work on those platforms.

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