Nanny Knows Best, Dears

[vinteuil]

Spock? Why, John Redwood, natch...

[Old Grumpy]

Anyone remember the original (?) demo of noise-cancellation on Tomorrow's World. The intrepid Raymond Baxter stood next to a jet engine and removed his ear protection when the boffins turned up the 'anti-noise' to 11, at which point the engine could no longer be heard roaring. Beat that!

Quite a guy, Raymond Baxter - surprised he wasn't deaf already from his WW2 service.

[Dave2002]

I'm a bit confused (no change there then, some might say) - are you talking about listening to music using headphones that block out other noises, or simply putting something over your ears to block or muffle external noise?

On aircraft noise cancelling headphones should sound better than using earbuds or similar under ear defenders, because the noise really is, or should be, reduced to very low levels - it is cancelled out. This results in a quiet background. It is still quiet even if no music is being played, so noise cancelling headphones can be better than ear plugs or ear defenders which simply attenuate the sounds by (say) 30dB, but don't remove it, and the remaining noise/sound can seem very muffled.

I have been known to put foam earplugs in, then listen on headphones - with the volume turned up! That could be anti-social if nearby passengers don't like it. It's difficult to say whether it's really a bad thing to do, though noone has ever complained.

Noise cancellng headphones are a much better proposition.

[MrGongGong]

I have been known to put foam earplugs in, then listen on headphones - with the volume turned up! .

Bad thing or not it will just get rid of all the high frequencies (unless you boost them)

[Dave2002]

Bad thing or not it will just get rid of all the high frequencies (unless you boost them)

And that's a bad thing (maybe not?) because?

OK there are lower frequency sounds inside a plane cabin, but the fans/air conditioning and other noises get very tiring on long flights. I think there must be quite a wide spectrum of sound inside a plane. Maybe I'll save up for the recommended Bose 'phones.

[MrGongGong]

And that's a bad thing (maybe not?) because?

Well, unless you only like to hear bass then you are loosing most of the audible frequencies in the music.
There are other options than Bose (I'm not a great fan myself)

[Ferretfancy]

Quite a guy, Raymond Baxter - surprised he wasn't deaf already from his WW2 service.

Raymond Baxter---oily and horrible, always making a fuss. A colleague once said that if he appeared in a horror comic they would have to paint him green.

[Dave2002]

Well, unless you only like to hear bass then you are losing most of the audible frequencies in the music.
There are other options than Bose (I'm not a great fan myself)

No - I could hear the themes/tunes quite easily. Middle frequencies were not a problem.

Regarding cutting out bits of "music", another thing I dislike, and have for many years, is when one hears "Boom BOOM Boom BOOM-Da-Didi - Boom BOOM Boom BOOM-Da-Didi - Boom BOOM Boom BOOM-Da-Didi - Boom BOOM Boom BOOM-Da-Didi" or such like for hours on end, or on trains. One day I managed to work out what was being played, and was amazed to find that with some of this stuff, there is actually a tune above the bass or drum line. I still don't like it much, but that explained a lot. Most classical music doesn't have quite the same characteristics.

We once used to live in a flat where we could only hear the bass from other sources - that was tedious.

[EnemyoftheStoat]

I was at a talk on H&S aspects of sound and noise levels where the point was made that the body makes physiological adjustment for expected loud noises, whereas it cannot do this when the noise is unexpected.

Funny how the emergency services are allowed to get away with those sirens that start loudly without warning, yet there is paranoia about orchestral sound levels...

[Bryn]

I was at a talk on H&S aspects of sound and noise levels where the point was made that the body makes physiological adjustment for expected loud noises, whereas it cannot do this when the noise is unexpected.

Funny how the emergency services are allowed to get away with those sirens that start loudly without warning, yet there is paranoia about orchestral sound levels...

I heard that, pardon.