I have gone through a similar journey. In my case I believed the main problem was the neighbour next door. I got an extra layer of gypsum on the wall but turned out the noise comes from all sides. You can't win in such situation. Apartment buildings not built with noise isolation in mind should be illegal.
Had to move out and went to live on a house that was absolutely silent. Well, as long as no one outside was mowing the lawn or something.
Then, after 10 years, forgot the problem existed and decided to buy a new house near a busy road. What an idiot I am. Now going through all possibilities: already ordered an extra thick glass layer on my windows (it already has 3 layers), bought sound sound dampening panels (they do not do anything other than help a tiny amount with echo), sound dampening curtains (no effect, but at least stop the daylight well) and may even build a new fence and build glass walls around my balcony. But yeah, you can get used to traffic noise, I hear, and sound cancelling headphones solve the issue as long as I wear them (nearly all day anyway while I work)... it's getting better already after a couple of months. But stumping neighbours upstairs, your only defence really is headphones.
Noise pollution (or sound pollution) is a modern day era problem, and if I dare say disease. It’s getting more and more difficult to isolate ourselves, especially in urban environments.<p>It never ceases to amaze me that blocking noise/sound (one of the weakest forces) is very difficult, whereas blocking light (being fastest and more “powerful”) is very easy.<p>It might sound futuristic, but I expect noise canceling force fields to become an everyday household thing in a few years ;-)
When the author mentioned they didn’t understand how our ears and brains process sound and then said they went back to first principles, I thought for sure they were going to end up working on <i>their</i> reaction to sounds and doing something like cognitive behavioral therapy.
This illustrates the difference between a scientific and an engineering approach to things. A scientist is going to review literature and try to develop a mathematical or mental model for the situation, then proceed to articulate different things to test from first principles. The engineer is going to spend a little time identifying a few pre-existing solutions to the problem and then order them by likelihood of working and by cost, then pick the solution that's most cost effective within the bounds of likelihood. Sometimes nothing you try works, and that's when you dip into research, but usually it's in the form of empirical characterization of the problem and the situation. And you're always trying to timebox the work because you have to solve a real problem in a reasonable amount of time and with minimal risk. You don't have time to go to the college library every time you have a question. So doing the stupidest thing that could possibly work is often the answer. If the answer is to go to the college library then you email a professor instead and offer them some money in exchange for a shortcut because they're going to be better at navigating the research than you ever could hope to be.
>Never satisfied, I tried some other models. But, no—the model that everyone says are the best were indeed the best.
So let’s review: I had a problem. The ultimate solution to my problem was to do the most obvious possible thing. But I convinced myself that wouldn’t work and spent two years trying everything else.<p>"Try a non-creative approach."
-Albert Einstein
I hate having to wear headphones in order to block obnoxious sounds. Obnoxiously loud people should simply stop being obnoxiously loud. Houses needed better sound proofing. Vehicles need to be quieter. Planes shouldn't fly over densely populated areas.<p>So much noise is utterly pointless. A symptom of wasted energy.<p>Soundproofing homes during renovations is stupidly hard to do. E.g. I can't soundproof a party wall without tearing down and replacing a staircase. I installed new windows which block a lot of sound (double glazing, where each pane is of a different thickness), but noise makes it way in through vents and cracks all the same.
I have been thinking and learning about sound and noise control/isolation for a long time.
I am quite sure that active noise cancellation in real domestic environments is impossible.
Simple physical isolation will always be cheaper and more effective.
The idea of portability is founded on an overly simplified and ancient demonstration of sign waves
cancelling each other, and fataly leave out how human hearing actualy operates, and there are now indications that the very best active noise cancelling headphones, are working, but with side effects that are disorienting, and likely very bad
for your health and brain.Do the deap, deap dive into just how sophisticated human hearing is at discerning usefull information in an increadably complecated environment, and the fact that there is NO OFF SWITCH, this isn't just an osiliscope
excersise, your brain is fighting furiously to figure out what that wierd sound is, please be nice to your brain and dont feed it an endless
unatural, impossible in nature, signal.
3 years of sound engineering in a past life, and still loving sound/music/audio and searching for implimentable solutions to NOISE
I completely understand the sentiments of the author. It's easy to fall into the trap of "it's too easy to be true; let me try out a 'clever' way", and fall into the cycle of figuring out things that have 100 different parameters and thus hard to model realistically.<p>On the other hand though, which are the <i>best</i> noise-cancelling earphones or headphones? I've gone down this route, and haven't been satisfied with what was suggested. Airpods Pro 2 seems great at canceling noise, but sounds flat. Soundcore products have a phenomenal sound quality, but can't cancel noise as effectively.
I used to think background noise was my enemy.. until a week in a stifling motel with a clunky window unit proved me wrong. It started with me having tantrums that i'd never sleep and ended with me having some of the best sleep ever. I've slept with a noise machine ever since
This article resonates with me. I have neighbours that have been renovating for the past 6 months (free-standing house) and the noise is unbearable, it causes physiological responses in my body and great anxiety.<p>Another neighbour has a gardener that spends half the day blowing leaves in his backyard every Saturday and it's making me hate living here. I like this house and neighbourhood, but the noise ruins it. I'm sick of people telling me I'm being facetious when I get upset about the noise.<p>I tried my shooting earmuffs, which do help a bit, but the annoying sounds come through. I finally resorted to noise-cancelling headphones, albeit cheap-ish ones from Sony and the past couple of days have been great. My focus has improved and I feel less exhausted. The headphones are the only thing I changed about my lifestyle.<p>I hope I can move out of the city in the future, the noise is really draining.
This is a nice follow-up:
<a href="https://dynomight.net/car-trouble/" rel="nofollow">https://dynomight.net/car-trouble/</a>
I wear earmuffs for work pretty regularly for extended periods of time. If you get ones with the metal connector between the ear covers, you can spring it so they aren't so tight over your head.<p>The usual failure mode on earmuffs is the cushion bit that seals around your ear drying out and getting brittle. Or the foam in the ear cushions getting hard or breaking down. When either of those things happens, it's time for new earmuffs (or ear cushions if you can find the parts).<p>These are the ones I use:<p><a href="https://www.homedepot.com/p/3M-Pro-Grade-Earmuff-90565-4DC-PS/301277013" rel="nofollow">https://www.homedepot.com/p/3M-Pro-Grade-Earmuff-90565-4DC-P...</a>
What earphones did the author end up using?<p>It is strange that after relating all the dead ends in some detail and found his solution, he does not share it.
my noise journey:<p>1) try noise cancelling headphones<p>NO: they have undefinable effects on your psyche. Maybe "pressure" or some sort of non-silent silence that your body still reacts to?<p>2) white noise, pink noise, music, classical music, new age music, atmospheric sounds, etc<p>NO: actually, these are similar to noise-cancelling headphones. Your brain is still reacting to the sound in a non-passive way.<p>3) giant earmuffs<p>NO: heavy, physical head pressure, etc<p>solution) 3M ear classic NRR 33 earplugs. when I need to concentrate. while sleeping. Keep a pair around for "that guy" playing videos on his phone in public. The BEST. I buy 200 at a time.<p>After reading this article, I wonder if noise-cancelling headphones + 3m earplugs might work together?
> (Earbuds inside the earmuffs don’t work because they get knocked out of position and then can’t be adjusted.)<p>Interesting. I've used earbuds inside earmuffs quite a few times and not had this problem, except when the cord gets tugged.<p>I definitely agree with the principle that if the experiment is fast and cheap, just do it.
I almost always wear noise-cancelling headphones with brown noise playing while I'm at home. It's easier than dealing with an upstairs neighbor who always seems to be moving and only knows how to heel-stomp. And it's the only way I've found to block out impact noises.<p>It's frustrating that there's no solution to such a widespread problem. The only economical solution I can think of is building another layer of floor in the upstairs unit, but that's a solution that's unavailable to the person trying to solve the problem. And landlords have no incentive for that kind of work because most tenants endure the noise without complaint.<p>My previous neighbors were very cooperative when I talked to them and they got some rugs and indoor slippers. But the best solution is to just walk lightly. It's second-nature to me to not walk heavily when I'm in small indoor spaces, but a lot of people don't have any awareness of how they walk. I'm also very tall and I think bigger people have a better sense of their physical impact. I'll have small parties here and I'm always interested in who moves gently versus who stomps around my apartment (with apologies to my downstairs neighbor) and it's never the largest people stomping.
He's talking about the QC45's or QC35's and yeah, they are that good. I could wear them 10 hours a day without issue, and they do lower the sound floor tremendously. They are not a perfect solution, but the cost to performance ratio is unbeatable.
What I do to deal with general noise but specifically disruptive low frequency noise from my surroundings is to mask it, in particular with longform (often an hour long) dub techno tracks. CV313 is good for this. It's the only good way to counteract the subsonic energy coming through my walls and ceiling.<p>We experience sub frequencies with our whole body, certainly I seem to have a high sensitivity to the 5-30Hz stuff. So no amount of ear plugging will be really that effective.
Man these were some well educated mr Bean level hijinks.<p>I had to stifle a laugh multiple times reading it.<p>One of the highlights was definitely:<p>“I tried kits for making custom-molded earplugs. One hardly blocked any noise. Another had a small piece immediately break off deep inside my ear, resulting in legendary good times trying to remove it with a screw”<p>like, why a screw? not tweezers, not anything of that sort?<p>also the part about trying to have a conversation with the earmuffs on, lol.<p>I feel for you OOP but still, pretty funny.
I hope everyone reads to the end for the real takeaway — believing you can re-engineer a complex solution from first principles is generally a fool’s errand.
His upstairs neighbors have their own channel <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IRB0sxw-YU" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IRB0sxw-YU</a>
I had a similiar thing with my eye sight: I couldn't believe or accept that my eye sight got really bad in a short period of time (i was 15).<p>But i did compensate for 5 diopter relativly good.<p>I did learn plenty of that research, made me more aware of eye sight and because i was very young, hard to say that it was obvious to just accept it at that time.<p>In hindsight my school grades were definitly worste than they had to be...<p>And regarding noise: We have a wonderful big lake here in germany and small mountains around it, you can hear the autobahn (going around it) everywhere and we really do a shitty job with handling car noise. Even on the small mountain or in the nature area you hear cars.<p>I definitly will move out of the city in the next few years and in an area which does not have a autobahn close by. I'm happy driving 30-60 minutes to the autobahn.
Noise cancelling headphones have quite literally been one of the best things I've ever spent money on. I started using them three years ago (about a year out of college) and I was immediately filled with immense regret that I didn't invest in a pair earlier.<p>Noise cancellers have made it so much easier for me to focus, they've lowered my stress levels, made me a more effective programmer and even made me a nicer person.<p>I also recently just shelled out $600CAD for a new pair of Bose noise cancellers and they were worth every single loonie!
I'm sensitive to noise, have been using noise-canceling headphones for many years, but just recently developed chronic tinnitus. I can still use the headphones, but I _have_ to be playing music in order to block out the ringing. Which then makes the original problem worse over time as my ears start to hurt from so much constant sound.<p>Anyway, I've been in a real pickle for a few months now. Wondering if anyone else has the same problem?
I read this as far less about noise and its cancellation than about problem-solving, and in particular DYOR: do your own research.<p>There is a <i>reason</i> we rely on experts, a large part of which is that good experimental design, execution, sampling of test subjects, and interpretation is <i>hard</i>. That's not to say it's impossible, and it's not that conventional wisdom / received understanding isn't often wrong (and there's nothing quite so profound an impediment to discovery of truth than solidly-embedded wrong understandings, especially at the cultural level). But at a starting point <i>at least checking to see if what "everyone" believes, claims, and/or recommends is of value</i> is a reasonable possibility to verify or refute early in a search.<p>There's also the realisation that <i>reasoning through a problem</i> is almost always far <i>less</i> useful than <i>actually trying the damned thing</i>, which is to say experiment and empirical testing. This isn't completely contradictory to what I'd written above, as all the impediments to good <i>experimentation</i> apply many-fold to good <i>Gedankenexperimenten</i>, or thought experiments. A key difference between the two is that an <i>actual</i> experiment will tend to reveal your sloppy reasoning, rationale, and/or method in fairly short order, whilst thought experiments can lead you down the garden path. Kant critiqued pure reason for ... reasons.<p>And for all that ... the author <i>did</i> learn something, and <i>did</i> realise their mistakes, and probably learned a bit more in the process than if they'd simply followed the initial consensus advice. But a different and perhaps more methodological approach could have arrived there sooner.
Something that has helped me a lot when dealing with noise or other distractions is present time meditation. Just sit there and focus on actively hearing and feeling everything, I would just do 5 min sessions but quite often. After practicing this for while I became less distracted and more comfortable wherever I was.
Moving is the only real solution. Nothing can stop the infrasonic sound.<p>Noise level risk is the #1 criteria I look at when purchasing real estate. You know you're getting close to the end game when the only thing you are frustrated with is infrequent, small aircraft noise.
Does anyone have much experience with these headphones? I am looking for similar but dont like headphones pressing on my ears. Are the quietcomfort suitable for that? Is the ultra a worthy upgrade? Is there anything better on the market now? Redddit seems to suggest that Sony ANC is superior.
I found the noise cancelling headphones don't completely eliminate loud intermittent noise but prevents them from being offensive and jarring. I use them almost all the time and worry they have negative long term effects. They certainly have positive effects though.
OP is probably autistic. I very clearly see the exact same line of thinking I take towards similar problems.<p>I don't know why this type of AuDHD drives us this way but Jesus Christ is it awful. I'd have saved so many years of suffering if I'd just listened to the good advice and reason I'm constantly showered in.<p>Best solution I've got is "suck it up and listen to someone you trust who isn't in your head". Still, that's really hard to do.
I have been on a similar journey. The Bose headphones are nice, but hard to sleep with and they are ON-ear, which hirt my ears after an hour or so. The Bose Sleepbuds are okish, the best of all the products I tried, sadly discontinued. There was(is?) a reboot of the same product but do not have experience with those [0]. Anyone tried those ‘soft’ headband looking headphones for sleeping? Tips welcome<p>[0] <a href="https://ozlosleep.com/" rel="nofollow">https://ozlosleep.com/</a>
The author learned something. It takes balls to describe how dumb you were like that, but that modesty and openness is a great attitude to have for learning.
I explored similar solutions but recently switched from AirPods Pro to AirPods Pro 2. I was genuinely surprised by how much better the noise canceling was for my needs, such as working in the office and doing yard work.<p>Last night, I used them at a sporting event where loud techno music was playing, and I could hardly hear the music while clearly listening to my podcast.<p>Proper fit of the earbuds is absolutely key and AirPods don't match everyone's ear shape, so YMMV.
Sound proofing is really challenging. I've gone through similar dilemmas as the author. Just short of blocking all ability for air or vibrations to transfer, I don't think there's much you can do. Soft textures absorb sounds, which can kind of help. If it's via air ducts you can try to add baffles. I've been curious if there's studies on noise pollution and mental health.
I get to "enjoy" low-frequency bass from musical events at a public park about a half mile away from my home. It sounds to me like someone in a car just outside my window, just one of those cars that go boom. Sadly, it's just people having their brand of fun. No defense against being in the natural frequency node.
I'm really sensitive to sounds, my neighbours above me and to the sides of me tag teamed my life to almost suicide.<p>I had bose nc700s, I slept with loop quiets. I tried airpod pros, moving the furniture around but it seemed my bedroom was a bass resonator.<p>Moved to a semi detached house, it's so quiet.
I suffer this at work, mainly if I'm more in a thinking-mode than a doing-mode. I struggle very hard to concentrate and get anything done if there's noise around me. I'd be curious what model OP bought, maybe I could consider doing the same thing.
I'm curiously watching the room noise cancelling tech that manta sleep is building. Looks promising. Curious if folks have experience with similar devices?
I don't mean to be insensitive or offensive but this has always seemed like an XY problem to me.<p>There are certain activities that humanity needs to do that need to produce noise, that's just how it is (e.g. building houses). We as a society have acknowledged this and that's why we have laws that restrict the activities to certain hours (e.g. 6:00 to 22:00 in my country.<p>I also can hear the noises and they are also not pleasant to me, but I have learned to deal with it mentally or physically (leave while the noise is being made until it's illegal to make it).<p>I see it as an XY problem because it seems that the people who mind the noise think that they can make it go away by "muting" or "ignoring" the noise instead of accepting that the noise is inevitable and learning to deal with it.
Really appreciate this write up. Problems with noise almost destroyed my life a few times in SF, Marin, NYC and LA. Ironically moving to a more central urban location with mixed use zoning up in Sac seems to have solved my noise problems. Maybe a coincidence but go figure.<p>When some dog starts losing it for 6 hours straight though I still reach for my shop earmuffs and wax plugs over regular plugs. The trifecta. It's literally like being at the bottom of the ocean. I should do it more, my efficiency at work or on personal projects jumps up an order of magnitude. It's seriously like a super power everyone should try it.<p>PS would really love to see this entire post as an amazon review for Sony 1000XM4s. Just saying.
I very much miss our local Covid lockdown. For quite some time there were no cars on the road, people walking past and yelling at each other, planes overhead etc.