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Ear defenders like Peltor Optime III are good for near sensory-deprivation levels of quietness, it's almost a relief to take them off after an hour and hear som

Ear defenders like Peltor Optime III are good for near sensory-deprivation levels of quietness, it's almost a relief to take them off after an hour and hear some ambient noise...

LeifCarrotson 8y ago
I can't stand working in an open office with passive hearing protection (working in the shop is different, of course). They filter out all the high-frequency white noise, but I can still hear all the speech, just with a small added bit of straining to make out all the words. There's a variety of devices that can be worn: - Over-the-ear passive earmuffs, ex Peltor Optime III: Visible to others, reduce all ambient sounds, some people can wear headphones beneath them. Comfortable, but somewhat heavy. - In-ear earplugs, ex 3M 90585-00000T: Not very visible to others, reduce all ambient sounds, no headphones. Comfort varies, lightweight. - Over-ear Active Noise Cancelling [ANC] headphones, ex Bose QuietComfort: Visible, reduce ambient noise but not ambient speech. Comfortable, heaviest option, require batteries. Some new expensive in-ear options available. - In-ear headphones playing music: Not very visible, reduce ambient sounds by virtue of playing louder sounds over top and drowning out dynamic range of ears. Comfortable, lightweight, requires cables or batteries. May cause hearing damage at volume levels sufficient to drown out ambient speech. - Over-ear passive earmuffs over headphones: A bit clunky to take off, but have the benefits of both. My problem -- or rather, my employer's problem -- is that I'm an indiscriminate eavesdropper. If someone's talking near me (or people are talking on the radio or TV), I find it extremely difficult to ignore the conversation. Active or passive noise cancelling does a much better job of canceling out the background than speech, increasing the SNR of the open-office chatter I want to drown out. I wish there was an option for ANC that would actively reduce ambient speech.

Ear defenders like Peltor Optime III are good for near sensory-deprivation levels of quietness, it's almost a relief to take them off after an hour and hear some ambient noise...

LeifCarrotson 8y ago

I can't stand working in an open office with passive hearing protection (working in the shop is different, of course). They filter out all the high-frequency white noise, but I can still hear all the speech, just with a small added bit of straining to make out all the words. There's a variety of devices that can be worn: - Over-the-ear passive earmuffs, ex Peltor Optime III: Visible to others, reduce all ambient sounds, some people can wear headphones beneath them. Comfortable, but somewhat heavy. - In-ear earplugs, ex 3M 90585-00000T: Not very visible to others, reduce all ambient sounds, no headphones. Comfort varies, lightweight. - Over-ear Active Noise Cancelling [ANC] headphones, ex Bose QuietComfort: Visible, reduce ambient noise but not ambient speech. Comfortable, heaviest option, require batteries. Some new expensive in-ear options available. - In-ear headphones playing music: Not very visible, reduce ambient sounds by virtue of playing louder sounds over top and drowning out dynamic range of ears. Comfortable, lightweight, requires cables or batteries. May cause hearing damage at volume levels sufficient to drown out ambient speech. - Over-ear passive earmuffs over headphones: A bit clunky to take off, but have the benefits of both. My problem -- or rather, my employer's problem -- is that I'm an indiscriminate eavesdropper. If someone's talking near me (or people are talking on the radio or TV), I find it extremely difficult to ignore the conversation. Active or passive noise cancelling does a much better job of canceling out the background than speech, increasing the SNR of the open-office chatter I want to drown out. I wish there was an option for ANC that would actively reduce ambient speech.