Sure: they're not very loud. That's the whole point. They are about half as loud as a road. I don't know what people find particularly terrible about the timbre

Sure: they're not very loud. That's the whole point. They are about half as loud as a road. I don't know what people find particularly terrible about the timbre, but personally, it seems OK. Another nice thing about quiet noises is that you very quickly can't hear them at all, so whatever magical properties they have, less people are effected by them than loud noises. Moreover, it's obviously important to include, in an article about noise 'torture', that these noises are by no means loud noises, just so your audience get an actual picture of what's going on. PS: I just realised, you thought my post was talking about you, and not the writer of the article! Apologies for offense caused: I was being rude about the journalist, not about you. Unless you are the journalist, in which case, offense absolutely meant.