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I really want a successor to the Hear One buds. I was going to wait for v2 to dive in the ecosystem. I'm surprised the company folded. > I nominate the wonderf

I really want a successor to the Hear One buds. I was going to wait for v2 to dive in the ecosystem. I'm surprised the company folded. > I nominate the wonderful Here One smart earbuds from Doppler Labs. They had assorted tricks, but one was an absolute life-changer for me, for the year or so it lasted. In a crowded restaurant or bar, with lots of other people talking at once, it let you “focus” your hearing, via a little pointer in the app, so you could hear only the person or small group you wanted to hear. The rest was muffled out. It was like having a directional mic you could point at the people you wanted to hear. It was smart enough to know (mostly) which voices to focus on and which to muffle.

adhesive_wombat 3y ago
Or maybe (shakes fist at clouds) they should just turn that gosh-durn music down! If there's not even a dance floor, why is it fun to have to shout to the person next to you and have your ears ringing the next day? It's it simply that if you can't talk, you buy more drinks?
- ChrisLTD 3y ago
  Even if the music is low, drunk crowds can be loud enough to impair my ability to hear a conversation.
  - adhesive_wombat 3y ago
    I do also have this problem in large/crowded/concrete-walled venues (looking at you, Pizza Express), but it's so annoying when there's an entirely optional 85dB+ noise floor apparently just to make absolutely certain I can't hear a thing anyone says until I say "screw it" and head home to nurse the tinnitus.
    - rad_gruchalski 3y ago
      It’s done on purpose. It’s done so that people don’t feel too comfortable, eat, pay, and gtfo.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- midoridensha 3y ago
  It's not just music, it's also the noise of people talking, combined with the interior design of the restaurant so that sound bounces off all the surfaces. I read somewhere that there's been a trend in American restaurants to intentionally make them noisy like this.
- jlokier 3y ago
  A local ice-cream and bagels café had extremely loud music. It was also the only place you could go at night which wasn't a drinking establishment, so it was packed with students and people like me reading books or with their laptops, or couples talking. The music was so loud I found it painful and when I sat in there I wore earbuds plus noise cancelling headphones over the top to block out some of the sound. One day the music got even louder and stayed that way for weeks. Eventually I asked them if they could turn it down. They said no, they had decided to play the music louder so that customers wouldn't linger after eating their ice cream or drinking their coffee. Making room for more people to come in. The same place also had a 30 minute wi-fi access policy after each purchase. It took me longer than 30 minutes to drink a mug of hot tea! Amazingly the music is still painfully loud and it's still popular. I waited outside recently while a friend got their bagel, because I was holding a baby and we both felt the noise level was dangerous to the little one's hearing. It's just an ice cream and bagel café ffs. I doubt anyone enjoys the music and I expect the staff's hearing is damaged by their policy.

adhesive_wombat 3y ago

Or maybe (shakes fist at clouds) they should just turn that gosh-durn music down! If there's not even a dance floor, why is it fun to have to shout to the person next to you and have your ears ringing the next day? It's it simply that if you can't talk, you buy more drinks?

ChrisLTD 3y ago
Even if the music is low, drunk crowds can be loud enough to impair my ability to hear a conversation.
- adhesive_wombat 3y ago
  I do also have this problem in large/crowded/concrete-walled venues (looking at you, Pizza Express), but it's so annoying when there's an entirely optional 85dB+ noise floor apparently just to make absolutely certain I can't hear a thing anyone says until I say "screw it" and head home to nurse the tinnitus.
  - rad_gruchalski 3y ago
    It’s done on purpose. It’s done so that people don’t feel too comfortable, eat, pay, and gtfo.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
midoridensha 3y ago
It's not just music, it's also the noise of people talking, combined with the interior design of the restaurant so that sound bounces off all the surfaces. I read somewhere that there's been a trend in American restaurants to intentionally make them noisy like this.
jlokier 3y ago
A local ice-cream and bagels café had extremely loud music. It was also the only place you could go at night which wasn't a drinking establishment, so it was packed with students and people like me reading books or with their laptops, or couples talking. The music was so loud I found it painful and when I sat in there I wore earbuds plus noise cancelling headphones over the top to block out some of the sound. One day the music got even louder and stayed that way for weeks. Eventually I asked them if they could turn it down. They said no, they had decided to play the music louder so that customers wouldn't linger after eating their ice cream or drinking their coffee. Making room for more people to come in. The same place also had a 30 minute wi-fi access policy after each purchase. It took me longer than 30 minutes to drink a mug of hot tea! Amazingly the music is still painfully loud and it's still popular. I waited outside recently while a friend got their bagel, because I was holding a baby and we both felt the noise level was dangerous to the little one's hearing. It's just an ice cream and bagel café ffs. I doubt anyone enjoys the music and I expect the staff's hearing is damaged by their policy.