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> soldiers won’t wear their hearing protection around loud noises and in combat I haven't been in combat, thankfully, but I assume the problem is that you also
by Nition 3y ago
> soldiers won’t wear their hearing protection around loud noises and in combat
I haven't been in combat, thankfully, but I assume the problem is that you also want to hear quiet sounds clearly, and others around you talking etc?
In the audio world we would fix this with a compressor or a limiter. You set a loudness threshold and then reduce the component of the audio input that's above that threshold in volume by a fixed ratio, e.g. 4:1. A limiter is the same but the ratio is infinite (or near it), so the threshold becomes the maximum loudness. Basically, reduce the dynamic range.
I wonder how much it would cost to have active processing like that integrated into hearing protection. I'm sure they've thought of it.
Or maybe I'm thinking too fancy - maybe you could achieve the same thing without electronics. Loud sounds are just more pressure after all... could we have a little hole that's open in normal conditions but loud sounds push it closed?
I know this is probably one of those things where "random idiot on hacker news thinks he has a new idea that we've of course already researched thoroughly in the industry" but if these exit it'd be cool to see, or if they don't it'd be cool to know why.
- jiaaro 3y agoI’m not an industry expert either, but ear plugs don’t block sound taking other paths to the ear drum like bone conduction. The mix knob on this limiter can’t be turned to 100%
- Auracle 3y agoYeah, that’s absolutely already a thing for regular Joe Schmoe hearing protection. I have a pair. They’re big earmuff types though, not earplugs. I suppose they very well might exist now too. The fun thing about them is you can turn up the volume and essentially have super hearing while still keeping gun shots quiet.
- Nition 3y agoWould you mind sharing the brand? I'd just like to look them up out of interest.
- dreamcompiler 3y agoActive noise cancellation earmuffs are widely available. You can buy them at Walmart (at least in states where Walmart sells guns). One brand I found on their website is Radians for $30. Search for "active hearing protection." 3M even makes several dozen models called "Peltor". Some of them have Bluetooth so you can listen to tunes: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/c/ppe/hearing-protection/earmuffs/ https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/c/ppe/hearing-protection/earmu... I'm not certain these are all doing compression; the cheaper ones are probably just doing waveform inversion once the threshold is reached.