[eli2k]

I moved into a dorm recently, and just my luck, my bedroom is right next to some weird ventilation fan for the building. Didn't notice the sound at first, but then at night, I finally heard it. I use Howard Leight Laser Lite ear plugs to help me sleep, but I can still clearly hear the noise of the motor, and it makes rapid click-click noise, which makes it difficult for me to sleep. I'm not sure if it's the vibration through the wall, or the sound of the motor itself. If I sleep without the ear plugs, it sounds like I left the window open to let all the noise in. I'm going to try asking housing/maintenance this week to see if they can help me.

But in the worst case, I was thinking of using my earplugs, with some sort of full-size over-the-ear headphones with noise cancelling, not the ones you stick inside your ear. I'm willing to keep a generous budget, since this is my sleep for the next year I'm trying to fix. I've used in-ear earphones in the past, so I've never tried any of these. Not sure which style (over-ear, in-ear) works better to eliminate noise. Audio quality is not important, I just need something to help me get a quiet night's sleep. Worst case I can play either soft music, or run a software to generation environment/nature sounds throughout the night. But it would help if I can play it at a low volume, and keep the noise isolated in the headphones, while at the same time eliminating the external sound. I'm open to online orders, but I live in Orange County, and if you know any AV specialty stores that I might be able to come in and try it out, that would be nice, too.

Thanks,
- Eli

 

[warrior05]

Audio Technica's ANC7 are good noise-cancelling 'phones - both in cancelling out ambient noise and they have decent SQ as well.

One other thing you might want to look into - a Marpac SleepMate which is a white noise generator. You can check it out on Amazon. I use one when visiting a friend's of mine who lives in the Bronx very close to a subway line. He also has noisy neighbors on the other side of the wall where his guests sleep.

 

[eli2k]

Quote:

Originally Posted by warrior05 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Audio Technica's ANC7 are good noise-cancelling 'phones - both in cancelling out ambient noise and they have decent SQ as well. One other thing you might want to look into - a Marpac SleepMate which is a white noise generator. You can check it out on Amazon. I use one when visiting a friend's of mine who lives in the Bronx very close to a subway line. He also has noisy neighbors on the other side of the wall where his guests sleep.

Thank you. I'll take a look at the Audio Technica headphones.

Are those white noise generators the same as computer software white noise generators?

 

[John Willett]

Ear defenders and ear plugs are good at attenuating high frequencies - use these in conjunction with good active noise reduction headphones to reduce the low frequencies.

Some ANR headphones have removable cables for when you want to use them for noise reduction without listening to music.

 

[nullstring]

I think I'd look into to IEM's

maybe soundmagic PL-30 for a cheap solution.

 

[warrior05]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eli2k /img/forum/go_quote.gif Are those white noise generators the same as computer software white noise generators?

I honestly don't know. Never played with white noise generators in general. I got the SleepMate because I'm an insomniac and was desperately looking for a solution and heard a lot of good things about the unit.

Also, someone just posted about a cheap pair of NC 'phones. You could try them out since you aren't interested in fidelity but just the NC tech.

 

[eli2k]

Quote:

Originally Posted by warrior05 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I honestly don't know. Never played with white noise generators in general. I got the SleepMate because I'm an insomniac and was desperately looking for a solution and heard a lot of good things about the unit.

Same problem I have.

I saw the post about the cheap NC, might give it a try. I hope my ear fits in the cushion thing, so the thing isn't compressing my ear during the night.

Do you guys know what online shops you would usually lookat, or are these sold directly by the company themselves?

 

[John Willett]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nullstring /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think I'd look into to IEM's

They will block the high frequencies, but not the lows - and the OP asked for low frequency cancellation, for which you need ANR headphones.