[xluben]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mercuttio I've got to disagree with you there... I found the Q2C to be quite overrated even as a noise canceller. It blocks out lower frequency humming sounds, but has absolutely no insolation against anything in a higher frequency, like voices.

No active noise cancelling devices will do a good job blocking out voices. They are designed to help stop constant, repeated noise (like jet engines, fans, etc). I think the QC2's may work well for this situations, but are fairly costly if not being used for music. Also, as mentioned before, active noice cancellation circuits will cut much less noise than passive solutions (earplugs).

 

[jagorev]

I really think the Etymotic ER-20 is worth looking into. These aren't just like foam earplugs which attenuate everything. They attenuate evenly, but still let you hear noise from outside. I think they might let you maintain enough awareness of your situation to hear voices.

 

[nsjong]

The poster should be making oxymorons.

I mean things that will block out noise but let in noise at the same time?

 

[JeffS]

I'll add another vote for the er-20.

I wear them quite often when out at bars or loud venues. I can still hear all of the conversations around me without any issues, but it blocks out most of the distant background noise. The really don't block sound as much as they lower the volume.

for about $15 it's worth a shot. If you've got a Guitar Center near you, you can pick them up there. They're sold as Hearos Hi Fidelity ear plugs. Etymotic links to these on there website, it's just a rebranding.

-Jeff

 

[JJ15k]

you can t have everything, i also have the pxc250 active noise cancelling headphone, and it is only working for low frequency noise and even then it s not that efficient, is the air conditionning is really annoying i don t think such a headphone would alleviate the problem.
Earplugs are the way to go, really

 

[Ko Nectic Jazz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nsjong The poster should be making oxymorons. I mean things that will block out noise but let in noise at the same time?

I've been thinking exactly the same thing.
Stop noise but should let noise be heard...

Nobody has invented a noice selective cancelling.
Even Bose doesn't.

Another idea : how'bout your fingers in your ears ?...

 

[RockinOut]

I used to be a tech at an auto dealership, and it's $%#*# loud for 8-10 hours.

I went to Best Buy and tried three sets of cheap ($50-100) noise cancelling headphones from Phillips and Sony.

Without music, they do take away some low frequency noise quiet well because they're designed for airplane and train noise. Over a long period of time, they made the droning rumbling noise of my service bay less fatiguing. You stated that you wanted something to get rid of the "sonic pressure." That's how active noise canceling feels to my ears. Less pressure, less fatigue.

I could still hear my coworkers and the PA paging speakers calling me. I don't know about subtle sound though, although many of these headphones have an adjustment that allows you to modulate the intensity of noise cancellation.

I returned them, found this forum and got IEM's instead because I wanted total isolation and music to boogie to.

I never tried Ety 20's, but from the specs, from what I remember, don't work that well with low frequency noise, I may be wrong. Something to look into for sure as an option.

You got a lot of helpful responses: I guess you're just gonna have to jump in and start trying some stuff out. Just make sure you can return stuff and get your money back. Many places like Best Buy and Circuit City will give you your money back. Try the cheap ones out first, to me they worked well for what they are.

Unfortunately, I don't really see any other "solutions."

Good luck.

 

[creyc]

The solution is of course a set of Etymotic ER6i's (lots of isolation, not too expensive) coupled to a custom push-to-hear device using a dramatic EQ to kill all but a bit of midrange, so you can hear co-worker and phones ringing..etc..

However, I don't know if anyone has yet done this in hardware. It would be fairly easy if you have a computer sitting in front of you at your desk, plug in a mic and run a software EQ. The Etymotics would kill most everything, and the mic would only add back in a bit of the vocal range of the sound spectrum.

 

[creyc]

[Update] Today I tried this at the office and it does indeed work as i suspected. I used Ableton Live with the built-in mic on my powerbook and some adjustments to the EQ in Live as well as employing the use of a "Gate" which cuts out all noise below a certain noise "floor" you set. This makes your environment completely silent unless something considerably louder than usual occurs. Such examples would be someone asking you a question (to which you'll be able to respond without much effort) as well as hear a phone ringing.

It takes a bit of playing around with but you should give it a try and it doesn't require much more than a pair of headphones and some software you can find here.

 

[IZCool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidFilmer I should have mentioned in my original post... I also need to be able to hear conversations and other things (computers beeping & chiming, etc) around me - ear plugs or any passive noise-blocking devices are not an optinon. The only option is something that will help filter the HVAC rumbling and oppressive white noise pressure, but not seriously impede my ability to hear other office sounds (some of which are rather subtle). So passive abatement is out. I believe that only an active solution will do the job.

I would seriously look at getting a pair of Etymotic (Elacin) ER-25 ear plugs. They're custom moulded so they are sooooo comfortable and they have a flat response.... effectively turning down the volume on life by about 25dB.
http://etymotic.com/ephp/erme.aspx

Others have suggested the ER-20 which is a non-custom product (of similar properties but it has about 20dB reduction instead), but it might be worth considering the custom ones.