Noise-canceling headphones with a DO NOT DISTURB light can't silence your critics The Register's Sydney eyrie will soon be demolished, so Vulture South needs a new office and we're probably going to nestle into a shared workspace. Which is why I decided to try out the Jabra Evolve 80, a pair of noise-canceling headphones that feature red lights on the earpieces designed to warn people you do not wish to be …
While I like that concept, letting my coworkers Darwin themselves out of existence is fine by me, but I'd start with a simple desktop sign on a folded cardboard plaque that read "If the red lights are on I'm busy. Please leave me a note or come back later when the red lights are off. Thank you."
This would let them know I'm hard at work, "in the zone", & if they disturb me it might prove more than they bargained for (like me pulling a Milton & reaching for my red Swingline). But if they simply leave me a note on the pad I'd leave for that purpose on the side of my desk, then I'd get back to them once I come up for air. Unless it's something critical (unlikely) or an emergency (not impossible) then it can wait.
But I still like the idea of an R2D2 style AEGIS Point Defense System sitting atop my monitor & programmed to ignite the flamethrower at anyone that can't take the hint.
*Ominous cackle*
@AC Re: Rolf Harris mug
I'm impatiently waiting for my Tobias Funke* mug (somewhat NSFW) for office use. I suspect (and hope!) it'll have the same result in deterring people from bugging me during the day.
Thanks to an accident caused by a Drunk Driver I suffer with Hyperacusis.
In order for me to function outside of my home I have to wear Noise-Canceling Headphones and quite often industrial grade earplugs as well.
Before I started wearing a little hand made sign in a plastic conventioneers ID badge holder people would come up to me and start shouting, assuming I was listening to music or some sports broadcast. Since I started using the sign very few people speak before reading the sign, saving me considerable annoyance and them the ensuing embarrassment of being asked to please talk at a normal level, I can hear you just fine.
A simple "Please Do Not Disturb" sign should have a similar effect on your co-workers.
Having bounced around a few offices in the city (started at Market Street, been in the Rocks, Surry Hills and now Sussex Street) I found WeWork Pyrmont to be rather nice, price wasn't too bad for the co-hab spaces (I ended up with a dedi-desk as I didn't fancy moving all my crap everyday in the freerange desks).
They have ping pong tables, lots of cool meeting rooms that scale to your needs and, oh yeah, free beer on tap..
So you can turn the red lights on then drink beer and play ping-pong without any interruptions?
There may necessarily be some beer-induced interruptions, unless you're suitably prepared.
All the active noise cancelling headphones I've seen only cancel the lower frequencies, below 300Hz.
For higher frequencies, which includes most of voice's spectral power you're probably better off with some earplugs or well insulated cans.
Here are the results of a scientific review:
https://www.lifewire.com/measure-noise-cancelling-in-headphones-3134548
Earplugs - unless sold specifically for music gigs - don't attenuate all frequencies equally. That said, I've used them with some big Sennheisers over the top when sleeping on busses - the music sounded a bit murky and distant, but was fine to fall asleep to.
The above link is good, but I'm not sure I'd paraphrase as the OP above did. A lot of reviews are hailing the Sony MDR 1000X noise-cancelling headphones as the supplanting Bose as the new king.
https://www.whathifi.com/sony/mdr-1000x/review
Best bit of kit that I've used is Shure SE215 noise isolating earphones. They combine ear plugs, which knock just short of 40 dB off the background noise, and some good quality headphone drivers. All for change out of £100. They've made my life in a noisy open-plan office far more tolerable
That lifewire link shows the cancellation characteristics of some fairly terrible noise cancelling headphones though, as an awful lot of them are.
The gold-standard has been the Bose QC series. They just happen to have a lifewire test on the in-ear QC20s - showing significant attenuation in the usual low frequencies, but also above 300Hz all the way to about 5kHz.
The reason no one else comes close is because bose have significant patents regarding noise cancelling, filed between 2001-2010 which have plenty of life left in them, and in the real world, mean if you're buying anything other than bose for noise cancelling, you're more than likely wasting your money because nothing else comes close - they did some innovation in the noughties and have the market stitched up for the next few years.
Of course, it's a pity for audiophiles as they have the old adage - no highs, no lows? must be bose.
Sennheiser PXC 450
Come reasonable close to the Bose in terms of noise cancellation and they have bigger cans - something of importance when you have big ears and need to wear them for extended periods of time [as in 6 plus hours at a time for several successive days at a time].
I've been using the same pair, my second in the last 7 years for nearly 3 years and they are still going strong with only a fresh set of foam pads about once a year to keep the seal tight.
They have a removable cable so don't have to deal with the aggravation of a dangling wire trying to strangle me when I just want the noise canceling.
Excellent battery life as well, operating for circa 20 hours on a single AAA alkaline cell.
This post has been deleted by its author
This post has been deleted by its author
I find this kind of noise is "blankable"
It depends on the type of aircraft. When I'm in the office, we get some aircraft noise from jets flying over to/from the nearby airport, but that's something I seem to have got used to.
At home, on the other hand, I'm quite close to a military training range. A Typhoon screaming overhead at 200' (or the occasional Hercules or Atlas flying low and tactical) is far from blankable...but they look cool, so I don't mind so much.
'I find this kind of noise is "blankable", it's the constant talking and people moving that I find distracting.'
Unfortunately I have this terrible condition where I have to try and identify any aircraft I hear, although I agree people talking is a distraction from that.
For a long time the Bose QC have been reviewed as the best at cancelling noise, but recently the wired/wireless Sony MDR 1000X have been compared to them. For a similar price the Sonys have more features, and will still function as wired headphones with a flat battery. They also have a mic for calls, and can use LDAC - a high resolution Bluetooth audio codec that Sony has donated to the AOSP and is included in Oreo.
The QCs do all of those things, to be fair. The thing I really like about the Sonys is the clever touchpad on the side, letting you temporarily "un-mute" the world, skip tracks, pause and a bunch of other nifty things. Plus it has real cancellation profiles and decent EQ, with Bose and their godawful app are sorely lacking.
If the MDR-1000Xs had been out when I got my QC35s I'd probably have gone for them instead.
This post has been deleted by its author
Yes. Unsurprisingly airlines have figured out that running their engines at peak efficiency burns less fuel, which is now required given the huge competition in the airlines business.
Thankfully gas turbines tend to have peak efficiencies at high-end of their power range, so we're not pootling around at 56mph like your average Prius hyper-miler, but we're going slower than we did 20 years ago.
"Thankfully gas turbines tend to have peak efficiencies at high-end of their power range"
This is because the compressors consume terrifying amounts of power over almost the entire range, even at idle. At cruising thrust levels, something like two-thirds of the output power of the engine core is consumed by the compressor.
Expression of wild-eyed, maniacal insanity, responding to every query with "What was that, Mr Flibble? Two hours W-O-O? Yes, that will teach him for being a bread basket" and filling the spaces with mumbled rants. They don't even have to be coherent, just make sure they sound ominous.
Worked for me for years, headphones optional. It's all spare cycles anyway.
oh, those headphones look fab! Just saying!
well done, mate!
look, why is that red ring on, is it, like, a feature?
you what?!
nah, nothing, just wanted to take a piss!
I don't know why you're so popular today, but I thought I should let you know!
I don't know if you heard this, cause you're wearing those phones, you know, but...
...
(muffled) humming sound (vacuum)
Pete Townshend sees major problems coming for kids who live with earphones stuffed in their lugholes. He blames his hearing loss at least in part on using headphones throughout his career*.
I hope today’s technology is better but the advice is:
Get the best phones you can.
Have them professionally fitted if the manufacturer offers such a service.
Use noise cancellation avidly when necessary so you ..,
.... DON’T PLAY EM TOO LOUD.
*’Course, Keith Moon setting off explosives in lifts didn’t help. Nor did playing in the band which for many years held the record for the loudest in history (Charlton Athletic football ground if memory serves - 1974?) BUT his warning should still be taken at face value.
Even without active mouse cancelling, passive mouse blocking earbuds (professionally fitted, or try different sized tips or Comply foam tips) will still reduce the ambient mouse so that music doesn't need to be played so loudly. As for closed-back over-the-ear headphones, try some til you find a good comfortable fit that reduces mouse.
Most music venues these days are better at having PA systems that don't damage hearing as easily - medical science and PA design has advanced since the eighties - but I wouldn't go to a festival without some cheap earplugs. More expensive earplugs (made for gigs) attenuate all frequencies equally, but that doesn't matter for all genres of music.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
