Comment by msluyter | Hacker News Reader

Comment by msluyter | Hacker News Reader

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I'm extremely sensitive to sound, and I've been hoping that the the powers that be will eventually come to the realization that open seating plans are highly suboptimal (http://www.infoq.com/news/2011/08/open-office-layout, for example).

I've used a decibel meter on occasion and have observed that my current office sometimes averages 75-80 db. Which, were I in a coffee shop, I could tolerate for some reason[1] much better than at the office.

In any event, I'm now highly dependent on noise canceling headphones (these I highly recommend: http://www.bose.com/controller?url=/shop_online/headphones/n...)

[1] My guesses are a) local conversations at work capture my attention in ways that anonymous ones at a coffee shop don't, b) coffee shops play music and tend to have other noise that create a generalized din that actually works a bit like white noise.

> I'm now highly dependent on noise canceling headphones

When you wear them are you listening to music, white/pink noise, etc. or just have them on with nothing playing?

What kinds of noises do they cancel best, and what do they have the most trouble cancelling?

+1 on the noise canceling headphones. They're best at canceling ambient noises. Human voices around you do tend to somewhat leak in. Thats suppressed too if you put some music on. The other advantage is that you tend to hear music on much lowers volumes since a lot of the background noise is cut out.

I've also used dB meters (there are Apple and Android apps), which can be quite revealing.

Server closets in offices can be amazingly loud, even through closed doors. The worst are false ceilings and hard-surfaced walls, which can reflect and amplify sound.

Agree on your anonymous conversations observation.

and have observed that my current office sometimes averages 75-80 db.

Is that A-weighted ("dBA") or linear? If that result is A-weighted, that noise level is dangerously loud - it may meet OSHA but it's almost certainly causing or contributing to hearing damage.

I'm not sure -- it was just a free meter off the apple app store. That level isn't constant; it's just what happens when everyone around you is having animated conversations simultaneously. I probably shouldn't have said "averages." More like, averages over short bursts of time.

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