Solution to sound sensitivity!

[Anonymous]

I am extremely sensitive to sounds that I find loud and unsettling. I live in Toronto and take public transit. The streetcars and subways are especially nerve-wracking.

Some time ago I purchased noise-cancelling headphones that go right over the entire ear and…….. Ta Da!….. No more frayed nerves!

They come with adapters that also plug into mini iPods and airplane sound systems for movies when travelling. You can listen to music or movies and use the noise cancelling feature at the same time.

You still hear people talk, but the headphones cancel out electronic sounds, airplane engines (great for travelling), bus engines, kitchen appliances (the ‘Bullet’ is a killer!).

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[Anonymous]

WOW ………….. So I.m not the only one. Sometimes I just want to rip the hair out of my head. There are time I just want to snap. Many , many time I have brought this to the attention on my doctor and it has been brushed under the carpet and I leave with no answer to what it is. Have suffered a long time with this to the point of just staying close to home most of the time so I can controll my noise levels around me. I have resorted to ear plug in my home with my family, not to totally block them out just to lower the level and my anxiety. I have just join this web site and did the self test for ADD and am 100% sure that I have it. This web site was introduce to me from my sons’ counselor who has just confirm that my son has ADD. I have been to hell and back with my son’s school and myself trying to fix what I thought was a discipline problem. It just feels good to know that someone else has noise sensitivgities.

Have A Great Day

Totallyshocked

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[Anonymous]

I’m trying to find a good over the ear headset for at work. My issue is they have to have a mic and be USB. I work in a call centre and have a hell of a time when it gets loud or busy. I have to go buy the headset myself to test if they’ll be good enough sound quality for my Network Admin. Then if they break they’re mine to replace.

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[ADDled]

I have been using noise canceling headphones for about a year and a half now. I can say that sometimes they work for me, but a lot of the times when voices of people around me (as opposed to the voices already in my head…) still gets through.

I think NC headphones are designed to allow the human voice to still filter through so others can get your attention, so I’m a little disappointed that way. It’s fine for reducing general background noise such as air conditioners or the hum of traffic or flying in a jet somewhere. There is some noise reduction when listening to other voices, but not enough though.

There are several “loud-talkers” in my department and when the three or four of them get together I have this overwhelming urge to want to puncture my eardrums with an ice-pick. You’d think that working in a cube farm you’d want to keep your voice down…just out of courtesy for those of us that have to work.

I found the best way to overcome that distraction is to plug the Bose into the iPhone and play my music. Loud. The audio quality is awesome. I know there are a lot of people that don’t like Bose, but listening is believing. The other thing I was considering was using the foam ear-plugs in addition to the headphones.

As part of my accommodation at work, I have requested a quiet location for working, but they’re response has been “Well, we tried but there is no space available anywhere that will meet your requirements”. And that’s true, there is not a cube empty in the whole place.

I’ve even asked if I can work from home, but that got turned down quickly. I kinda expected that. Why did I even bother?

But I digress….

ShaneG: what about those funky headsets pilots wear? I think they provide noise reduction in addition to receiving and transmitting radio communications. David Clark and Bose are two of the leading makers.

Just as a general observation, the headphones that completely surround the ear, as opposed to some units that fit on the ear are far superior in noise reduction. They can be a little more uncomfortable to wear, but I’ve had no issues with the Bose headphone. I’ll wear them for hours a day sometimes and my only complaint is that your head might get a little warm if your office isn’t air conditioned.

Hope this helps….and good luck.

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[Anonymous]

I got a pair today to try. Gotta wait till next week to get IT to install softphone to use them but we’ll see how that goes.

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[Anonymous]

I actually just bought a pair myself. Not for work – I am going to a football game today. My husband and I have season tickets to our favorite team (go University of Louisville!) Any time we have gone to the game before I end up with a migraine headache because of all of the stimulation.

I did not get noise cancelling headphones. I got noise isolating. Instead of absorbing the sound around the wearer it blocks the sounds from your ears. The ear buds actually are like ear plugs. I got the headphones. They really just surround your ear. I tried them at home and could barely notice the radio right next to me. I am going to listen to the game on the radio to keep up with what is going on.

I am excited to see how it goes!

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[Anonymous]

lostinthestars: What is the differents between cancelling headphones and isolating headphones and were would I go to purchase a set

Thanks

Have A Great Day

Totallyshocked

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[LionDormant]

Noise-canceling headphones cancel noise, and isolating headphones isolate you from noise. O.K., that doesn’t really answer the question, does it?

Noise canceling headphones actually have a microphone to pick up ambient sound, and they actually reproduce this sound in the headphone, but out of phase – that is, the sound wave is shifted slightly so that the waves produced by the headphone cancel out the waves produced by the train, plane, or automobile. For that reason, they are best for low, droning sounds (no, not Patrick).

Isolation is achieved by blocking the sound from getting to your ear. The two choices I can think of right now are closed-style headphones and in-ear headphones. Closed-style headphones generally are rather large and fit around the ear, rather than on it (but some open-style headphones fit like that too). Audiophiles prefer open-style for the sound quality, but if you want to block out sound, you want closed. In-ear headphones are small, like earbuds, but fit in the ear canal and have some sort of gasket to make a seal that holds them snug and blocks out ambient sound. The seal is usually silicone, and extra sizes are usually included to fit most ears.

Personally, I use Etymotic in-ear headphones for my iPod – they have amazing sound and they’re very compact, but they’re way expensive. Shure makes some amazing in-ear headphones at various price points, from expensive to way expensive. I’ve found Sony to be less durable, but they’re good value, and there are other brands like Panasonic that are pretty good and pretty inexpensive.

I use closed-style headphones to listen to music on my computer when I am at work. Two reasons for that; they are less effective at isolating sound (so less chance that I’ll miss a phone call) and, even more important, people can tell I am wearing headphones (so they won’t think I’m ignoring them). I guess there’s one more reason – I can wear the headphones without listening to music so that I can cut down the office noise quite a bit, yet still maintain the ability to eavesdrop on conversations between who people think I can’t hear them (it’s important to resist the urge to butt in if you want to maintain the illusion).

It used to be pretty hard to find the in-ear type, but now even Staples carries some models. Wal-Mart or Future Shop or Best Buy should have a range of options, but if you’re fussy you might want to check the web to get an idea of what you’re looking for. Maybe take a look at Sennheiser, Sony, Shure, or maybe even some brands that don’t start with S.

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[Anonymous]

I never figured it out until the headphones………I HATED vacuuming because of the noise!

Also using certain kitchen appliances.

What a difference!

: )

Now if it could only cancel the noise of the idiots walking down my street at night yelling into their cell phones, I’d be laughing!

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[Patte Rosebank]

Now that some places have installed the latest “high efficiency” hand-dryers, I have another sound to add to the top of the list of “noises I can’t stand”.

The old-style hand-dryers were loud, but not like this. Also, the noise of the older dryers is fairly low-pitched. The noise of the new ones has very high-pitched elements, as the blast of air swirls around your hands. It’s almost like fingernails on a blackboard.

In the Eaton Centre’s public washrooms, the noise is so loud that it hurts me to even be in the same room with it. You can imagine the “fun” of trying to use the loo with one’s fingers jammed into one’s ears.

Actually standing in front of the dryers and using them is so painful that I can’t stand to do it. So I just wipe my wet hands on my clothes, and get the hell out of there as fast as I can.

I wonder if this is just a matter of my being hyper-sensitive to the noise, or if these dryers are loud enough to cause hearing loss.

Either way, I still have to wipe my hands on my clothes, just as I did when faced with the old dryers. Only, instead of doing it because of the inefficiency of the dryer, I’m doing it because I absolutely cannot tolerate the noise.

So much for “progress”…

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[walkwithfarmgirl]

So nice to hear all this–all this time I thought it was just me!

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[Anonymous]

It’s nice to know I am not the only one with this problem. It bothers me most when I am reading or thinking hard about something. The noise abruptly intrudes and I about snap. It takes so long for me to get in the zone with reading and then when someone interrupts it takes awhile to get back in the zone. Like riding a bike uphill and once you build up some speed someone stops you, only to start over again. Totally frustrating!

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[Anonymous]

Thank-you all very much for confirmiming that it is not just me! Between having noise sending me through the roof and being told (occasionally) to lower my voice life has been shall we say… hard!!!!?/.>,<???? totallyadd.com rocks!

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[billd]

Hmm, I have to have some sounds to concentrate. I turn the TV on if I want to read or work on the computer. OTOH, other sounds, the clock ticking, chimes, things I can’t control distract me. In my shop, some days I’ve got to plug in a Queen tape and crank it up, other days I say “I’m sick of all the noise, I want complete silence. And in my shop, it’s pretty quiet.

It almost seems to be a control or choice issue for me – if I can choose the sound, I want it. If I can’t, then I can’t get it blocked fast enough. Does that make sense?

Sometimes riding in a car with other people – I just want to say – can’t you just sit here in the car and not talk? (while I try to listen to my music)

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[Anonymous]

For me, to be able to concentrate on a book, I need either a totally quiet place or a chaos of TV and radio playing togheter. But if, in either situation, I hear a neighbor do any sound at all, it drives me berserk! At night I always sleep with ear plugs. I can’t stand any sound waking me up. I’ll try and get me those isolating headphones!

The weirdest thing is, I can’t stand the ringing of the Intercom system at work, but when I ask others if they also think it’s way to loud they seem surprise by my asking. They don’t think it is!

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[Author]

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