Controlling tha Noise?

Quite a few submitters have asked "How do you make a quiet PC". Well, rather than tackle it from the PC standpoint, how about devices that can quiet a whole environment? Along these lines, 16977 asks: "I've been considering building an active noise control system for an area about the size of a closet. ANC today doesn't work quite as well as it did in Silence, Please (works best for low frequencies, only covers small areas, etc.), but it is still a fascinating technology. I'm wondering if anyone out there has done similar projects with either the hardware or controlling software of ANC, and what information they have to share." And since I have your attention on this subject, sammy.lost-angel.com asks: "I would like to ask the slashdot community about their recommendations for noise-cancelling headphones. Traveling in planes is very noisy, and with MP3 players becoming more and more common, I would like to hear some experiences with various different noise cancelling headphones paired up with MP3 players. How well do they work in general? What is the best and most cost-effective headphones available?"

Comments

Re:active noise cancelation

[one-egg]

There was a review of noise-cancelling headphones in the LA Times a year or two ago. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the expensive ones worked better. But the most interesting comment in the story was a social one: on airplanes, everybody talks louder than normal. With the 'phones on, the writer could clearly hear conversations 3 rows back. He found it annoying -- but not nearly as annoying as the guy just behind him who hummed "Do you know the way to San Jose" over and over throughout the flight. Without the 'phones, he was inaudible, and I'm sure he had no idea anybody could hear him. Drove the writer nuts.

When I need peace and quiet...

[Black Parrot]

Whenever ambient noise starts getting on my nerves I put on The Who's Live at Leeds and listen to it at a naturalistic 130 db. By the time it's over, the background noise has faded almost to inaudibility. Just a bit of a ringing sensation, and that's about it. Like, you can hardly even hear the landlord pounding on the door.