Online simulation of noise cancelling ear protection?

December 9, 2020 11:40 AM

I'm not even sure this is technically feasible, but is there any sort of online simulator to compare the effect of different kinds of both passive and active noise cancellation?

I'm trying to find a way to hear the difference between and among anything from your basic foam earplugs to over-the-ear "ear defenders" to AirPods Pro to something like the Nuheara device. It's possible that even just some sort of widget where you can input a given Noise Reduction Rating and it applies that to a common set of sounds/soundscapes would suffice?

posted by bixfrankonis to Technology (5 answers total)

Like they play various ambient noises, and then simulate what that same noises would sound like through various active and passive isolation headphones and ear protection? That is certainly possible, though I don't know anyone who's doing it. And for in-ear stuff like AirPods and earplugs, the most important factor is fit, so it might be limited use because a website doesn't have like a 3d model of your ear canal or anything.

A single noise reduction rating is definitely not sufficient to be useful here though. You can see what straight accross-the-board 34 db of attenuation is like by playing some sounds and then turning down the volume by that much, but no ear protection has a flat curve like that. For passive isolation (i.e., earplugs, industrial ear protection) you could describe/model that with just an EQ curve (but again this may vary from person to person based on the fit), and active cancelation has more parameters yet. I think a system would have to have a database of products to be useful.

A real low-tech way to do it would be to just get a foam head, with microphones in the ears, and just try it, and make the sound files available (saying "set the volume for the unattenuated sound file, and don't change it")

Anyway: This is just ruminating on possibilities. I don't know of any site that provides this service.
posted by aubilenon at 12:52 PM on December 9, 2020

https://krisp.ai/ was suggested when I asked for NC headset recommendations this past summer.
posted by jon1270 at 12:53 PM on December 9, 2020

Don't believe this could ever work, they way you'd like. The limited fidelity provided by an analog signal via the internet can't reproduce the real-world audio spectrum, especially those deep-bass vibrations which any noise cancellation doesn't affect, since you feel them with your body, rather than hear them with your ears.
posted by Rash at 1:13 PM on December 9, 2020

noise reduction isn't the same thing as official, safety for your ears, decibel reduction--which is labeled on hearing protection devices. Hearing enhancement devices like Nuheara seem really interesting, but probably really hard to simulate. I'm mostly deaf in one ear, and can hear a lot better with my electronic hearing protection headset on because it eliminates most of the background noise but allows me to hear speech, vehicles, etc. It is a very subjective experience. Some noise cancelling/enhancement products make me feel claustrophobic when they are on their highest setting, i have to turn my Bose QC35's to the middle setting--but it is a feeling, not a an issue with sound--if that makes sense.
posted by th3ph17 at 1:40 PM on December 9, 2020 [1 favorite]

Doesn't work like that, unfortunately.

And ear protection (EarPro as it's sometimes called) had to be designed toward a certain frequency range and impulse range. You can buy earpro for pistols and rifles, and those are seriously looking headphones that enclose your entire ear.

There's also different levels of passive vs active noise-canceling, and that obviously depends on the algorithm, the amount of blocking, etc. Just on passive, you can get those triple-baffled silicone plugs (like those for Etymonics headphones, and they are really quiet. There are also cheaper foam plugs. On the active side, results depend on the type of noise and how fast the processor is.

Too many variables.
posted by kschang at 6:34 PM on December 10, 2020