Thread: Hearing protection for low frequencies - what is there?

Ear protection is measured in DB not frequency, I would be looking at shooters ear protection if you contact the manufactures they may be able to tell you what frequencies they cover

Depending on the volumes were talking about, at a certain volume you end up feeling the noise. At which point id be surprised if none of the authorities are willing to act.

In regards to a solution, noise cancelling headphones (overear ones) combined with white noise can help maintain your sanity.

All the best

Contact the Council. There are rules for noise pollution, rules for hours in which noise levels must be reasonable - if they are intrusive and disturbing the levels are too high.

The police do not regulate this issue. The council does. Worked for me.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I feel for you, there's nothing worse than that deep thud, thud, thud that goes right through you. As Derek says, this is local government jurisdiction. I'd be on the local council's door step at opening time every morning until something was done.

Already contacted the council and police. Both useless, weak, pathetic. The council wants records of times, duration, sound level, etc over many months before they "act". I'm expected to buy a sound level meter.

I'm aware of the options gents/ladies, I'm aware of the council rules, I'm aware of the legalities and I'm aware of the police responsibilities. Enforcing any rules is the real problem when those with the responsibility and the authority for doing so make excuses for doing nothing.

I just need some adequate ear protection for low frequencies - that is the question.

Originally Posted by harry wall

Already contacted the council and police. Both useless, weak, pathetic. The council wants records of times, duration, sound level, etc over many months before they "act". I'm expected to buy a sound level meter.

Download a free app for your mobile - they are not perfect but they are close enough.

Some further research has given a couple of options so for the benefit of readers who may have similar issues:
- these ear muffs, according to a couple of reviews, may be better than others for low frequency noise... 3M XA007707954 (X5A) PELTOR X Series Premium Headband Ear Muffs (sydneytools.com.au)
- inserting ear plugs (like foam plugs for example) are good but they must be inserted correctly; that is, deeply within the ear canal.

Still keen to hear from other forum members on their experience. (I've also started the same topic in the metalworkers forum).

I think you will find it’s very hard to sleep while wearing ear muffs, unless you sleep flat on your back and don’t move at all.
I have a pair of noise canceling ear muffs that I can Bluetooth my music to, great for blocking outside noise, but I cannot sleep with them on. I have had better luck with the foam ear plugs. I can’t comment on their effectiveness on the doof doof music, but for general noise outside your room while trying to sleep, I find they do help.

Good quality noise cancelling headphones - Sennheiser, Bose, Sony, etc - will very substantially reduce the sound but not totally eliminate it. I find cheap brands are so irritating that they are counter effective.

But whether you can sleep with headphones is another issue.

We had the same issue when I was living in a share house 50 years ago, back in the days of open reel tape recorders.

Neighbour used to have extremely noisy parties, and didn't invite us. House mate spliced a bit of recorder tape to form an endless loop, and recorded a verse of God Save the Queen. The party started, noise built; we switched the stereo on at its full 100 watts - and went to the pictures. When we returned 4 hours later, God Save the Queen was still playing very loudly, but all was quiet next door.

Many neighbours complimented us on our choice of music and timing; immediate neighbours never said a word.

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

We had the same issue when I was living in a share house 50 years ago, back in the days of open reel tape recorders.

Neighbour used to have extremely noisy parties, and didn't invite us. House mate spliced a bit of recorder tape to form an endless loop, and recorded a verse of God Save the Queen. The party started, noise built; we switched the stereo on at its full 100 watts - and went to the pictures. When we returned 4 hours later, God Save the Queen was still playing very loudly, but all was quiet next door.

Many neighbours complimented us on our choice of music and timing; immediate neighbours never said a word.

Children's nursery songs work well.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by derekcohen

Children's nursery songs work well. ...

Ah, the power of the Wiggles!

Originally Posted by harry wall

- inserting ear plugs (like foam plugs for example) are good but they must be inserted correctly; that is, deeply within the ear canal.

This is the way. If they're not inserted properly, they do stuff all.

I spoke to an audiologist about this when getting my ears tested and having custom plugs made for work (not woodworking) and she said that they are not able to cut down particular frequencies. In my line of work cutting out high frequencies would be beneficial. I think headphones with active noise cancellation would be best