how to find a device that will block out all noise

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1

I am looking for heaphones/earplugs or any other device which will cancel out all the outside noise. I DO NOT want to listen to music/white noise/nature sounds or anything else. I want perfect silence in my ears.

I have tried the following :

  1. I have noise blocking headphones with a NRR rating of 33db
  2. I have foam earplugs (which expand in your ear) from Hearos
  3. I have Bose QC 25 noise cancelling headphones.

I usually wear my ear plugs and on top of that I wear my headphones and start active noise cancellation. That clears out most of the noise but I can still hear people talking in a muffled tone.

I want to eradicate all noise. I don't mind paying a large amount for the device (it might be a special medical device as well). I am planning to meet an audiobiologist as well, but first thought of asking for help on the internet. I have read several articles online for complete noise blocking but I could not find an answer to my question.

Please don't spam with answers that ask me to do the things that I have specifically mentioned that I won't do (e.g. listen to white, brown or pink noise, listen to music in a different language so that I don't understand the words, nature sounds, chatter blocker. I want nothing to be played. I want perfect silence.)

Thank you in advance.

EDIT:

If you do not have a device in mind, please tell me how I can find such a device. Where should I go? A specialist in this area would be an audiobiologist, is there any other type of doctor/specialist that I can consult.

user590849

Posted 2015-04-06T07:14:32.170

Reputation: 255

Question was closed 2015-04-06T07:56:22.907

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Your question conjures visions of the "cone of silence" from the Get Smart series (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1eUIK9CihA). There are earplugs that block a lot more than the basic foam plugs. Voices are difficult to totally block because that is the frequency range ears are optimized to hear.

– fixer1234 – 2015-04-06T07:51:19.910

1Please remove the "hold" on the question,. it is a useful question and it might help a lot of people. If not a specific product then tell me how to find such a product. I have searched the internet and there is nothing that comes close to an answer. It would help out a lot of developers in the open office seating arrangement to find an answer. – user590849 – 2015-04-06T20:45:23.317

It is a useful question, but this isn't a good place to ask it. Asking for product recommendations of any kind is off-topic. Also, you're trying to solve a problem with the human side of the equation. This site focuses on the silicon side. You couldn't even stretch it to say that it's about interfacing with the computer, because the next person would ask, "What's the best music to listen to while working on a computer". It's also too far outside the core expertise of the site, so it would attract speculative and opinion-based answers, which is off-topic. – fixer1234 – 2015-04-06T21:18:21.670

This is a good place to ask for it because this website is visited by a lot of programmers, people who would have faced this problem and are likely to have a solution. I don't mind the opinions because people can always say " this does not satisfy the blocking of all noise" in the comments and that answer will not be pursued further. This does focus on the silicon side of things in 2 ways - the answer will help people program better 2. It discusses the tech specs of different devices and tells people what things to look for (e.g. NRR) when trying to find a noise blocking device. – user590849 – 2015-04-07T22:56:44.890

If you could only unhold the question, see what happens and if then we see a lot of opinions/ un-necessary debates, maybe then we can put the question back on hold. Why assume that this will not bring the desired result if the problem is worth solving. – user590849 – 2015-04-07T22:57:45.897

Can we un-hold this question and move it to productivity.stackexchange.com? It's a new site and seems geared to questions like this. And the question is VERY important, as many users of the StackExchange family will agree since we work in open office environments. – Stephen – 2017-03-09T07:09:14.837

BTW, I don't think this necessarily falls under "hardware shopping" rule because the question is more generic: A good answer will be, what types of products can meet this need? As opposed to a specific brand or model number. FWIW I've been dealing with this problem currently, and my solution is to buy earmuffs. Typically used for protecting ears on firing ranges etc, but offer extremely high decibel attenuation. For extra effect, wear foam earphones or earplugs underneath. You're unlikely to hear anything except your own heart at that point. – Stephen – 2017-03-09T07:13:23.727

Answers

2

You can block noise only to a certain level. Your body (e.g. skull) will always transfer a minimal amount of noise to you ears. There are even noises transmitted through your nose and mouth, as both have small "channels" to you ear.

What works fine for me is the Howard Leight Sync which is a drummers headphone with optional music playback.

But remember, the better the noise blocking, the louder you hear your blood and pulse...

user118305

Posted 2015-04-06T07:14:32.170

Reputation:

I can try the headphones you are recommending, but they don't offer total noise cancelling. I am fine hearing my "blood and pulse.." I just don't want to hear anything from the outside. I am not accepting this answer as correct because it does not give me an answer to my question. – user590849 – 2015-04-06T08:16:11.417

I have up voted the answer for the effort though. – user590849 – 2015-04-06T08:16:28.150

Asked: 2015-04-06T07:14:32.170

Viewed: 13 807 times

Active: 2015-04-06T08:13:46.420