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How to Block out Noise before It Kills Your Work and Study Performance

Noise affects you as a professional, office worker, teacher, and student. It impairs your ability to read and write effectively, remember what you have learned, and do math. Everyday noise can cause a performance loss of 50 percent or more. This is easily the difference between an A and an F. Luckily there are some smart ways to block out and mask noise so it doesn’t disrupt you.Block out noise and improve cognitive-performance

A good 18 months ago, I was sitting on my balcony watching an online lecture on my computer. My balcony is facing a small aisle, but the traffic noise from a nearby road is still very noticeable.  I was wearing decent earbuds, so the noise wasn’t bothering me – or so I thought.

Just out of curiosity, I put on a pair of earmuffs, which I had purchased earlier to block out noises that often startle me during my early-afternoon naps.

Well, they did a hell of a job with the traffic noise: I was sitting there, and all the honking, squeaking and rumbling had receded into the background. It wasn’t completely quiet, but everything was so faint. That’s very nice indeed, I thought.

Why not try continuing the lecture with my earbuds underneath the earmuffs?

The first thing I noticed was that the voice of the lecturer was now way too loud. Annoyingly loud.

I had to turn down the volume from 10 to 3 to make it comfortable again.  I also noticed that I could hear the finer nuances of the lecturer’s voice. I could even understand other students’ questions. These students weren’t equipped with microphones as this was a normal computer science lecture recorded at MIT in a big lecture hall (part of MIT’s Open Courseware program).

Wow – it was so much easier to follow the lecture and take in the whole experience. One of the great advantages of watching a recorded lecture is that you can stop it and re-listen to parts you couldn’t comprehend the first time. After putting on the earmuffs, this became almost completely unnecessary. Not only was I able to listen at a much lower volume and make out previously unheard details, I was also comprehending faster!

Bolstered by that experience, I experienced with earmuffs in other learning and reading situations as well

● I put them on while reading articles and papers in my living room. Again, they boosted my ability to focus and made it much easier to read and comprehend what I had read.

I do a lot of my reading and research in coffee shops. I love coffee and I love the atmosphere. In the past, I had to be selective with where I go to avoid excessive noise. Well, now I brought my bulky hearing protectors with me.  My first pair was pretty big, a lot deeper than headphones.

I must have looked a lot like Walt Disney’s famous mouse or some kind of oddball to other patrons, but I didn’t get excessive stares so I just worked with them on whenever the noise bothered me. Even louder coffee shops were no match for these muffs.  I could still hear some background noise and some muffled voices, but everything was so much quieter.

When even the earmuffs’ noise isolation wasn’t enough for me, I used earbuds underneath and played masking sounds (see below for noise masking).

● Most mornings, I meditate for 20 minutes. I just observe my breathing or other sensations in my body.

Now I do this in my living room, with my balcony door open – I enjoy the sunlight of the new morning and put on my earmuffs. The city rises and so does the background noise. But with the earmuffs covering my ears, I get almost blissful silence.

I highly recommend that you try this! (for recommended earmuffs, see below)

OK, that’s my experience.  But what about other people? What about students, office workers, and children?

How does noise affect our ability to study and do cognitive work?

Noise impairs people’s ability to concentrate, learn, and perform cognitive work

Noise impairs memory and math

There is now ample of evidence that noise makes professionals and students less productive.  Particularly distracting are clearly discernible voices, e.g., due to nearby conversations or people talking on the phone — basically stuff you get in smaller offices, dorm rooms, and coffee shops all day long.

So it is not only big open plan offices that drive down performance, and people nuts.

Even typical office noise without voices significantly reduces people’s ability to remember and do simple mental math

This is what UK researchers Banbury and Berry concluded in 1998, when they had people memorize a paragraph of prose and perform simple arithmetic under three different noise conditions: office noise with speech, office noise without speech (including keyboard and printer noise), and silence.

The noise was pre-recorded and played at a level of 65 dB(A) via two speakers. The study participants were seated at about 1 meter from the speakers.  How loud is this? About as loud as a normal conversation overheard from a distance of about 1 meter.

Banbury and Berry concluded “The magnitude of disruption is fairly impressive.”

In other words, performance under the noise conditions was terrible.

When exposed to noise during learning and recall, participants in both noise conditions remembered only one third of what they remembered in the quiet condition.

That is easily the difference between an A and an F!

They also did significantly worse when performing simple arithmetic under noise, regardless of whether the noise contained speech or not.

The researchers suggested that it is the variation in the noise (the changing state of the noise) that is causing the disruption.  Looking at the data, performance under the speech condition was worst though.

There are plenty more studies to choose from, and while not all show distraction on the same magnitude as this one, the tendency is pretty clear:

Changing-state noise impairs performance in a variety of cognitive tasks, including:

  • Serial-memory (and thus most tasks that involve keeping track of ordering information)
  • Mental arithmetic
  • Proofreading
  • Writing

What kind of noise impairs people’s mental performance the most, and is everyone affected?

  • For most tasks, it is the changing-state nature of the noise that disrupts (this is also known as the irrelevant sound effect), and the worst offender tends to be human voices.
  • When white noise, pink noise, or other constant broadband noise was compared to silence, it did not significantly impair performance, if at all, provided it wasn’t excessively loud. Here are 15 seconds of pink noise:
  • Some people are more disturbed by noise than others: A series of studies compared the performance of introverts and extroverts on reading comprehension, prose recall, and mental arithmetic while exposed to music, noise, or silence. The studies suggest that introverts (as classified by the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire) are more negatively influenced by noise. While some people’s performance dropped significantly, others were only slightly affected. Introverts and extroverts both did a lot worse on prose recall though when exposed to noise.
  • As to voices, the level of disruption tends to increase as the number of speakers increases from 1 to 3, and then it decreases. While a few clearly discernible voices can be very disturbing, mumbling exhibits less variation over time and might not disturb at all. This is also known as the “babble-effect.” Chatter containing a large number of voices can be an effective masking sound and return cognitive performance to levels close to observed under silence (for sound masking see below).
  • Soft noise can be as disruptive as loud noise. That is, unless the sound level of the noise is really excessive or the noise is startling you. To make a real difference for the better, you allegedly need to lower the level of the noise to below the threshold of hearing. I have found that, for example in coffee shops, you don’t need to reduce it quite that much, but you need to get it down to a level where the remaining background noise resembles just faint mumbling, and voices have become unintelligible.

How can you block out the noise?

Well, preferably, remove yourself from a noisy environment if you feel it is agitating you or you have a hard time concentrating.

In many cases, this has not been an option for me though. In other cases, I wanted to enjoy the benefits of noisy places. Coffee shops inspire me, so I don’t want to cut them out of my life. My living room is as it is, and unless I move, I am stuck with it.

You might work in an open plan office, or worse, in a small office where one or two people are constantly on the phone serving customers.  You might be a student who finds that even the whispers and creaking floor in the library are too loud for you.

Maybe you don’t even know that the noise around you is hurting your performance. My noise-isolating earbuds seemed to work just fine until I put earmuffs on top of them and realized that this setup allowed me to concentrate a lot better.

I recommend that you get a pair of good earmuffs to test how a quiet environment impacts your work and studying. They are very reasonably priced and highly effective.

I currently use two different pairs of earmuffs:

The 3M Peltor X5A have a very high noise-isolating capability and are quite comfortable. They are a bit heavy and make you look like the famous mouse or an aircraft mechanic though. On the other hand, they also signal to other people around you that you mean business and don’t want to be disturbed.3m Peltor X5A Earmuffs

The 3M Peltor X4A earmuffs have a much lower profile and still isolate very well. People have mistaken them for Bluetooth headphones. Probably due to their slimmer profile, they have to put a bit more pressure on the head to achieve the good noise attenuation they provide. I take them with me whenever I go to a coffee shop and don’t want to look out of place. They are good, but the main advantage is that they are lighter and look more like headphones.  In terms of noise isolation they are no match for the X5A.3m Peltor X4A Earmuffs

Noise masking with masking sounds

Constant-state, broadband noise, such as white or pink noise (the noise you get when a TV or analog radio is not tuned into a station) tends disrupt much less or not at all if played at a normal volume.

Soundscape designers make use of these sounds to mask speech and other noise in open plan offices. They place speakers at various locations and play pink noise, chatter, spring water, or ocean waves at a level determined to mask speech to a degree where it becomes unintelligible and non-disruptive.

This sound masking of speech has been shown to improve performance in both laboratory settings and real open plan offices.

I have been using a white-noise app by TMSoft for napping and sometimes sound masking for quite a while. It is a good piece of software with a large number of sounds to choose from.

Recently, I have come across the really cool white-noise website myNoise.net.

They also have a myNoise app for iPad/iPhone. This app is what I am using most these days.  If you use a PC or Mac, the website will work just fine.myNoise White Noise App

The quality of the sounds is astonishing, and, what is more important for masking of unwanted background noise, you can change the character of each sound at 10 frequency points from 20 Hz to 20000 Hz. This works a lot better than the equalizer in my smartphone.

Basically, you can manipulate the frequencies across the complete range of human hearing.

What’s more, the iOS app can use the iPhone/iPad’s built-in microphone to analyze the background noise you are currently exposed to and automatically adjust the masking sound’s characteristics to optimally mask the prevailing background noise. You can store multiple noise-blocking profiles. I have one for my living room, one for my bedroom, and one for my favorite coffee shop.

myNoise automatic sound masking

I have found this feature extremely helpful.

With many white-noise apps, you choose between white noise, pink noise, brown noise, spring water, ocean waves, chatter, etc. to mask your background noise. You can do this with myNoise too. The problem with this approach: sometimes none of the sounds optimally fits the background noise.

So you crank up the volume more than would actually be necessary. With myNoise, you choose your favorite sound and adjust its tone so that it optimally masks your background noise. This allows for better masking at lower volume levels.

While basic white noise doesn’t sound great, the adjusted white noise I use to mask the noise in my living room sounds more like a stream of water, albeit a bit more regular, which I like.

The website is free (it sustains itself through donations), so you should definitely try it. Even the iOS app together with 5 or so sounds is free. This is what I currently use, and because you can completely change each sound’s characteristics, one sound is enough to mask a large range of unwanted noises. You can add additional sounds for a fee, or all available sounds for a flat fee.

Do you have a snorer sleeping next to you?

If you do, you could use your iPhone to analyze the snoring and have myNoise generate your personal snoring masking sound. I don’t have a snorer sleeping next to me, but maybe you do?

So do I still use earmuffs then?

Yes, because I can’t properly mask a rumbling bass, loud music, or sudden, startling noises with a white-noise app alone, unless I play the noise at a real high volume.  The combination of earmuffs and earbuds with a masking sound works great.

Also, sometimes I really want silence – and for this, bulky earmuffs can’t be beat.

Silence is golden

Are noise-cancelling headphones an option?

I have owned a pair of Audio Technica in-ear noise-cancelling earbuds. They sounded good, but the noise-cancelling electronics only attenuated constant low-frequency sounds, and only slightly so. It did not help with voice at all. So those were definitely not an option.

A friend recently let me try his new Bose QC35 Bluetooth noise-cancelling headphones in a pretty noisy coffee shop, so I could directly compare them with my traveling earmuffs. Bose’s noise-cancelling technology is considered state of the art. For noise-cancelling in consumer headphones, they are the company to beat.

They played pretty loud music with a booming bass in that coffee shop, you could hear “cling, cling” from cups, spoons and glasses, and the people next to me were engaged in a passionate conversation.

Bose QC35 noise-cancelling headphones and low-frequency noise

The QC35 headphones’ ability to cancel out low frequencies was astonishing. After I switched them on, it was as if someone had removed the sub-woofer from a home stereo system. Low-pitched noises were completely gone. I really liked that!

I then directly compared them to my X4A traveling earmuffs: the QC35 attenuated the low frequencies quite a bit better than the earmuffs — and the earmuffs aren’t bad at getting rid of low-pitched sounds.

For voices and other higher-pitched sounds though, the earmuffs easily beat the Bose QC35. It was a draw: Bose 1, earmuffs 1.

So if you want it quiet without sound masking or listening to music, Bose headphones aren’t going to do it.

Low frequency noise increases stressBut I really hate this rumbling bass when I want to concentrate, so…

Today I went to a nearby Bose show room, and brought my iPad loaded with the myNoise white-noise app with me.  Coincidentally, they were playing music with a techno bass from a typical Bose sub-woofer sound system — a good meter and a half from the headphone testing station.  That’s how they attract customers.

I put on the QC35 headphones without any music but noise-cancelling switched on. The sub-woofer’s bass changed from “Umpf, Umpf, Umpf” to “deck, deck.”

No-one would buy such a meek woofer.

The headphones had removed the bottom from the music. And this wasn’t your steady-state low-pitched sound (airplane turbines, air-conditioners, etc.) for which noise cancellers are usually recommended. Bose’s noise-cancelling technology works fast!

Voices and higher-pitched sounds were attenuated but did come through though.  However, using myNoise, I was easily able to mask what had remained.

Are you bothered by low-frequency noise? The Bose QC35 combined with a white-noise app are a very good combination, if you have the cash.

So far, I have avoided the hefty price tag Bose puts on their noise-cancelling headphones.

After today, I am tempted because they are quite comfortable as well. Maybe I could even use them for sleeping?

Still, I am pretty sure they won’t replace my very reasonably-priced (93% cheaper than the QC35 when I last checked) earmuffs for when I want to experience silence. They make everything so quiet.

Besides, there is a reason why participants in memory championships wear earmuffs…

Are you troubled by noise in your work or studying? What noise-busting remedies work best for you?

I am looking forward to your comment.

Notes:

34 thoughts on “How to Block out Noise before It Kills Your Work and Study Performance”

  1. Hi Helmut. Thanks for the article. How have you found the 3M Peltor X5As at blocking out human speech? I work in a very chatty office and can’t concentrate for all the conversations going on around me. I have Bose QC25s, but unfortunately these specifically permit human speech frequencies, which is exactly what I want to exclude. The industrial ear defenders also often seem to be designed to permit speech frequencies, in order for the workers to communicate without removing their earmuffs.

  2. Hi Alex,
    the 3M Peltor X5A are very good at blocking speech. They attenuate by about 40 dB in the range most critical for speech intelligibility. You are right; there is a different type of earmuffs that is designed to let voices through, such as the Peltor WS Tactical Sport Electronic Headsets. If you wanted to communicate with someone while wearing earmuffs, the X5A would probably be the worst choice. 😉

    In coffee shops, I generally use the X4A, which attenuate not quite as well as the X5A, because of their lower profile. Still, they make a world of a difference to me when reading while other people are chatting around me.

    If looking geeky is not an issue though, then the X5A are better and at least for me even more comfortable than the X4A.
    Should the noise around you get really bad, you could even wear earbuds underneath and play white noise. For that I would recommend the type that sits on your ear canal rather than in-ears.

    I have the Bose QC35, which are comparable with the QC25 in terms of noise-cancelling. They are great for low-frequency noise (I really like them), but a lot worse at blocking speech. I think it is more the physics of active noise-cancelling than Bose trying to let voices through.
    To make them more effective for voice blocking, you would have to play white noise as a masking sound.

    If you don’t mind, you could wear earplugs, such as the 3M 1100 or the Hearos Xtreme Protection (original formula) underneath your Bose. (The 3M 1100 are more comfortable, the Hearos a bit more effective, but both should do.) That would get you noise isolation comparable to the X5A. If you then play white noise on top of that, you can block almost anything.

    If sticking something in your ear is not what you want, then I think it doesn’t get much more effective than the X5A.

    Have a great day.

  3. Hello, I just wanted to say thank you very much for your extremely informative and brilliant blog post. I find it difficult to study in our school study room and you answered all of my questions!! Even the comparison with the Bose QC35 which I looked at today, potentially saving me £200. Thank you!

  4. Hello,

    I am wondering your recommendations on the best low-frequency earplugs available. I know you recommend the 3M and Hearos, but are there any specifically tailored to bass and low-freq noise?

  5. Hello Connor,

    that is a very good question.

    Unfortunately, as far as earplugs go, so far I haven’t found any that work better for low-frequency noise than good foam earplugs. For best low-frequency attenuation, you have to insert them quite deep into the ear canal. If you are looking for another NRR-33 foam earplug: I am also using the Moldex Meteors and quite like them. They have a very different shape than the Hearos and 3M 1100.

    There is an approach to use a weight centered in the earplugs to block lower frequency sound. So far, this approach has received mixed reviews though.

    Short of a noise attenuation helmet, the only effective ways I have found to achieve better noise attenuation are combining earmuffs and earplugs or really good noise cancelling head phones and earplugs.

    I mostly use earplugs for sleep. I find them really difficult to reinsert after they have gotten warm in my ears, which makes them less than ideal in an office setting. What’s more, I want to give my ears a break during the day. Ear muffs don’t irritate the ear canal and can just be put on and taken off when necessary.

    It is important to note that sound is also conducted via our bones, which limits what passive attenuation can achieve, for example at 125 Hz to 40-45 dB.

    Also, in the US, manufacturers only have to test and publish data down to 125 Hz for their plugs and muffs, and the NRR is also calculated using frequency points down to 125 Hz but not below. Obviously, we can clearly hear stuff below that, so IMO the published data and the NRR don’t adequately address low-frequency noise.

  6. Hello,

    I am looking to purchase a set of ear muffs to help me block noise out while studying. I am about to move into university accommodation and have had the misfortune of being allocated a room next to a communal kitchen so potentially some speech and other kinds of noise will make its way to my room. I consider purchasing the 3M Peltor X5A if they indeed do a good job at blocking speech while reading, but I also I like to revise by whispering or talking quietly to myself. How clearly can you hear your own speech while wearing them? Are the comfortable enough for wearing for longer periods of time?

    Many thanks.

  7. Hello Plamen,

    you can hear yourself talking because your voice also gets transmitted through your body. However, it will sound slightly muffled, i.e., the higher-pitched parts of your voice will get attenuated more than the low-pitched parts. To get an idea of this effect, just plug your ears with your index fingers and recite. (The X5A block a lot better than your fingers though, so body voice conduction will become a bit more pronounced.)

    The longest I wear them is for about three hours at a time. After three hours my ears definitely need a break.

    Normally, I take a break after about an hour or so at most. I can’t read or revise effectively for much longer than that anyway. At the end of the day, comfort varies from person to person. It depends on ear-size, head-size / shape, and room temperature. All earmuffs have a higher clamping force than headphones. For me the clamping force of the X5A is OK.

    One big advantage over earplugs is that you can just remove the muffs and take a break. Wiping the ear-pads and putting the muffs back on is a piece of cake. Earplugs that have gotten warm tend to be very difficult to reinsert.

    What’s more, the X5A block speech better than any earplugs I have.

  8. Hi,

    Do you know how the X5As compare to Optime IIIs in terms of noise reduction? The Optimes look to be a discontinued 3M model now, I got them a few years ago.

    They are very good for blocking out background noise when studying and I also use them for drumming. You can still hear the drums but it cuts down the noise and protects your ears. I’m satisfied with the Optime IIIs but am curious to know if the X5As are even more effective?

  9. Hello Orby,

    the Peltor X5A are stronger in terms of noise reduction, but the difference is not large. They are still my favorites.

    The X5A block low-pitched noise quite a bit better than the Optime III. So if you are bothered by rumbling noises, low-frequency humming, or your bass drums, the X5A are the way to go. For blocking human speech the two earmuffs are equally good and better than all others I have tested. The Optime III are lighter than the X5A though.

    Where are you looking to buy your earmuffs?

    The Peltor Optime 105 (Amazon US) (which I used happily for a long time) are essentially the same muffs as the Optime III, but tested according to the US standard.

    I have given my Optime 105 to a friend because he was in dire need of good earmuffs and I didn’t want to part with the X5A.
    I also just looked on Amazonn UK: the Optime III are still available there.

    If your ear-pads are worn out, you could also just buy the hygiene kit for the Optime III.
    Hope this helps. Have a great day!

  10. Hello, I have been searching the Internet for an over-the-ear device that will block all sound or almost all sound. Is there such a device? By all sound I mean people talking, radios, traffic, planes, shopping mall noise, coffee shop noise, cell phones, overhead music etc.

    In other words, a headset that will provide silence.

    Thanks.

  11. Hello Ernie,

    completely blocking all sound with a headset is not possible. Sound also gets conducted through your skull and reaches the inner ear (bone conduction). Even our trunk conducts some sound.

    That being said, I would say try the Peltor X5A. They block a lot of noise across the whole frequency range (!) for a very moderate price. They may be all you need, and they certainly do the trick for me.

    If you want to improve on this, you can add good foam earplugs underneath.

    To insert them properly, you have to roll them, pull up your earlobe, push them in, and keep your thumb on the bottom while slowly releasing your earlobe. Don’t push them in too far though. They shouldn’t hurt.

    Make sure the earplugs seal your ear canal properly by testing them separately.

    That way you can get pretty close to to the limits imposed by bone conduction!

    An experimental noise-reduction helmet (not commercially available) that completely shields the head has been used during MRI experiments, and indeed it attenuated sound significantly better than earmuffs and earplugs alone. But who wants to sit in a coffee shop wearing a helmet?

    All the best.

  12. Hi Helmut,

    I really enjoyed your informative article. I have a problem at the moment with noise from my neighbours – whenever the weather gets nice, especially at the weekend, they come out into their garden and put their radio on – loudly. The gardens in our neighbourhood are small so I can hear their music all through my own garden and into the back parts of my house as well. It’s louder than I would have it myself, so if I’m trying to just relax out in the garden, or do some gardening, it’s terrible – I can’t think, or relax, and I end up just going out. I find this noise really stressful.

    What would you recommend for this sort of noise? I guess this music is mixed-frequency – it isn’t a “bass” problem, particularly, it’s just generic pop music when I want peace and quiet. Would earmuffs help do you think?

    Many thanks

    Helen

  13. Hello Helen,

    in my experience good earmuffs work well against music if, like you are saying, you don’t have a thumping bass that permeates everything.

    A while ago, I had a neighbor above me who would always play Spanish pop. What’s worse, he usually left his balcony door open. I have nothing against Spanish, but his music really irritated me. I like meditating and reflecting in silence. My earmuffs really saved me.

    If the music is loud, you won’t achieve complete silence, but if you can tolerate wearing earmuffs, they will make a big difference.
    Since you are at looking for something to wear at home, I would suggest either the Peltor X5A or the Peltor Optime 105.

    All the best.

  14. You are very welcome. By the way, the X5A are worldwide available under the same name. The European equivalent of the Optime 105 earmuffs are the Optime III.
    All the best.

  15. Dear Helmut, thanks for this wonderful article.
    I’m aged 14 and often disturbed by my roommates while studying. I think I should buy some good pair of ear muffs to block their chatter
    Comparing the Optime 98 and Peltor X2, which is better for this purpose?

    Thanking you
    Prajjwal

  16. Dear Prajjwal,

    the Optime 98 and the X2A are very similar in their noise reducing capabilities. You would likely be equally satisfied.
    I find the Optime 98 a bit more comfortable, but that’s a personal preference.

    If looks don’t matter, I would even consider a higher-rated model to block chatter.
    If you are on a budget, the Optime 105 are often available at a discount. They are a significant step up from the X2A and the Optime 98.

    All the best.

  17. Hi Helmut,

    I enjoyed reading your recommendations. I am not in the market for buying noise-canceling headphones/earphones. What works best for my 10 year old girl currently homeschooling? We would like a product that works best for canceling speech sound. I’m wondering what you could recommend? Thank you in advance!

    Many thanks,
    Kay

  18. Hi Kay,

    I would recommend something light like the 3M Peltor Optime 98. These are among the most comfortable earmuffs and generally also fit children.

    Alternatively, the Howard Leight Sync Stereo MP3 earmuffs would be a good option if you also want to experiment with white noise or instrumental music.
    They are good earmuffs (even without music) and also light and comfortable. Your child might like something where it has the option to listen to music or recorded lectures.

    The 3M X5A are great for blocking speech, but would be quite heavy for a 10 year old. The Optime 105 are a bit lighter, but I would first try one of the muffs I just mentioned.

    All the best.

  19. Hi Helmut,

    Your article is very good. I have some doubts: I need your suggestion for traffic noise.

    Can you please suggest if honking noise will be reduced by, say 75%, if 3M 5XA is used. In India people don’t seem to understand the the importance of horns, most keep using them, and people get irritated. Sometimes an argument ensues. Still they do not understand the negative effects of unnecessary sound.

    Thanks,
    Gopi

  20. Hi Gopi,

    Thank you for stopping by. This is a very good question.

    A good rule of thumb is that a noise reduction by 10 dB results in half the perceived loudness. Assuming you get at least 30 decibels reduction in the frequency range for a car horn (400 to 500 Hz) with the X5A, they would reduce the loudness to about 1/8th or 12.5 % of the original loudness.

    So for cars, you could expect even more than 75% reduction. Please note that loudness is subjective, but this should give you some idea.

    I just read an article on truck horns on Wikipedia. Some of these seem to blast at lower frequencies (125 to 180 Hz). For this range, you could expect about 50% loudness reduction. I am not sure about trucks in India, but this should give you some idea.

    I find truck horns among the most obnoxious noises.

    By the way, (ignoring sound reflections) doubling the distance from the source halves the sound pressure, or in other words, reduces the sound level by 6 dB.

    If this is not enough, for the frequencies just discussed, doubling up, that is wearing earplugs underneath the earmuffs could give you perhaps another 10 dB reduction.

    So if you can’t get away and it is so bad, you could wear good foam earplugs underneath the muffs.

    All the best.

  21. What a cracking article! So I’m looking for something to use at home and potentialy in coffee shops for writing and reading. When at home, someone usually has the TV on and I find writing and reading so much easier when working in silence (or near abouts!). I’m torn between the 3M X5A, the Optime iii, the 3M X4A, and an Mpow pair that I found on Amazon that claim 36db SNR. Thoughts? Again, fantastic article. It’s great that someone’s out there considering these kinds of things! 🙂

  22. Hi Sonnald,

    I have used all four earmuffs you are considering.

    For home use, I would get the 3M X5A or the Optime III.

    The X5A are the most effective passive earmuffs I have ever worn. Unless someone designs something that beats them on noise attenuation, they stay with me.
    Nearly every morning I put them on for my morning meditation.

    The Optime III are significantly lighter (286g vs. 350g for the X5A) and the ear cups are not quite as huge.
    They are pretty close in terms of effectiveness, but there is a difference.

    I find them a bit more comfortable than the X5A, but I have no problems wearing either one.
    The Optime III would look a little less ridiculous in a coffee shop.

    Both have a good headband that is adjustable for smaller as well as larger heads.

    Have a great weekend.

  23. Thanks Helmut, what a great article.

    I have a question. I read that Bose QC25 are almost identical in terms of ANC and music quality to QC35, and I don’t care about wireless headphones. So I was thinking of buying QC25, which are much cheaper then QC35.
    So the question is, do You think that by using QC25 with noise cancelling + some app with white noise, would I be able to block out most of the sounds of people speaking in my office (I work in an open office)?

    Thank You,
    Biafra

  24. Hi Biafra,

    Yes, I think if you use the QC25 plus a white noise app you would be able to block out almost all of the chatter in an open office (provided there isn’t a shouting match going on).

    The QC25 have comparable noise cancelling to the QC35, and I use the QC35 quite often in the setting you are describing.

    I have to play white noise slightly louder than I would have to with good earmuffs like the X5A, but I can still keep it at a moderate volume. And, the Bose are more comfortable.

    Just keep in mind that without the white noise, the noise reduction that the QC25 provide wouldn’t be enough.

  25. Many thanks Helmut. The article is really great. Very helpful.

    I would like to ask for advice. I am preparing for the specialization exam. I live in the city center, a construction site outside the window, a two-year-old son playing in the next room. For this I repeat the material by reading aloud. Could you suggest an optimal solution?
    X5a? Howard Leight Sync Stereo MP3? Or maybe Champion Electronic Ear Muffs? Do you have an opinion about them?

    One more question. You wrote that you use earplugs with muffs. What would you recommend?

    greetings,
    Michael

  26. Hello Michael,

    If you have a construction site outside the window, I would perhaps try to find a different place to prepare for the exam.

    But I understand that this may not be possible.

    If a change of place is indeed not possible, I would clearly go with the Peltor X5A. The difference between these and the two other muffs you have mentioned is substantial!

    I own the Sync Stereo as well and they are nice for a moderate noise environment.

    I do not own the Champion electronic earmuffs, but just looked them up. They seem to be mainly for shooting.
    They are passive muffs with electronics to allow quieter environmental noise to pass through while still protecting your hearing. That feature may be good for hunting but not for studying. So you would have to turn off these electronics for your use case.
    With an NRR of 25, their noise reduction would be similar to the Sync Stereo. They would be a lot less effective than the X5A.

    There is another point to consider. You want to vocalize while studying.

    Among the three, the X5A also have the largest cup size, which leads to a smaller occlusion effect. I would definitely prefer that when vocalizing.

    A large occlusion effect entails that your own voice sounds boomy and bassy. Just plug your ears with your fingers and vocalize “boom, beak, boom, beak..” That’s the occlusion effect.

    As to earplugs, do you mean foam earplugs or earbuds to listen to music or white noise?

    If you want to wear foam earplugs underneath the muffs, Flents Quiet Please, while not the strongest ones, are very comfortable.

    If you are looking for earbuds to wear underneath, I find Maxrock sleep earphones comfortable underneath the muffs. They sound decent and are economically priced.
    Alternatively try AGPTek sleep earbuds. Unlike the Maxrock, these have changable ear tips for different-sized ear canals. They sound a bit better but are a bit less comfortable.

    Both of them are not for audiophiles but work well with the X5A.

    All the best for your exam.

  27. Thank you for your reliable response. I wonder what you think about earplugs for musicians, like, for example, Thunderplugs. Do you think they will find application for use with muffs?

  28. Personally, I would go with foam earplugs underneath earmuffs. Earmuffs seem to change my ear canal shape a tiny bit, causing reusable earplugs not to be as comfortable underneath as foam.

    This is also the reason why I recommend tiny earbuds underneath the muffs rather than any kind of earbuds.

    Mind you, the X5A are so effective that I probably wouldn’t wear earplugs underneath when studying, but rather earbuds to stream white noise, if anything.

    That being said, I have not tried the Thunderplugs and you can definitely use reusable plugs underneath the X5A.

    If you want to double up with reusable earplugs, I would choose a model with good attenuation (NRR 25 and up), in particular at the low frequencies. This is where you can mainly expect a performance improvement by wearing them underneath earmuffs.

    Musician’s earplugs aim to provide uniform attenuation across all frequencies to preserve the fidelity of music. I don’t see how this could be an advantage when the earplugs are worn underneath earmuffs.

    Normal reusable plugs (e.g., 3M 1261 or EAR Ultrafit) also tend to be cheaper.

    But if you already have musician’s earplugs or need some anyway for a different purpose, just try them underneath.

  29. I admire you for taking the time to reply so thoroughly to so many people. That is a rarity on the internet. I hope you succeed in all your endeavors.

  30. Thank you so much for your kind words and wishes, Brian.

    May you a have a wonderful day and success in your endeavors as well.

  31. Thank you for your extensive information. My husband’s blood pressure skyrockets when he hears loud motorcycles going by and as the weather warms, this means 100 – 200 times a day. We will try the 3M Peltor X5A but do you also have any other suggestions? We do have various types of white noise in the house but he likes to be outside as well.

  32. Hello Terry,

    wow 100 to 200 times a day. Terrible.

    The X5A are very effective and fine for home use but, being quite bit, they may look a bit strange if you walk around with them.

    If you want something more understated that looks more like headphones, I have recently gotten the Peltor Sport Bull’s Eye.

    While not quite as effective as the X5A, they block a lot of noise.
    The Ultimate from the same Peltor Sport series are a bit on the heavy side. I think the Bull’s Eye would be the right balance.

    All earmuffs get hot in the summer if you want to use them outside, but they are economical, so they may still be worth a try if they allow your husband to be more at ease.

    Alternative, he could try foam earplugs, (e.g., Moldex Purafit) or reusable earplugs (e.g., Mack’s Earseals).

    Personally, I find foam better for long-term comfort and a bit more effective than reusable, but they can be a bit of a hassle if you have to take them out frequently.

    I try to keep to muffs and noise cancelling headphones during the day because I use foam earplugs most nights and I don’t want to plug my ears all the time.

    All the best, and let me know how it goes.

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