[Dixielandjazz] How sound works-- Pat Cooke replies

[Norman Vickers]

To:  DJML and Musicians & Jazzfans lists

From: Norman Vickers

 

New Orleans longtime bassist ( and other instruments, too) Pat Cooke writes about sound and noise-canceling earphones.

Thanks Pat.

 

From: Patrick Cooke [mailto:patcooke77 at yahoo.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 10:51 AM
To: Norman Vickers
Subject: Re: How sound works-- interesting clip Janie McCue Lynch replies

 

Norm...and Janie....

 

Interesting subject.  Since one of the speakers connected to my computer gave out, I've been listening to stuff on the computer with my ridiculously expensive, noise-canceling Bose headphones, which use the technology which is the subject of this discussion.  Do they sound better than phones that do not have noise canceling?  Well, if there is noise to cancel, the answer is definitely yes, but if there is no noise, then the answer is maybe perhaps a little bit.  Because there is a little on/off switch on the phones. With no signal present, and in a quiet room, turning off the switch reveals that you have been listening to a 'white' noise (noise canceling noise?) that you didn't notice before......and it's not just a little noise, it is significant.

 

I have another set of phones (AKG K-55), that I paid $39 for that in an otherwise quiet room, sound awfully close to the $350 Bose phones.  In fact it may be regarded as a little better, because if there is no ambient noise to cancel, the white noise is still there...you can't turn it off!

 

So, on an airplane, it helps cancel the drone of the engines, and the other sounds in the cabin, but otherwise......the noise-canceling is a bit overpriced, and probably something you'd like to be able to turn off.

 

.........Pat