Affordable Solutions to Block Noise?

So this is my second year in college and crap, this place is like a supermarket. My dorm is basically right next to the college quad and it’s noisy from 8 in the morning till sometimes even 12pm-2am (usually because of assholes playing the piano). Plus, the walls are paper thin here, and it’s gotten to the point where my sleep/recovery is interrupted on a daily basis. So far, I’m using foam ear plugs (30 decibels), but they only do so much. I tried searching for higher decibel plugs, but the only one I found is a pair of 50 decibel plugs costing $250. No way can I afford them…I’m broke just being in college :). So anyone here know where I can purchase better (higher than 30 decibels) ear plugs for more affordable prices?

The foam ones that you squeeze, insert in your ear, then they expand are only a few dollars and they block out almost almost everything. I have a hard time believing you are using these and they are not working. I live on the fifth floor on a busy city street next to 24 hour restaurants and asshole drag racers. I sleep with the window open every night I still hear nothing with these.

Also the longer skinny type ones used by airport tarmac workers block out almost everything and only cost a few bucks. Where are you getting these ridiculous prices from?

I know there expensive, but what about noise canceling headphones? and then either just playing nothing or playing white noise or rain soundtracks. Works for me.

For foam plugs make sure you put them in correctly, this makes all the difference.

  • Roll them up as small as possible
  • grab the top of your ear and pull up and out HARD
    -put those things in as deep as possible and hold them in untill they expand all the way

Seems simple enough but makes a world of difference.

or get headphones used for hunting…kind of bulky but might work

You should hit the piano player with a skillet, that’ll shut his ass up real quick.

I feel your pain. I always have to use ear plugs in those kinds of situations.

I’m in Iraq right now. So when I travel out to sites, I frequently find myself in transient situations where I am having to sleep on a cot in some transient billeting where people are coming and going all day and night. I always have to where ear plugs when I go outside the wire. But even the cheap throw away foam plugs that I grab by the handful at the PAX terminals for just this reason do the trick. I wonder if you aren’t inserting them correctly. Follow the instructions above…grabbing the ear and pulling up straightens out your ear canal so you can insert to the correct depth.

But if that isn’t enough, what about one of these white noise machines.

I’ve heard these things work really good. I was considering getting one for my room in my tent. But instead, being the anal fuck that I am, I decided to spend a few weeks building a bunker around myself.

[quote]dday wrote:
You should hit the piano player with a skillet, that’ll shut his ass up real quick.[/quote]

This

[quote]dday wrote:
You should hit the piano player with a skillet, that’ll shut his ass up real quick.[/quote]

this is, without a doubt, the correct answer.

Those foam plugs really don’t do all that well in blocking out low-end bass. My asshole neighbor plays his computer games all night into the early morning every god damned day of the week, and he has his shit hooked up to his subwoofer or whatever.

I use the foam plugs, and they work for blocking out some of the noise, but that bass still comes through. I sometimes think that the foam plugs actually help the bass come through. I am one of those unfortunates that live underneath an asshole that sleeps all day and ‘parties’ all night.

The white noise machines don’t really work in reducing any noise, they help in trying to take your mind off the noise. In a situation where all is quiet, the white noise machines help to clam your mind, but they don’t “cover up” any noise.

I use my plugs EVERY night, and even on those rare nights where my neighbor isn’t home, I still use them. God I hate my neighbor. He’s just a total piece of shit.

I remember I used these wax/silicone plugs for a while, they were blue. You can google search for “The world’s finest earplugs”. They are difficult to get to fit right, they have to be an EXACT fit over your ear hole, any leakage will render them ineffective. They aren’t cheap either, but you might want to look into those.

I am curious about these “50 decibel” earplugs though.

Break the fuckin’ piano if they don’t knock it off after midnight, or call in bomb threats every now and then.

Problem solved.

Tylenol PM now and then when there is a busy night for the fire station or drunks outside the bars smoking, other than that just standard earplugs work fine.

I have some nice headphones and just play some soothing music to fall alseep to. This worked when I had a train go (right next to my old place) by and a fire station right across the street. It’s as cheap as a decent pair of the big around the ear headphones and an MP3 player. Download some metamusic or soundscape type crap off limewire and you should be good to go.

V

Pop a few Ambiens and drink a fifth of Cutty Sark every night and there ain’t SHIT that’ll wake you up then.

What the hell is wrong with you, go outside and tell them to shut up. It’s bed time and knock that shit off, no one thinks you’re Richard Gere from Pretty Woman, and you’re not in a smokey bar to impress your hooker.

If someone pulled that shit with me in my dorm, I’d put a hole in their door with their head.

[quote]JPCleary wrote:

But if that isn’t enough, what about one of these white noise machines.

[/quote]

Ahhh, college. My dorm room was right next to the kitchen so every night the same two slackers would sit there watch Bevis and Butthead (I’m clearly dating myself) then Sportcenter once or twice. Then the Chinese would come in and cook and talk until 2AM.

+1 on the white noise but I’d suggest something similar to this:

It’s got white noise, rain, stream, waterfall, jungle, waves, plus a bunch more I can’t remember, but the point is you get some choices. All of you young whippersnappers have laptops with your Googlenet and your Facebooks on it. You can probably get MP3s or programs to loop different “colors” of noise.

Or you could brandish this:

http://www.amazon.com/Cobra-Self-cocking-Crossbow-Pistol-Arrows/dp/B001E11HH4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1255573918&sr=8-1

<$40!!!

[quote]skaz05 wrote:
Those foam plugs really don’t do all that well in blocking out low-end bass. My asshole neighbor plays his computer games all night into the early morning every god damned day of the week, and he has his shit hooked up to his subwoofer or whatever.

I use the foam plugs, and they work for blocking out some of the noise, but that bass still comes through. I sometimes think that the foam plugs actually help the bass come through. I am one of those unfortunates that live underneath an asshole that sleeps all day and ‘parties’ all night.

The white noise machines don’t really work in reducing any noise, they help in trying to take your mind off the noise. In a situation where all is quiet, the white noise machines help to clam your mind, but they don’t “cover up” any noise.

I use my plugs EVERY night, and even on those rare nights where my neighbor isn’t home, I still use them. God I hate my neighbor. He’s just a total piece of shit.

I remember I used these wax/silicone plugs for a while, they were blue. You can google search for “The world’s finest earplugs”. They are difficult to get to fit right, they have to be an EXACT fit over your ear hole, any leakage will render them ineffective. They aren’t cheap either, but you might want to look into those.

I am curious about these “50 decibel” earplugs though.[/quote]

call the cops and tell them you hear gun fire coming from your neighbors apartment…he wont hear them knock then they will bust down the door and kill him.

[quote]Petermus wrote:
skaz05 wrote:
Those foam plugs really don’t do all that well in blocking out low-end bass. My asshole neighbor plays his computer games all night into the early morning every god damned day of the week, and he has his shit hooked up to his subwoofer or whatever.

I use the foam plugs, and they work for blocking out some of the noise, but that bass still comes through. I sometimes think that the foam plugs actually help the bass come through. I am one of those unfortunates that live underneath an asshole that sleeps all day and ‘parties’ all night.

The white noise machines don’t really work in reducing any noise, they help in trying to take your mind off the noise. In a situation where all is quiet, the white noise machines help to clam your mind, but they don’t “cover up” any noise.

I use my plugs EVERY night, and even on those rare nights where my neighbor isn’t home, I still use them. God I hate my neighbor. He’s just a total piece of shit.

I remember I used these wax/silicone plugs for a while, they were blue. You can google search for “The world’s finest earplugs”. They are difficult to get to fit right, they have to be an EXACT fit over your ear hole, any leakage will render them ineffective. They aren’t cheap either, but you might want to look into those.

I am curious about these “50 decibel” earplugs though.

call the cops and tell them you hear gun fire coming from your neighbors apartment…he wont hear them knock then they will bust down the door and kill him.

[/quote]

This is perhaps the best piece of advice I have ever seen anyone provide on this site. The OP should DEFINITELY do this, and should also film the entire thing so that he can sell the footage to the highest bidder. With the cash he’d get from that, he could pay fucking NASA to build him a noise blocker.

Foam plugs will block a lot of noise, but you’ll still hear things unless your hearing is awful. I don’t know how people can say earplugs block all sound when the plug manufacturers admit on their packaging that it only blocks some of the sound, ie, snr 33 db. If you do plugs, maybe add some white noise or something.

I like the skillet idea better.

[quote]leaftye wrote:
Foam plugs will block a lot of noise, but you’ll still hear things unless your hearing is awful. I don’t know how people can say earplugs block all sound when the plug manufacturers admit on their packaging that it only blocks some of the sound, ie, snr 33 db…[/quote]

Yeah, the foam ones are really designed to protect your ears from loud noise (which is why factories have big tubs of them) rather than make you deaf. In my experience they certainly insulate you from general noise, but human speech makes it through, which limits their use if you have a nocturnal neighbour with a volume malfunction.