On Tuesday, September 26, 2023 at 12:16:42 PM UTC-4, Retirednoguilt wrote:
> On 9/26/2023 11:56 AM, micky wrote:
>
> >
> > It's also strange, IMO, that voices only get a little louder but other
> > noises get far louder, like even the tapping of the keyboard keys or the
> > rustling of paper. Maybe it's that logarithmic thing about sound, or
> > maybe the little noises don't really get more louder but they surpass
> > some level of loudness at which my mind doesn't ignore them anymore.
> > Maybe we learn to ignore little noises below a certain level.
> >
> >
> This is often because of microphone placement issues within a device and
> absence of hi-tech filtration both in items such as your yoke device and
> in lower tech hearing aids. You end up with essentially omnidirectional
> non-selective amplification of all sound in the environment. The higher

This is interesting.
I experienced something maybe related recently. I had a long wait in a dental office while a family member was worked on, and I brought a tablet (Android) and a movie downloaded from the library. And headphones, of course, because I'm not a jerk. <g> I think they were a cheap lightweight set like I'd take to the gym.

While watching the movie, it seemed the office was very loud, with the music on the room speakers and the office personnel talking uncomfortably loudly. What would have been routine background noise had become intrusive. At the time I put it down to weird room acoustics but in hindsight it had to be the headphone/tablet combination.