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Soundproof "Sleeping chamber"
So, I've been Googling and ChatGPT-ing this for an hour now, but it is hard to find conclusive and relevant information.
Basically, I'm looking for a 2m x 1m x 0.5m box that is reasonably sound-proof (at least 25 dB damping, particularly in the problematic low-frequency range) and that has ventilation, and room for a mattress so I can sleep in it.
(explanation: I'm living on a road that has become very busy for various reasons, including heavy vehicle traffic, and don't want to move.)
I mean, there are recording booths for studios. Those are mostly designed for eliminating reverb etc. INSIDE the booth, but they are roughly the right size.
Is this a very outlandish thing to be looking for in today's noisy enough world? Has no company specialized in just producing person-sized sound-proof boxes at reasonable prices? (< $5k)
Curious to see if anyone here has any experience / recommendations.
Comments
Seriously though, while I live in a very quiet area I wake up easily when there is noise (particularly people’s voices, even if they are trying to be quiet), and what I have found is that yoga nidra works well and allows me to embrace any noise around me as I fall asleep. There are lots of resources online to learn, but once you become adept at it, sleeping becomes deeper and waking up is not a problem as you are prepared to fall back to sleep almost immediately. It’s worked well for me when I have been in hotels or anywhere else that the sleeping environment is less than ideal.
Wax earplugs should give 25db of isolation. Might be cheaper than the box?
I'm already using the best earplugs on the market (36 dB damping, particularly in the bass range!), and it's a reasonable compromise -- but I don't wanna sleep forever with those things. It can't be good for ear health and it's also slightly uncomfortable!
Search for “sleep pod soundproof” . Seems to be pricey.
Earplugs don’t do any damage to your ears. If you haven’t experimented try different varieties. After a lot of trial and error my wife found some foam earplugs that are comfortable for her and quite a effective.
Not outlandish at all. I completely understand. I’d get one myself if I could find it
https://quietliving.co.uk/soundproof-sleeping-pod/
Cheapest option: bed tent draped with moving blankets:
FWIW, I live next door to a student house. When they are being noisy, I find this free app running on my iPad on the bedside cabinet does a fair job of screening them out:
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/sleepmaker-storms-free/id319376811
Build a box with floating walls and 4” rock wool …the tricky part is venting it…as putting a vent in the unit would need some quiet computer fans & ducts of some sort. Noise will carry down any conduit so that is the trick. You also will not be able to use screws or nails.
i live in a room that's situated right above traffic lights on an often very busy street. When I first moved here I couldn't stand it. Bought ear-plugs and an eye-mask (City lights also a problem). But no matter how well-placed the ear-plugs and mask, they'd all inevitably be in different places in the room upon awakening. I did always plant o record my sleeping to determine how many minutes it took for me to dispose of them, but never got around to it.
In the end, I just got used to it. It takes a blaring siren or people literally screaming in the street below to wake me. But other than that, my mind just naturally desensitises and tunes it all out.
I think acceptance (of that which we can't change blah blah blah) can be part of the solution. Some kind of awareness/non-reaction practice can definitely help with that process. Another option is to counter the external noise by adding more internal noise. This can be done using podcasts, audio lectures etc. or by using a noise-generators. There are self-contained white-noise generators, for this very reason:
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-white-noise-machine/
However, there're tons of free and cheap appstore apps that do the same thing. They offer various kinds of noise and/or nature/ambient sounds.
Ultimately, if this is something that has only recently started happening I'd be inclined to give it a little time to acclimatise and/or to try other methods before throwing down a lot of money on other solutions. But that's up to you, of course.
This is definitely a huge help, particularly if you combine it with practicing slowing down your breathing and incrementally relaxing all the muscles in your body.
I remember Bose make some noise cancelling headphones specifically designed for sleep - they’re apparently very comfortable. You could listen to a bit of pink noise with them maybe, at a low volume
I’m living in a noisy hell; I’ll be 👁️👁️ this thread patiently.
I've used this bluetooth headphone set from time to time to play white noise or natural sounds such as rain or flowing water to block out sounds. https://a.co/d/bd0ZlcN
Also handy for binaural beats to induce sleep - if you buy into that kind of thing. I'm not sure I do, but I definitely crash hard and fast about 90% of the time when I've tried.
Silicone ear plugs from Amazon ( Bioears alternative )
Buy 16 sets. You can resuse/wash with clothes and also wash under a tap.
No ear infection just finding ear plugs or using without cleaning.
i live smack in the middle of hollywood. Crackheads, construction, partiers, cops, 24/7. I use earlplugs + white noise BLASTING, and have no issue.
i feel for you, having known someone with a light sleep switch,
and having had a neighbour with no sense of , well , i feel for you
John Cage lead the way for me with a music of our peripheral environment.
own the sounds
i've always fancied building one of these ...
... though the american guberment weren't so pleased when they were first introduced
)
z thanks!
s to the
i'm not so convinced they don't do any damage. After all, you have to be extremely careful, wash your hands thoroughly before rolling them and inserting them to avoid sticking a bunch of bacteria into your ear canal. also, you have to keep your ears in pristine condition all the time, i.e. make sure to remove all the gunk (not sure what the English word for that is, earwax?). otherwise pushing them in will also push the earwax closer to the eardrum, which is bad. but yeah, with lots of care, it's probably mostly harmless in the long run.
i've already tried loads of them, and have settled on a specific brand which is good overall.
The thing is though that it is still unnatural and feels odd. I just want this totally normal, relaxed feeling of being in a place where you can sleep normally without any odd "utilities". even if that place is just a sleeping pod. 😉
thanks for the link, but unfortunately, that won't work at all for low frequencies, which is the main problem here with the road noise.
thanks, I already have my own "white" noise (in reality, all those apps make more pink or brown noise) App which is fully adjustable and stuff, and it does help and I use it to drown out the noise.
But that's not the same thing as silence. People keep saying that you "get used to it" and you "tune it out with time" etc.. but that's really an illusion. The brain is still processing all the auditory input in the background. It just doesn't let it into your conscious anymore. but the processing still takes place and prevents you from getting proper sleep, as the brain is essentially working nonstop. You just don't notice. But you neurons deteriorate.
that's a dangerous misconception. I get why you think so, but your brain is still processing all the auditory input in the background, and can never fully relax. Even if you think you got used to it, your brain thinks otherwise, and it will show in the shape of slowly deteriorating mental health😥
yes I've been doing that for ages. It does help in that it "evens out" the noise if you turn up your white noise generator loud enough, so there will be no startle response anymore. Which is good. But your auditory neurons and the neural pathways down the line are still actively processing that shit all the time, which is not healthy.
but thanks for the recommendations! Appreciate it.
yes, good point, those headphones are on my list to try. I've researched them all, and apparently, Sony makes the best active noise canceling headphones, especially for low frequencies, which are the problematic ones in this case.
If you want to look them up: Sony WH-1000XM5
thanks, yeah unfortunately, all these white noise generators etc. just cover up the problem, they don't fix it. As I mentioned earlier, your auditory system still has to process the noise all the time, it's not the same as silence as it can't fully recover.
What about a sensory deprivation chamber?
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/massage-bath-water-floating-spa-space_60700857829.html
Haha, that's what chatgpt actually recommended first 😄 bit over the top maybe? 🤔
I am offering no solution, just commiseration.
I’m much more worked up about noise pollution than almost anyone I know. I think people think I’m sort of a crank when I bring it up.
The notion that eventually delivery drones could bring Doritos to my neighbor is one of the most grim scenarios I can imagine, having had drones fly over me enough times to know it’s not the kind of sky I like.
Right now I have a living situation that affords me tomblike silence almost all night, something I could not get anywhere else. It’s a precarious situation however because it’s not zoned for residential use. If I were in your position, I’d be looking for a solution too, and I wish you the best of luck.
Maybe that's the start of a solution 😄
Nope, you are not a crank. The general amount of man-made noise in today's world is just objectively unhealthy. Even the WHO says it. It only gets worse if it gets ignored and people don't speak up. Entire ecosystems are moving out of the way of human noise and changing their sleep patterns etc.
Heh, it's something that I've actually considered in the past. A nice little container home in the middle of nowhere. I know someone with a property here, including water and septic tank, so who knows, it might work out at some point!
Cheers!
thanks, yeah the thing is, I am just baffled that no company makes these kinds of constructions ready to buy. apparently it IS an outlandish thing to want 😄
Somebody needs to design a noise cancelling headphone system that's comfortable to sleep in.
Are you on the ground floor? Got a shovel?
Well, rumor has it the Sonys I mentioned above and the Boses are very flat and apparently reasonably sleepable. They're also 400 quid though 😬
Yes and no, but I'm sure they have shovels in Woodie's 😉 why?
I have the 1000xm4 and like them a lot but they stick out far too much to wear when sleeping. For sure they would come out. I've tried the new model you just mentioned, they're smaller but also not the same as earbuds designed to be work while sleeping.
Some people are much more disturbed by sound than others, of course. My neurodiverse lodger can’t abide the sound of a vacuum cleaner, for example, and has to leave the house whenever I use it (which isn’t often, frankly.) And when, briefly, I lived in the country, the first few nights away from the city I couldn’t sleep… because of the silence.