office noise generators

[SketchMaster]

Am I the only one that feels white/pink/red/grey noise generators are endlessly obnoxious? Ours turned off today for a few minutes while they worked on it, it was like a vice around my head suddenly loosened.

 

[lxskllr]

Never heard one in an office setting, but I wouldn't like it.

 

[Humpy]

You have to listen to static noise all day at work?

LOL That's fucked up.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I sleep with a fan, so they always make me want to take a nap. Fortunatley, I don't work in that office anymore.

For those that don't know, they tend to use them in large offices where lots of phone conversations happen to deaden the noise carry.

 

[hanoverphist]

the ac vents here are like dueling noise generators at slightly different pitch

 

[nakedfrog]

Nah, even when I'm running a fan in a different room in the house for circulation, I still feel relief when I turn it off a bit before bed time.

 

[OutHouse]

Am I the only one that feels white/pink/red/grey noise generators are endlessly obnoxious? Ours turned off today for a few minutes while they worked on it, it was like a vice around my head suddenly loosened.

we have a pink noise generator and after a year i dont even notice it. but it is weird how it works. if people are talking in normal tones and you are not close (hallway meeting 20 feet away) to them its really hard to make out what they are saying. you may hear a recognizable word here or there.

 

[SketchMaster]

You have to listen to static noise all day at work?

LOL That's fucked up.

Yup. As Impulse pointed out, they are excellent at muting the phone conversations from across a large office floor. I sit almost directly between two, so I get it in full stereo. They have it cranked up also, it sounds like ~ 45dB which is loud enough to cover the sound of my brain crying.

 

[lxskllr]

Wonder if you could cancel the sound out. I guess you'd need something that generated an inverse wave?

 

[Red Squirrel]

They actually have a device designed to create white noise, and actually maintain it? Are you sure that's not just the hvac?

I could see a use for that in a quiet office though, I would hate pure quietness, then you feel like you can't even talk on the phone and every little move you make can be heard super loudly. Where I work now you can hear telecom equipment like fibre shelves and dslams etc through the door so that generates a decent amount of white noise.

 

[Ferzerp]

They're fine when they're at the proper volume. You don't even realize that they are there.

 

[SketchMaster]

They're fine when they're at the proper volume. You don't even realize that they are there.

That's my big issue with it. They have it set so loud it can be heard even when I'm wearing my HD 280 Pros.

 

[Rubycon]

Surprised with all the office lans with fast connections they don't have this on repeat!

 

[Anubis]

lol fast connections

 

[dainthomas]

Guy next to me runs a little fan all day and it's annoying as hell.

 

[drinkmorejava]

They're the worst. My old office had them spaced every 10ish feet. Makes it impossible to get a single second of peace all day without headphones. I had my HD-280s on all day, often without music just to get away from the noise.

I get the feeling no one has logically thought through their use. If conversations are distracting people, they'll wear headphones, so why are you raising the noise floor of the office?

 

[LikeLinus]

We have them throughout our building and you never notice them unless you try to list for it. Most large corporations have them in large buildings. You may never even noticed.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Didn't realize there were offices that actually used those.
My version of "shut the f*ck up" to my colleagues in the cube farm (Onkyo SR606 + Denon D600)

 

[SearchMaster]

My first job out of college was a very small office (5 employees) and the boss had those things. And you're right - you don't even notice it until they turn off, then it feels like you just stepped out of a jet engine into a soundproof room. We would turn it off when he was out of the office.

I get a similar feeling at home sometimes. My wife LOVES to use the attic fan to cool the house off in the spring and fall. It's fine for a few minutes but after a few minutes I feel like the vice tightening that the OP described.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I left a really nice office with walls and a door for a cube farm across the parking lot. My office isn't that quiet, but I certainly don't like having phone conversations unless there's noise in the office. For personal calls, I'm always walking around with my cell....even if they're talking to HR about insurance or whatever.

 

[SketchMaster]

We have them throughout our building and you never notice them unless you try to list for it. Most large corporations have them in large buildings. You may never even noticed.

I notice the sound, but not where it's coming from. Most of the time I think it's pipes or AC running, which is what I thought the sound in my office was until they turned it off one day.

 

[z1ggy]

Never heard one in an office setting, but I wouldn't like it.

A lot of military/DoD type of settings use and/or require these to be used due to need-to-know policies.