Found a easy solution to rectify Prius’ biggest weakness

Is it OK to wear a headphone (regardless of noise-canceling or regular audio type) while driving in the states you regularly drive? It seems to be OK in CT, but not in MA. The laws seem to differ by states, so be aware.
Headsets - AAA Digest of Motor Laws

 

Would sirens of Emergency Vehicles fall into the "ambient noise" category?
If yes, it would give me pause to wear them.

 

Foam earplugs a lot cheaper!

 

Here in Texas at least, you’re allowed to have ear phones of whatever sort on one ear, but not both.

 

Yup, earplugs to help reduce the sound without stopping it. In motorcycling circles, they are highly recommended and effective in reducing fatigue on long rides. In fact, I wore them every time I rode.

 

That's the dumbest thing I've ever read on PC. Granted I've been here less than a year, but still....

 

I'd pass, but then, I can't even hack sunglasses when driving.

 

Edit: Not sure why the link disappears, but search "Ear Dials" at Amazon. Or another brand of high fidelity ear plugs that let mostly clear sound through while reducing noise.

 

Right? How is wearing headphones a solution? Smh...

 

*Noise-canceling* headphones — critical distinction there!

What s/he’s describing would be perfect, except for three considerations:

First, those headphones would need to be of the nature of the first pair of noise-canceling headphones I ever owned: they were open-air headphones. They did not *block* any appreciable amount of sound from going into the ears; they only *cancelled* sound, and the sound they cancelled was limited to constant-rumbling sorts of sounds. They had no audible effect upon sirens, for example.

That capability existed 15 years ago; no technological breakthroughs needed. However...

Second consideration: They would have to only be usable for noise cancellation; it would have to be *impossible* listen to music through them.

Third, they would have to be impossible for the police to mistake for headphones that *are* capable of playing music.

 

I don't understand the problem. How is it different from driving a luxury car with great sound deadening?

 

It's different in that you now have to have these expensive headphones on you whenever you're driving. Furthermore your passengers will call your bs when they sit in your noisy car.

 

S/he’s suggesting a way to approximate that in a Prius, which doesn’t have great sound deadening (although that’s arguable, depending upon what sorts of sounds we’re talking about).

 

The Prius is one of the quietest cars I've ever driven.

 

There's a two part solution to this problem that's a real fix.


Rob43

 

Same for me. Our 2017 Prius Prime is considerably quieter than our 2009, including the engine (on the rare occasions it runs!).

The big exception is ... not the car itself: it’s their Bridgestone Ecopia Plus tires. Actually, the tires in themselves are very quiet, but they play road texture like phonograph needle!

 

I wouldn't cut a raw diamond in one either. Perhaps I just don't expect or require library silence in motor vehicles.

 

Here's a hack to instantly upgrade your audio system:

Put on ear plugs, or your noise reducing device of choice. Then turn the music up so that it's a comfortable level to listen to through the ear plugs. The ear plugs reduce the volume of everything, but since you turned up the music to compensate, the signal to noise ratio is effectively reduced.

For example if you normally like to listen to music at 80dB, and the background noise in the car is 60dB, that's only a 20dB SNR, which is pretty bad. But if you put on ear plugs with 20dB of attenuation and turn the radio up to 100 dB, you still are listening to music at 80dB at your ears, but the road noise is effectively reduced to 40 dB. The SNR is doubled.

Of course this only works if you have ear plugs that attenuate all frequencies evenly, and if everyone in the car wears ear plugs.