noise
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EU seeks to make 'cranking it to 11' on DAPs happen less often
Love that brain-pounding sensation when you jack that volume past the sensible limit? If so, you best hop on the next flight to somewhere not within Europe, as the almighty European Commission is fixing to peg the default volume limit on portable media players at 80 decibels. If you're stricken with an awful case of déjà vu, you're not alone. You may recall that a similar French law forced Apple to limit the volume level on its iPod family to 100dB, and at that time, it decided to make the limit apply to all units shipped within Europe. Now, the EU is seeking to bring that ceiling down to 80dB on all portable music players in an effort to protect the precious hearing abilities of its citizens, though we should note that said level would only apply to the default setting, not overall maximums. In other words, you can override the recommended listening level if you please, but don't bet on that socialized healthcare taking care of you if The Man finds out. Kidding. Maybe.[Via Telegraph]
Nissan's Leaf EV will sound like a Blade Runner spinner, get better mileage
One of the major disadvantages of electric vehicles, for petrolheads at least, is the lack of engine noise. How can you be proud of your beastly motor if it doesn't roar? There are mundane considerations like pedestrian safety too, but that's beside the point. Nissan seems to have uncovered an old copy of Blade Runner in its toolshed and decided that, yes, it might be a good idea for the Leaf EV to emit a whooshing sound inspired by the Philip K. Dick adaptation. If implemented, this will raise the car's price somewhat, but wouldn't you pay a premium to have your auto sound like a jet taking off? The Leaf is expected to arrive in the US in 2010, replete with its reputed 367 miles per gallon efficiency. [Via Autoblog Green]
Video: Sony NW-A840 packs OLED, noise cancellation, and 64GB of flash heat, still thinnest Walkman ever
Sony's keeping the pressure on the dedicated portable media player market with the launch of its latest OLED Walkman. The NW-A840 series is the thinnest Walkman ever at 7.2mm and comes packing a 2.8-inch OLED display and up to 64GB of flash storage. The players also feature Sony's digital noise cancellation, premium MDR-EX300SL earbuds right in the box, and the ability to pump 720x480 pixel video out to your TV. Sony rates the battery at 29-hours of continuous music or 9-hours of video. The A-series ships in three models -- 16GB NW-A845 (¥24,000/$263), N32GB W-A846 (¥30,000/$329), and 64GB NW-A847 (¥40,000/$439) -- starting October 31st. Also available in black for those who detest downtown hipster-brown. Video preview after the break. [Via Sony Insider]
Nokia's world-beating BH-905 Bluetooth cans slip into the photo booth
Nokia's BH-905 made some serious waves when it debuted back in early June, but what else would you expect from a product that calls itself "the best headset ever made?" The Bluetooth-equipped cans, along with its ten microphones, supple ear cups and A2DP / AVCRP support, are expected to launch globally next month for around three hundred bones, and the fine folks over at NokNok have already managed to score a pre-release model. Aside from visibly gushing all over themselves, they also note that the cans are far smaller than the original press shots made them seem, giving cautious travelers reason to breath a sigh of relief. Hit the read link for a luxurious hands-on look.
Video: Sony's MDR-NC300D noise-canceling canal earbuds
We know you haven't slept in the week since we first got wind of Sony's MDR-NC300D heaphones and while, sadly, there is (as of yet) still no domestic street date, we do have some more details and a fun little video to tide you over. Billed as the "world's first" digital noise canceling canal earphones (and we're inclined to agree) these guys boast 98.4% noise reduction, an integrated S-Master amplifier, 16mm diameter drivers for each bud, and three separate noise canceling modes. For those of you with a more technical bent, you'll be pleased to know that the 'phones sport a playback frequency of 6Hz ~ 24kHz, a sensitivity of 103dB/mW, and a 16Ω impedence. And it runs on AAA batteries -- meaning these aren't the iPod killers that we've seen in similar devices. This bad boy will hit the streets and shelves of Japan on June 21st for ¥30,975 (around $315).Video after the break.[Via Sony Insider]
Sony introduces MDR-NC300D noise-canceling headphones
Tired of listening to more than just your music? Not down with handing over any of your hard-earned cash to the specification-hiding folks at Bose? Have a look at Sony's latest, the MDR-NC300D. These flashy earbuds boast an in-line noise-canceling module with three separate modes: a general mode, airplane mode and one for trains / buses / cars. Granted, we get the idea that those selections are a bit of marketing hype, but whatever the case, Sony asserts that these buds will eliminate up to 99 percent of undesired jibber jabber. All that's required is a single AA cell, which should provide right around 20 hours of noise suppression. Interested? Pony up ¥40,900 ($415) and prove it.[Thanks, Waroxy]
Nokia's Bluetooth BH-905 is 'the best headset ever made'
Pretty strong words from Nokia calling its new BH-905 headset "the best headset ever made." The claim comes as a result of a partnership with Wolfson Microelectronics to add its 10-microphone "feed-forward" active noise-cancellation technology to the headset -- 8 mics for capturing background noise, 2 for your voice. The headset can connect wirelessly over Bluetooth or via a selection of plugs for your home stereo, MP3 player, or airplane jack. It also features high-performance speakers with stainless steel audio controls on one can, phone controls on the other. They'll hit globally in August for a steep pre-tax price of €285 / $403. Hey, that's not bad for the best ever.[Thanks, Stephen R.]Read -- AnnouncementRead -- Microsite with video
Breakfast Topic: Choosing the best mob noise in game
There's a fun little discussion on the forums right now about the best noise out of a mob in the game, and people have all kinds of different opinions. Among the many brilliant things Blizzard has done with World of Warcraft is the way their sound design makes each and every encounter with a mob very memorable, so that even if you're not paying close attention, you know a) when you've aggroed something, and b) what you've aggroed. We all know what a wolf growl sounds like, we know what it sounds like when the caster you're trying to sneak past starts casting (and many of us can probably tell what spell, just from the sound), and of course, probably most memorably, we all know what that gurgly murloc sound means, especially when you hear it in numbers.Lots of the best audio clips are actually from bosses (all of Molten Core's bosses were memorable, for some reason, and "Too soon!" has even reappeared in the game since). My personal favorite lately is the quote from Elder Nadox, the first boss in Ahn'Katet's Old Kingdom. He shouts an otherworldly phrase (apparently in Nerubian) and it ends with a "k-k-k-k-k" sound that must have been edited together -- it definitely doesn't sound human. Every time I hear that (and he says it a few times throughout the fight), I get the feeling that we are fighting something that is very, very old and very, very evil.But of course lots of the audio cues help pull you into the game like that. What are some of your favorite mob noises in the game?
Lotus' Safe and Sound technology gives hybrids a voice
Okay, so maybe it's not a huge deal if your Civic Hybrid only hums around town, but when behind the wheel of say, a Lightning GT, you're going to want that bad boy to make some serious racket. Lotus is taking a somewhat fresh concept and kicking out an idea of its own in order to give some grunt back to battery-filled whips. Currently, the auto maker is utilizing a Prius (what, couldn't net an Elise loaner?) in order to show off its "Safe and Sound" technology (video after the break), which integrates a speaker setup just behind the front bumper in order to alert pedestrians just before they're mangled by an ultra-green, eco-friendly vehicle. Wonder if we'll ever be able to purchase new exhaust tones from our in-dash navigation system -- '69 Shelby GT500, anyone?[Via Wired]
SoundSense unveils sophisticated Noise Cancellation System for audio purists
For home theater owners that love audio as much as (if not more than) video, unwanted noise is a real downer. Thankfully, the sound engineers at SoundSense completely agree, and now the company known for its acoustic dampening solutions is delivering a Noise Cancellation System that reportedly eliminates all that excess noise when you fire up your speakers and amplifiers. Put simply, the process simply utilizes a small microphone and speaker; the "noise-canceling speaker emits sound with opposite qualities of the noise source, thus eliminating distracting sounds." We've no idea how costly said solution will be, nor if it will be easy for novices to use, but don't hesitate to give SoundSense a call and see what it'll take to zap the interference lingering in your HT.
Cutting down the noise in online situations
Technically, the idea that Randall Munroe (author of XKCD, one of the funniest and definitely the geekiest of the comics on the web) had wasn't really about MMOs, but I think there is an application to the communities that we're all gaming in. His problem was that, whenever a community reaches a certain number of people, connections weaken, and it becomes an ever-increasing struggle of signal versus noise. And while his interest in that problem has to do with the IRC channel associated with the comic, it will surely sound familiar to those of us who've spent any amount of time in an online gaming environment.So what's his plan to fix things? His theory is that a lack of meaningful communication is directly tied to the originality of the statements contained therein-- ie. get rid of the Chuck Norris comments and the older-than-dirt memes and jokes, and you'll have meaningful communication. So he created a script to sit in the channel (#xkcd-signal on irc.foonetic.net) with logs of the past two years of chatting, and if you say anything that's already been said, you'll get muted.
The Daily Grind: Watching while playing
Let's be honest. As captivating as some of these games are, you can only kill hundreds of boars before the urge to multitask raises its ugly head. And so while many new players probably take in the game on its own merits, listening to the soundtrack and drinking in every clash and yell, I'd guess that the majority of us need something more than the game we've already played for many, many hours.So today's question: what is it you do while playing? Me, I like catching up on television shows while I play-- while a show like Heroes or Lost demands my full attention, there are plenty of sitcoms and reruns that I like to just let roll in the background while I mine for ore or slaughter orcs. I know lots of other people listen to music while they play, and while I personally have never done it, some bloggers even tell me they blog while playing. I will admit, however, to practicing my ukulele while playing-- sitting in the battleground queue (way back when there were battleground queues) doesn't require me to do much with my hands.So what do you find yourself doing most to divert your attention while playing?
40GB PS3s run cooler, quieter, use less energy
A report from German site Computer Base reveals that consumers giving up backward compatibility on their 40GB PS3s are at least getting something in return. The new systems utilize the new 65nm version of the Cell processor, reducing the power usage from 200 watts to 135 and further limiting the heat and noise the system gives off.With both the Xbox 360 and PS3 now having the cheaper, more efficient 65nm CPUs integrated into their designs, the race to 45nm can truly begin. After that? We're predicting microscopic quantum CPUs.[Via Engadget]
ELP Declicker cleans up your vinyl
We know how annoying it is when you're trying to bounce all of your old Rush LPs to FLAC (you know, so you can jam to Moving Pictures on the go), and your files are filled with ugly surface noise. Well, ELP (the company, not Emerson, Lake, and Palmer) feels your pain -- and it wants to help. For the low, low price of $2500 you can supposedly rid your music of pops and clicks (but not hiss, strangely) with the turn of a knob. Of course, there are much cheaper software options for this sort of thing, and you can't use it on 78s, but you probably won't be worried about that once you hear how good Tom Sawyer sounds.[Thanks, Matt]
Annoyed, hospitalized teen unplugs neighbor's life support
It should probably go without saying that anything connected to a power source within the confines of a hospital has a fair shot at being pertinent to the livelihood of at least one individual, but obviously a 17-year old teenager in Germany needed the memo. After the perpetual noise of what would prove to be his neighbor's life support machine "got on his nerves," he proceeded to simply unplug the device without precaution in order to ensure that "he got his peace and quiet." Of course, we can only assume that the sirens and squeals that were emitted due to his misreckoning were immensely louder than the prior hum, but some folks just love to learn the hard way. Thankfully, medical personnel stepped in and saved the man from perishing, but the teen at fault lost a lot more sleep after that whilst being questioned by police.[Via El Reg, image courtesy of NAIAD]
Sensear enables communication in high noise environments
Being able to communicate in high noise environments (like building sites, or heated LAN parties) poses particular problems: on the one hand, it's often a legal requirement that workers wear ear protection, on the other, you can't hear much with ear muffs on. The Sensear provides a solution to this problem by coupling a noice cancellation headset in the traditional ear protector style with technology that filters out background noise from speech. We'll have to wait for the reviews to hear how effective the directional microphones and filtering algorithm actually are, but just so that wearers have no excuse to ever take the headset off, the makers have thought to include Bluetooth technology to route calls through the headset's speakers. With a bit of tweaking, we'd hope that the Sensear could help people gamers ignore annoying housemates or relations, but we're not sure the current algorithm's quite up to filtering out repeated requests to clean one's room.[Via Popgadget]
Ontama shows random Dreamcast influence
This is probably more of a coincidence or an unintentional influence than anything else, and there's always the possibility that we're imagining things, but doesn't Ontama's protagonist Beat look somewhat familiar? He looks like a cross between Sonic Adventure-era Sonic (look at the poses!) and Jet Set Radio's main character, also named Beat. Well, if you had to pick two games to resemble, you could do a lot worse than these, both of which had fantastic art. The actual game, a rhythm-puzzle thing that we totally want, doesn't look like anything else. We've got new screens after the break.
We can't resist looking at Ontama again
We knew we were going to blab about Ontama more. Sure, it'll probably turn out to be a mildly interesting game for children, but until we find out for sure we're going to continue on the OMG RHYTHM GAME tack. Here are a few things we learned from watching the video again and from poking around the recently updated website, making full use of our terrible Japanese language skills.Not only does the game involve tapping directions on the D-pad rhythmically while circling blobs on the touch screen, it also involves blowing into the microphone. For something that seems to be for young audiences, it certainly has a lot going on. Also possibly of interest: J-pop fans may (or may not-- we have no idea!) be pleased to hear that Ontama contains music from a group called 80 Pan.And, via Insert Credit, a little background on the developer Noise Factory: they used to be an internal SNK team who developed fighting games for the Neo-Geo. The fact that a fairly hardcore fighting game developer is working on this is another reason to think that quality gameplay might be found in here.
SoundofMotion keeps cyclists safe, morphs phone into motorcycle
It may not be legal in most civilized nations to ride a Segway on the sidewalk, but for those still risking their lives on a two-wheeled machine, things are about to get a lot safer. SoundofMotion has developed a clever new warning system that turns your phone into what sounds like a roaring motorcycle, and not content with just playing a pre-recorded loop over and over, it's actually designed to rev up and down based on the speed and acceleration of your bicycle. The application will run on "any Bluetooth- and Java-capable phone," and it interacts with a "wireless BT sensor" that gets mounted on one of your wheels. Unsurprisingly, the device responds to the motion sensor and lets the carefree motorists around know you mean business when crossing an intersection. The app is currently sitting in beta, but the creators hope to have a final rendition ready to go before you make too many summer treks, but you better be willing to face total embarrassment (and have one loud speakerphone) to save your skin before picking this up. Click on through for a demonstration.[Via Slashphone]
Whiney PS3s hitting Canadian shelves?
Did a noisy batch of PS3s make it to EB Games store shelves in Canada? That's the question of the hour, as a number of customers with units manufactured in January with serial numbers in the CE133190xxx and CE133212xxx blocks have reported having severe "whining" issues with their consoles. Let us remind one and all that the PS3 and Xbox 360 are both quite loud with their respective fans running at full bore, but this new high-pitched PS3 whining was apparently so severe that it drove one customer to return his console multiple times because the sound was so unbearable, while another couldn't even make it through a Blu-ray movie with his Mrs. without having to shut down the machine. Anyone having unusual noise issues with theirs? As always, shout it out.P.S. -Listen to a recording of the high pitched whine here.
