The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Skunkworks > Gear and Accessories

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old May 20, 2002, 09:00 PM   #1
Incursion
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 22, 2000
Location: TX
Posts: 803
Electronic Hearing ?

Since electronic mufflers use an opposing wave of equal magnitude to cancel out the incoming sound, wouldn't that cause damage to your ear even though you can't "hear" it?
Incursion is offline  
Old May 20, 2002, 11:18 PM   #2
C.R.Sam
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 29, 1999
Location: Dewey, AZ
Posts: 12,858
No.....the pressure pulses are out of phase and equal amplitude: ideally canceling out, resulting in zero pressure.

Sam
C.R.Sam is offline  
Old May 20, 2002, 11:22 PM   #3
Jim Watson
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 25, 2001
Location: Alabama
Posts: 18,485
Electronic shooting muffs do NOT use out of phase noise cancellation; that only works well for continuous sound, most usually seen in aircraft headsets. A gunshot is a single impulse not subject to being canclelled out.

All that electronic shooter's ear protection does is provide amplification to get ambient sound, like range commands, "past" the insulation of the muff. The amplification shuts off in some models, down to a minimum level in others, as incoming sound above a set value is detected, leaving the gunshot to be attenuated by the muff. When the battery runs down, they are as effective protection as ever, you just don't hear background sound and conversation, same as a plain muff. So there is no extra energy from a cancelling sound wave to be dealt with.

In the aircraft style of noise cancelling headset, the small amount of energy in the out of phase sound waves added to the outside noise probably shows up as a tiny amount of heat. As C.R. says, there is no pressure difference, but the energy has to go somewhere. I do not think it ends up in a capacitor in the power supply as Arthur C. Clarke wrote in one of his White Hart S.F. stories.
Jim Watson is online now  
Old May 21, 2002, 12:36 PM   #4
C.R.Sam
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 29, 1999
Location: Dewey, AZ
Posts: 12,858
Ooops.........wrong application of wrong gear. Me sorry.

Thanks for catchin that Jim.

Sam
C.R.Sam is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:21 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.03217 seconds with 10 queries