First, I now realize how lucky I am, and will keep this in mind if I ever think of moving.
What a good decision it was to pay extra for the insulated windows and insulated door glass when I renovated our 3 season porch (adjacent to main living/listening space).
Original listening room windows, 1951, are single layer, but tested very airtight by weatherproofing project, and added storm windows made them a good sound blocking combo as well.
A prior ’outdoor weather’ problem now gone. Loud talking turned into moving lips if seen. We have a neighbor who is partially deaf, thus LOUD when on the phone, outside in decent weather, close enough to drive Donna crazy outside on her glider. From my listening chair no sound gets thru.
Weather-strips at door bottoms, and sound strip on the adjacent kitchen door (installed for prior dishwasher noise), as well as buying the most silent dishwasher available means the dishwasher can be running, refrigerator can kick on, ice maker can clunk, or Donna and her sister can be in the kitchen quietly talking, I don’t hear them unless they get loud, then somebody has to go, or listen later.
Me listening or viewing while Donna watching TV in bedroom upstairs, around 4 right angle bits of corridor, she can leave the door open, we don’t hear each other. If I raise the volume too much, she closes the door where she is, I also put door bottom strips on my office door and the bedroom door. If noisy stuff, like Korean dramas (they cry loudly a lot), it’s sub-titles so I can turn the sound very low.
Forced air system, listening room is at the end of the line, not a main duct, can be heard if no music or video is on, but not when listening or viewing.
Old ’Sleepy Hollow’ neighborhood, very little thru traffic, but garbage trucks in the morning readily heard, big UPS/FedEx trucks if squeaky brakes, if nearby. Dogs barking when they pass each other right outside. Sometimes a ’whole house shudder’ when a big ass plane passes over, luckily rare.
And, I do have an acquired ability to tune everything else out. Door bell rings, Donna comes home, thru the front door, .... Pizza or Chinese food delivery ... they gotta break thru to the other side.
Prior to CD’s we trained our brains to be unaware of clicks and pops fairly well. After many years of CDs, when I got back into Vinyl, listening to well worn lps, I had to regain that ability. Then get better equipment, clean, new vinyl ...
Incidentally, I was just lying in bed the other day, remembering how I was able to transport myself to another place while riding the subway to and from NYC and Brooklyn everyday. 1970’s, nyc over 8 million, horribly crowded subways, very few air-conditioned trains, and when that crowded, asses to elbows, track and brake noise, odors, OMG.
I would close my eyes, put my brain in ’I’m not here’ mode, think about .... Then, you had to have a clock, like a Cicada, to ’wake’ yourself, break the trance, to get off at your stop. 3 changes from NYC to Brooklyn (living near Pratt Institute). And that reminded me of the period when I could simply decide when I wanted to wake up, say 5:20 am. Just think it, bingo, eyes open at 5:20. Can’t do it now, but for years, any time I chose, bingo, awake.
Point is, you can train your brain to be unaware of other input, even a lot of other input. A few door bottom strips ...
