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Noise floors

I'd like to address an issue that every single audiophile experiences, that being inherent/ambient steady state noise floors. Here we spend so much effort and money on our equipment in order to lower noise floor and increase resolution, transparency, only to lose some percentage of it on relatively high ambient noise floors. By this I mean the noise generated internally by home, hvac systems and so much more, add to that external, outside the home generated noise. Measuring over many years, over large variables, lowest readings of mid 20db to highest mid 50db in my dedicated listening room, these are steady state readings, any particular system in house may activate and or outdoor generated noises, which are even more variable, may kick in raising if from here.

And so, while we can address both these internal and external generated noise floors to some extent, we can't rid ourselves entirely of them. I presume there are widely varying levels of these noise floors for each of us, and it should be accounted for in reviews or evaluations of equipment. And could be reason for trusting only long term reviews, with varying noise floor levels within one's listening room, short term listening could have taken place during time of best or worse case room noise floor.

But mostly what bothers me is, here all this effort and money spent on equipment in attempt to lower noise floor, and so much of that lost by relatively ridiculous levels of steady state and/or ambient noise. Makes one think about getting closed back headphones, or moving out to extremely remote area to home with minimal internally generated noise. To think how much better  the very system I presently have would sound in that environment!


sns
td_dayton
320 posts
 
i agree that in the grand scheme there's very little an individual can do to lower the "noise floor." you can control resonances in your room, you can install separate power lines, you can get the greatest cables ever, blah blah blah but outside of these things you're ultimately at the mercy of your broader environment. there's only so much you can control. i agree with the people saying it's a misguided concern.

 if someone who lives in midtown manhattan can manage to put together a wonderful sounding stereo system, and i'm mad because my neighbor in the burbs runs his lawnmower outside my window once a week, then it might be time to re-evaluate my goals with this hobby. or like the OP said, simply buy some killer headphones  
rickderuyter
21 posts
 
I have high frequency noise that is beyond annoying and I can’t find it or isolate it and that’s when not listening to music. Music is all that helps. Sometimes it stops. Find an article in the Atlantic about people living near server farms as an extreme example of this. They hear a high frequency comstant tone 24/7. It drove some crazy enough to move. And no ,my ears are ok. The rest I can deal with noise wise. 

ghdprentice
8,110 posts
 
@rickderuter


Seriously? That sounds terrible. You live in a house or apartment? Is it inside or outside? This cannot be good for you. I would be hunting it down.
ghdprentice
8,110 posts
 
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barts's avatar
barts
773 posts
 
OP,
I get where you comin' from:
" This is ONLY about the noise floor of one's listening room. With the stereo system OFF"
My dedicated room with double walls and blah blah blah registers an
18 on my iPhone with the FREE NIOSH app.
It is so quiet that standing perfectly still 2-3 feet from the iPhone and exhaling gently as if you want to clean your glasses causes it to jump into the 20s.  That is freakin' quiet.
Go ahead gentleman tweak away, start with lowering the "noise floor"
of your environment.  Then and only then will you be able to hear what you are setting out to accomplish.  All the rest is just noise. 
Regards,
barts  
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