the
journal.
Everything else
How it works
5 min
Why noise cancelling is best at engines
Steady, low sounds are easy to predict and easy to cancel. Voices and clatter are harder. Here is why.
Measured
4 min
The 85 dB rule, explained without the jargon
Why 85 decibels is the number safety agencies use, and why every 3 dB above it halves your safe time.
Focus
5 min
Open-plan offices and the 23-minute problem
One interruption costs far more than the thirty seconds it takes. What researchers found, and how to protect your focus.
Design
7 min
How we tuned six microphones in a car park
Wind is the enemy of every earbud microphone. We spent three winter weeks in an underground car park to beat it.
Sleep
4 min
Night noise: what 40 dB actually sounds like
The World Health Organization’s night guideline is quieter than most bedrooms. We recorded ten of them to find out.
Design
3 min
Designing a case you want to hold
Why the case is a pebble, why the hinge is metal and why the light is blue.
104 dB
The loudest thing we measured this year
Eleven seconds on a curved platform as the 8:14 came in. Louder than a lawnmower at arm’s length.
if you read this far,
Try quiet.
Thirty days with Quelde One, and send them back if you ever miss the noise.