I don't use the hot-air hand dryers because they physically hurt my ears. They're so damn loud. I don't know which one is worse, the Dyson Airblade or the Xcelerator.
The time period matters as well. Just clicking your fingers is loud enough to give you hearing damage if sustained for 30 minutes. I would not at all be worried about hand dryers unless you sat next to one all day.
If I had to guess I'd say English is not their first language (like it isn't mine) and they just translated a term from their own language into English ; )
My daughter hates them. I don't think she's autistic but she does have sensitive hearing. (Whispering between her parents doesn't often go unnoticed, frustratingly sometimes.)
My 4yo daughter is getting instant panic attacks when one of those hand dryers turns on next to her. I hope this isn't a spectrum thing, but the thought often crosses my mind.
For what it's worth, loud noises always bothered me as a kid. Even the (1000-person audience) applauding after each performance of the end-of-year talent contest in my first two years of secondary school (aged 12 and 13) was so loud I managed to get taken out of the hall because I was crying from the pain.
However, despite some people trying to call me "autistic" as a term of abuse (including a line manager!), my actual score on an (online) autism spectrum test was solidly in the "mundane and normal" category.
Curious, as someone playing in a noiseband I don't even think the loudest (broken) hand drier I ever heard even remotely resembled anything I'd describe as loud. Everything is relative. I always found the dyson ones to be quiter than those old big rusty things that vibrate the whole wall as their fan spins up.
But as a sound engineer I am aware that A) there is such a thing as too loud and B) people are very subjective in what they perceive as unpleasent sounds and when it is unpleasant to them they are more sensitive to it
To me it is both the sound of the machine running and the sound of the fast moving air running over the hands. When there are multiple people drying their hands all at once, in a tile covered bathroom, I find the sound to be unbearable. Even if it's just me drying my hands, the discomfort is too much.
I have tinnitus and so my sensitivity might be lower than the average person. Other sounds that cause me pain and distress:
1. Movie theaters these days. Why are they so goddamn loud? I can't tell if it's the sound design of the movie, or if the volume is way up in the theater. If I don't wear earplugs, my ears will be in pain and ringing for days.
2. My refrigerator that has developed an obnoxious electric whine. I can hear it from across the house. It is currently being replaced, and I am spending an absurd amount of money on a quiet refrigerator.
3. A commercial carpet cleaning vacuum running for hours at a time down the block. Again with the high-pitched sound and I can hear it from a mile away. And it's always in the mornings when I am trying to read.
4. Ceramic dishware clashing together. This too causes pain. When I do the dishes, I am mindful of the loud sounds made when stacking plates and bowls, so I stack carefully. When family does the dishes, they create a soundscape from hell. It is like their hands are not connected to their brains and they've never put anything down gently in their entire lives.
5. Industrial electrical boxes. I parked on a top floor of a local parking garage the other day, and I noticed 4-6 very large electrical boxes mounted along one of the walls. The sound coming from these boxes was so loud, so sharp to my ears, I had to get back in the car right away and drive out. It only took a few moments of exposure and my ears were ringing and my head was splitting for hours.
I know I must seem insane, but I don't care. I will go out of my way to create quiet spaces, to preserve the silence, to avoid noise that causes distress, because sometimes it takes days for me to recover. And having to battle this stuff constantly just makes me angry and annoyed, and I don't like that.
I've had numerous ear and hearing exams and in addition to the tinnitus, I'm told I have severe "hyperacusis."
Thanks for the insight. I wonder how much of it is the brain. Normally the acoustic processing inside our heads is capable of reducing unfocused sounds by around 12 dB (a phenomenon described with the term "Cocktail Party Effect"). So I wonder what happens when the hearing focuses on the ubwanted stuff instead.
As for cinemas: Unless you go to weird off the beat venues the listening levels should be those specified by the mixing engineer in the studio. Most cinemas have dolby certifications, which means the engineer in the studio will hear nearly exactly what you hear.
The levels within cinema productions are painstakingly kept below any levels considered harmful by both the industry and the law for obvious reasons. That however doesn't mean it will be equally pleasant to all people or that there are some people with special hearing conditions where it might come across as downright hostile (like you).
If this happens often to you I'd suggest investing into decent hearing protection. I have one with me at all times, despite being relatively insensitive to sounds and levels that would put other people at the edge of their seats.
Respectfully, what is curious then? You are clearly aware you regularly and voluntarily engage is listening to volumes louder than average person, so it shouldn't be surprising or curious other people's threshold is lower? :)
I find air drivers uncomfortably loud. My children are terrified of them and I cannot blame them. It's the volume but also the nature of the sound that are both rather awful.
Fair enough! Yeah, they are kind of the loudest normal thing I experience; but beyond the sheer volume, it's the nature of the sound. I may be able to listen to music potentially as loud as that drier (though I wouldn't normally:), but it's also the startup type and the shrill, offensive, high pitched noise that I think bothers people :)
It’s probably autism and it can often be the particular sound rather than just the volume. I’ve seen people who found the noise of a dishwasher for example to be very upsetting even though it’s not loud.
