Aircraft Noise and Headsets
What is noise
• Noise is a complex array of sounds
• Each sound has a frequency (tone) and an
amplitude (volume).
• When these sounds are combined they
form the aircraft noise we are all familiar
with.
Noise Spectrum
RANGE OF HUMAN HEARING
100
• If draw a graph of all of the
95 sounds which make up
90 aircraft noise with frequency
85 (tone) on the horizontal, and
Amplitude (Volume)
80 amplitude (volume) on the
(Decibels)
75 vertical, it would look like this:
70
65
60
55
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 6500 7000 7500 8000 8500 9000
FREQUECY (TONE)
(Hertz)
Noise Levels
• Rustling leaves 20 dB
• Room in a quiet dwelling at midnight 32
• Soft whispers at 5 feet 34
• Window air conditioner 55
• Conversational speech 60
• Household department of large store 62
• Busy restaurant 65
• Vacuum cleaner in private residence (at 10 feet) 69
• Ringing alarm clock (at 2 feet) 80
• Loudly reproduced orchestral music in large room 82
• Beginning of hearing damage if prolonged exposure over 85 dB Aircraft cabin
• Printing press plant 86
noise is
• Heavy city traffic 92
• Heavy diesel-propelled vehicle (about 25 feet away) 92 typically 20dB
• Air grinder 95 Cut-off saw 97 above the level
• Home lawn mower 98 where damage
• Turbine condenser 98 to earring will
• 150 cubic foot air compressor 100 occur
• Ultralight Aircraft @ cruise power 105
• Banging of steel plate 104
• Air hammer 107
• Jet airliner (500 feet overhead) 115
Damaging Noise
• FAA studies have determine that
prolonged exposure to noise level above
85dB will damage human hearing.
• The peak noise levels in ultralight aircraft
are over 100dB!
• Without serious protection, your hearing
will be damaged
Engine Noise
• The typical ultralight engine will turn a two
bladed propeller at 3000rpm.
• The propeller blades will pass the pilot 6000 per
minute, or 100 times per second (100 hertz).
• A 4 cyl engine ignition will fire 3000 times per
minute, 50 times per second (50 hertz).
• A 6 cyl engine ignition will fire 4500 times per
minute, 75 times per second (75 hertz).
Effect of Noise
• Noise can damage your hearing! Prolonged
exposure to +85dB will damage your hearing.
• Prolonged exposure to noise will accelerate the
onset of fatigue.
• Prolonged exposure to noise will reduce your
ability to concentrate on a task.
Effect of Noise
• Consider an ultralight aircraft on a 3 hour flight,
where the pilot is travelling to an airport he has
never landed at before.
• The cabin noise level is 105dB.
• The pilot is wearing a headset which offers
20dB of noise suppression.
• The pilot will be subjected to 3 hours exposure
to 85dB of noise.
Protection
• The typical hearing
protection for pilots
is the aviation
headset
Protection
• Headset protect the pilots hearing using
two methods:
• Passive ear cushions and foam
• Active electronic noise cancellation
• Passive microphone mic muffs
Passive Protection
The make up of a
headset
• Ear Cup
• Backing Foam
• Headphone Module
• Doughnut Foam
• Cloth Cover
• Ear Cushion
Passive Protection
• For passive protection to work the headset must
achieve the following:
• A good fit against the
side of the head
• Have noise
suppressing foam
which fills the earcup
cavity.
Passive Protection
Active Protection
• “Active” protection uses electronics to
remove or suppress unwanted aircraft
noise. There are two methods:
• Active Noise Reduction (ANR)
• Dynamic Noise Reduction (DNR)
ANR
• ANR systems use a filter to separate the
wanted signal from the unwanted noise.
• Most of the unwanted noise is low
frequency (below 300Hz).
• The separated noise is “inverted” (anti-
phase), and then mixed with the original
signal. The noise and “inverted” noise
cancel each other.
ANR
ANR
• ANR systems can typically achieve
noise suppression of 10-20dB.
• At 20dB the noise is 1/100th of the
original level.
• ANR will effectively suppress noise
below 300 Hertz.
• ANR will not suppress noise above
300 hertz because it will also
suppress the wanted audio signal.
• ANR systems and headsets are
lower cost than their DNR
counterparts.
DNR
• Dynamic Noise
Reduction uses
digital electronic
techniques to
remove the noise
components from
the incoming
headphone signal.
DNR
• The incoming signal is “digitised” into a
series of numerical values.
• The digital signal processor analyses this
data to “look” for repetitive noise signals.
• Noise components of the signal are then
“predicted” and removed form the signal.
DNR
INCOMING DIGITISED PROCESSED WANTED SIGNAL
HEADPHONE SIGNAL SIGNAL WITH NOISE
SIGNAL CANCELLED
ANALOG TO DIGITAL DIGITAL TO
DIGITAL SIGNAL ANALOG
CONVERTER PROCESSOR CONVERTER
0011001011101 0011001011101
DNR
• DNR systems typically
suppress noise from 15dB
to 25dB.
• Noise signals up to 3500
hertz can be detected and
suppressed.
• DNR systems are usually
more expensive than ANR
systems.
• DNR technology can make
headsets significantly
lighter.
Headset Suppression
• Noise suppression is expressed in
decibels (dB) by most headset
manufacturers.
• Where the headset has “active”
suppression, the noise suppression is
usually spilt into passive and active dB
values.
Microphones
• In most aircraft
there is some form
of intercom.
• If the microphone
has no suppression
against noise pick
up, this noise can
enter the audio
system.
Microphones
• Most microphones
have a mic muff to
offer some
suppression to the
cabin noise.
• Most are hopeless!
Microphones
• Like the earcups, microphones
need a quality noise suppressing
foam muff.
• In addition to this a jacket over
the foam will increase the
effectiveness of the foam.
Headsets: Rule 1
• You get what you paid for ! Cheap headsets
will do little to protect your hearing.
• Passive headsets can range in price from $60
to $600.
• Active headsets can range in price from $250
to $1500.
Headsets: Rule 2
• Wear a new headset for at least 10 minutes
before buying ! You will be wearing that
headset for hours at a time…
• Passive headsets can be heavy and become
uncomfortable.
• Active headsets can leave you wondering what
to do with the battery box and all that extra
wiring.
Headsets: Rule 3
• There are three types of microphone offered on
aviation headsets !
¾ Dynamic
¾ Amplified Dynamic
¾ Electret
• Know which one works with your radio!
