Unfortunately, I live nearby the geographic epicenter of the dance and R&B world, ie. Detroit. Therefore the odds of being cursed with obnoxiousneighborbasscannon syndrome here is far above the national average. The usual symptoms include spasmotic convulsions of the head against solid objects such as walls, frequent migraines, and a rather strong desire to bludgeon the offending party using their $3000 stereo speakers to within an inch of their lives.

To prevent the probable mass riots that would ensue in such a swift correction, I propose the development of an active noise cancelling system built into the wall between my apartment and my neighbor's, which would accept standard RCA jacks as input. Leasing agreements would require that the noise-cancelling equipment be plugged in at all times, with the understanding that should the system not be used, the offended party may carry on with the normal perscription for removal of the irritation.
-- RayfordSteele, Aug 01 2002

Audio annoyance deterrent http://www.halfbake...noyance_20deterrent
Active deterence. [phoenix, Aug 01 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004]

Bass Seeking Missile http://www.halfbake...20Seeking_20Missile
Active deterence. [phoenix, Aug 01 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004]

Noise-canceling car stereo http://www.halfbake...ling_20car_20stereo
Small scale version. [phoenix, Aug 01 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004]

I sometimes wonder why no one ever goes around with their treble up. (Sound of barking dogs...)

I like this idea. People can listen to their music, but their plans for gaining loads of attention with the loudest bass are foiled. S'pose next they'll be turning up their trout.
-- polartomato, Aug 01 2002


oooh yeah! awesome. this gives me another idea. But yes, i wish it worked on people who wouldn't take their shoes off on hardwood floors. damn fools.
-- kittybot, Aug 01 2002


What type of noise cancelling system could we apply? "anti-sound" as sometimes used in experimental aircrafts to reduce noise for the pilots?
-- spekkie, Aug 01 2002


<pedant> Dance music has no geographic epicenter. Techno is Detroit, House is Chicago, Garage is New York, Garridge is London, Gabba is Holland, Jimmy Shand is East Wemyss... </pedant>.

How does active noise cancelling work?
-- calum, Aug 01 2002


Active noise cancelling uses a speaker or a set of them to fill in the low pressure valleys in the sound waves with a wave that's 180 degrees out of phase of the signal input. The tricky part is pinpointing the right place for the speaker.
-- RayfordSteele, Aug 01 2002


In this case the right place for the speaker is... your neighbour's speaker. Just feed the cancelling signal into the input of his amp. Obviously you can't get at the actual inputs, but maybe a powerful directional radio carrier might be able to induce pickup at the amp inputs?
-- Obes, Aug 01 2002


Obes, hey I like that idea. Kill it at the source, then pipe in Karen Carpenter's Christmas album on top of that wave, so no matter what he plays, he'll think his stereo is possessed by some horribly evil demon. Or maybe Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Looks like phoenix has this one baked, smoked, and bbq'd. Oh well.
-- RayfordSteele, Aug 01 2002


Mine are not quite the same as yours [RayfordSteele]. I think better insulation might be cheaper than whole-house noise cancellation however.
-- phoenix, Aug 02 2002


Nice selection of category.
-- BinaryCookies, Aug 02 2002


Move to the country - it's quiet there.
-- notripe, Aug 02 2002


I'm surprised that some of the usual "blow-up-everything" folks haven't twisted this in to "Active Obnoxious Neighbor Cancelling".
-- half, Aug 02 2002



random, halfbakery