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Re:Stanford lab envisions delivery drones that save energy b... by contravariant on Thursday June 04, 2020 @08:53AM (#23415937)
While true, you can take advantage of the fact the most people don't perceive 2 sources of identical noise as 'twice as loud'. And given the extensive dynamic range of sound it is not uncommon to drown out sound with noise that's a few orders of magnitude louder.

Though I reckon it's more likely that the constant noise of drones will drown out the traffic noise than the other way around. Not just because it's constant but also because it's LOUD.

Re:Stanford lab envisions delivery drones that save energy b... by georgyo on Thursday June 04, 2020 @09:12AM (#23416116)
They aren’t close to identical sounds though. Drones are much higher pitch, and will be clearly distinct.

It’s like when a car honks or someone whistles on the highway. There is a lot of noise, but the higher pitches are distinct.

Re:Stanford lab envisions delivery drones that save energy b... by jbay808 on Thursday June 04, 2020 @01:54PM (#23419645)
Yeah... in particular, part of the unworldly annoyance of drones is hearing 4~6 slightly different pitches, all constantly changing, as each prop spins at its own speed to make slight corrections.
Re:Stanford lab envisions delivery drones that save energy b... by jcims on Thursday June 04, 2020 @09:26AM (#23416251)
There's also a psychological effect. What's louder from ten feet away, hair clippers or a hornet?
Re:Stanford lab envisions delivery drones that save energy b... by contravariant on Thursday June 04, 2020 @11:36AM (#23418036)
Well if a sound is loud enough it's going to drown out everything else just by being much much louder. You can't hear a pin drop when lots of people are talking for instance.

That said I estimate a drone to be much louder than regular traffic, at least inside cities.