Minimalist design trends usually to blame for noisy restaurants, audio expert says - Sensationalist Headlines

[quote]Have you ever gone out for a quiet dinner for two, only to find that it is anything but quiet? The restaurant echoes with the clinking of plates and loud "background" music, and you have to shout over the noise of dozens of over-table conversations just to be heard. It's a common experience according to Soren Norgaard, general manager of audio visual trade show Integrate, which opens in Melbourne on Tuesday. "I think we've all been in a situation where you're out and the food is nice, but you can't actually converse and it's just annoying," he told ABC Radio Melbourne's Sami Shah and Jacinta Parsons. "It's a special occasion, and you sit there looking at each other and you can't hear each other." [b]He said the noise level at some restaurants could reach close to 100 decibels, above what is legally allowed in many other environments. "If you were in an industrial situation you would actually have to have hearing protection."[/b] Minimalist design to blame Mr Norgaard said modern design trends were often to blame for restaurants being noisy.[/quote] Read more at [url]http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-29/restaurants-too-loud-design-at-fault/8848134[/url] I normally wouldn't post something like this, because it's pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things. But I had an absolutely horrid experience at a supposedly upmarket restaurant about a week ago, and the noise was extremely stressful; the clanking coming from the kitchen, music being played over the speakers, and the voices of other diners, all echoing around the room. Glad to see that it's not just me who realises this.

if youre in detroit sometime you should go to the parthenon the acoustics arent that bad and the food is good

This is a pet peeve of mine. Hard surfaces and high ceilings makes sure everybody hears everything else going on in the restaurant.

[QUOTE=BF;52624027]Read more at [url]http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-29/restaurants-too-loud-design-at-fault/8848134[/url] I normally wouldn't post something like this, because it's pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things. But I had an absolutely horrid experience at a supposedly upmarket restaurant about a week ago, and the noise was extremely stressful; the clanking coming from the kitchen, music being played over the speakers, and the voices of other diners, all echoing around the room. Glad to see that it's not just me who realises this.[/QUOTE] Wasn't one the rooftop resturants at Kotara, was it?

Just scream louder to talk.

I hate going to pubs or bars that are either really noisy unless they're playing good music. I find it really hard and exhausting trying to talk to people when I can barely hear them, I end up just sorting of withdrawing from conversation. If they're playing good music i can just jam out and get some energy from that. But sitting in a noisy bar or restaurant straining to hold a conversation is just shit. I'd never really thought about it but its probably why I don't like going out unless it's to a dance at a club with a good sound system

[QUOTE=Bradyns;52624081]Wasn't one the rooftop resturants at Kotara, was it?[/QUOTE] Nah some Italian restaurant in Maitland I've been to two restaurants in Newcastle recently, but they were each just shockingly terrible. Both restaurants insisted on cramping as many people into a tight place as possible, and then blasting music as loud as possible, as if somehow millenials are into that shit. I simply walked out of one of them only a minute after I walked in; it was literally as loud as a night club without actually being a night club. I have no idea how anyone can handle such places. The other one I only barely tolerated because my then-girlfriend liked the food there. [editline]29th August 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=The golden;52624054]Noise is one of the big reasons that I don't like going to restaurants anymore. They are just so fucking loud inside that my sensitive ears cannot take it. Just about broke down crying at one because it was stressing me out so much. You can't even talk to the person across the table from you. It's fucking ridiculous.[/QUOTE] It was my brother's birthday last week, and I arrived in a good mood. But all of the noise really stressed me out and so I just withheld from conversation altogether, spending almost the whole time fucking around on my phone just to keep myself calm and distracted.

Same thing with open concept homes. My sister has a very large home with an entirely open concept for the main living spaces. It's an awful, echo filled mess of sound during the holidays. You hear every clank in the kitchen, and every kid screaming. Contrasting that to my parents 100 year old home with thick plaster walls and smaller rooms, you could be blasting a movie in the living room and have a quiet conversation in the kitchen. Much more livable in my opinion. I've always prefered restaurants with compartmentalized seating areas where you can have an intimate conversation without shouting. Of course designing a floor plan with sound deadening in mind is simply more expensive.

Anxiety caused by sensory overload is totally real, and I've had to deal with it at restaurants before. It sucks and makes it impossible to hold a conversation when you're just trying to keep yourself together

[QUOTE=The golden;52624054]Noise is one of the big reasons that I don't like going to restaurants anymore. They are just so fucking loud inside that my sensitive ears cannot take it. Just about broke down crying at one because it was stressing me out so much. You can't even talk to the person across the table from you. It's fucking ridiculous.[/QUOTE] You know, I hate to be rude; but why are people becoming so complacent with not able to handle things? I see it a lot recently; as if people are fishing for pity bucks. If you wanna talk about something being ridiculous, the noise in restaurants is not it. You started crying in public while out with friends/family because other people talking was "stressing you out too much"? Come on. Really?

[QUOTE=grob;52624255]You know, I hate to be rude; but why are people becoming so complacent with not able to handle things? I see it a lot recently; as if people are fishing for pity bucks. If you wanna talk about something being ridiculous, the noise in restaurants is not it. You started crying in public while out with friends/family because other people talking was "stressing you out too much"? Come on. Really?[/QUOTE] How do you lack this much empathy

[QUOTE=AtomicSans;52624271]How do you lack this much empathy[/QUOTE] At a point; what you're talking about isn't even empathy. Got hit by a car? "Shit that's horrible man. I'm here for you. Need me to get anything?" Lost your Job? "I know the feeling, I'll swing ya some bucks to help ya out. You'll get through it." Started crying because people around you were loud? ... What do you even say to that? "Wow, what a rough experience for you." Seems a little dramatic, is all.

[QUOTE=grob;52624290]At a point; what you're talking about isn't even empathy. Got hit by a car? "Shit that's horrible man. I'm here for you. Need me to get anything?" Lost your Job? "I know the feeling, I'll swing ya some bucks to help ya out. You'll get through it." Started crying because people around you were loud? ... What do you even say to that? "Wow, what a rough experience for you." I don't know. Seems a little dramatic to me.[/QUOTE] A restaurant is supposed to be relaxing. But someone with hearing sensitivity and loud customers can cause a horrible experience. Maybe you should put a little thought about human beings and stop trying to seem like a hard arse when one day you'll also cry over something you deem "too pussy" too.

[QUOTE=The golden;52624297]What the fuck did I ever do to you? lol You're so needlessly hostile that I'm pretty sure you're trolling.[/QUOTE] You know what, I'm sorry. Maybe it was out of left field for me to say that. Nothing against you personally.

It's even more ridiculous when the restaurant has some kind of live music and you can't even hear it over the yelling, some poor pianist tapping away at his keys and you only hear BLARGHBLABHGLABLLAGHLA.

I was at a jazz restaurant the other day and this lady started singing but there was a family fucking yelling at each other to talk. So not only could we not enjoy the music, but couldn't even communicate normally. If you fucking want to yell at each other go to a football bar and not a restaurant with good music and food.

There's a difference between 'wah I dislike being uncomfortable and not pandered to' and 'holy fuck, my brain feels like it's collapsing in on itself from all of this sheer, chaotic sensory input'. The latter is a legitimate mental issue prevalent in people with attention disorders or on the autistic spectrum (regardless of level of functionality) and it really fucks with them. Unmanaged noise can be stressful even to people with standard cognition and senses because it's shitty loud noises and nobody likes being half-deaf when they're trying to just relax. also this is a pretty shitty place for a "society is going to the dogs!!" screed regardless

[QUOTE=The golden;52624297]What the fuck did I ever do to you? lol You're so needlessly hostile that I'm pretty sure you're trolling.[/QUOTE] He's being a dick about it, but almost crying over a loud restaurant is really overdramatic.

[QUOTE=Vitisus;52624318]There's a difference between 'wah I dislike being uncomfortable and not pandered to' and 'holy fuck, my brain feels like it's collapsing in on itself from all of this sheer, chaotic sensory input'. The latter is a legitimate mental issue prevalent in people with attention disorders or on the autistic spectrum (regardless of level of functionality) and it really fucks with them. Unmanaged noise can be stressful even to people with standard cognition and senses because it's shitty loud noises and nobody likes being half-deaf when they're trying to just relax. also this is a pretty shitty place for a "society is going to the dogs!!" screed regardless[/QUOTE] Well, my point was that everyone goes through tough shit in their lifetime, we all do. It's just it seems like more people make mountains out of mole-hills when telling other people about it, lately. For pity bucks, or to say "I've been through some shit man"; when in reality you just dealt with a loud noise.

[QUOTE=DinoJesus;52624322]He's being a dick about it, but almost crying over a loud restaurant is really overdramatic.[/QUOTE] People with sensory issues react differently than "normal" people. [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensory_overload]Enjoy reading about sensory overload[/url]

i don't mind loud restaurants but christ show some human empathy

Sensory overload is real, can be incredibly stressful and even traumatizing with the right combination of stimuli, and isn't just people "making mountains out of molehills". [quote]Sensory overload occurs when one or more of the body's senses experiences over-stimulation from the environment. There are many environmental elements that impact an individual. Examples of these elements are urbanization, crowding, noise, mass media, technology, and the explosive growth of information. Sensory overload is commonly associated with sensory processing disorder.[/quote] It can also be a small part of a much larger mental illness, disability, or syndrome. [quote] Sensory overload has been found to be associated with other disorders such as: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Fibromyalgia (FM) Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Autistic spectrum disorders Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) Schizophrenia (see also sensory gating) Synesthesia Sensory processing disorder[/quote] Do a little research before you make yourself look silly by saying it's an over-exaggeration.

[QUOTE=Pascall;52624399]Sensory overload is real, can be incredibly stressful and even traumatizing with the right combination of stimuli, and isn't just people "making mountains out of molehills". It can also be a small part of a much larger mental illness, disability, or syndrome. Do a little research before you make yourself look silly by saying it's an over-exaggeration.[/QUOTE] Oh trust me, when I was typing my comments I was fully aware that people have problems with their eardrums, sensory overload and all of that stuff. So, I'm not confusing anything. Even with all of that, nearly breaking down into tears and then commenting about it on the internet with a "FUCKING" behind every word to fully emphasize just how "FUCKING" stressful it was; is still dramatic. Like I said, everyone has problems. Not everyone throws a pity party when they deal with them though. I will be with you 100% when you go through actual [i]hard-ships[/i]. Because I know not one of you have an actual eardrum problem where it's medically unbearable to go through.

Don't get me wrong I believe it's real. I just have a hard time believing a restaurant can be so overwhelmingly loud. Like sure it's annoying, but it's a level of noise that's fairly common, in my life atleast.

I didn't see him looking for pity, I saw him expressing a distaste because of a particularly poor experience he had. People are allowed to talk about how they feel regarding a topic without it being a cry for attention. [editline]28th August 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=DinoJesus;52624424]Don't get me wrong I believe it's real. I just have a hard time believing a restaurant can be so overwhelmingly loud. Like sure it's annoying, but it's a level of noise that's fairly common, in my life atleast.[/QUOTE] I mean that's like saying that you believe depression is real, but you're not sure how someone can be so sad when nothing's wrong. It's just a fucked up thing with your physiology which triggers stress. There's not really much more to it. Doesn't happen to everyone. [editline]28th August 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=grob;52624417] I will be with you 100% when you go through actual [i]hard-ships[/i]. Because I know not one of you have an actual eardrum problem where it's medically unbearable to go through.[/QUOTE] Cool assumption. Didn't know you knew everyone on the forum personally!

[QUOTE=Pascall;52624425]Cool assumption. Didn't know you knew everyone on the forum personally![/QUOTE] If any of you did, you would no doubt say it in the first sentence of the post because that's the kind of people you are. It may sound rude but... it's the truth. You wouldn't wait a second to let people onto that little problem you have in your life. [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Threadshitting. Was just unbanned" - Kiwi))[/highlight]

[QUOTE=DinoJesus;52624424]Don't get me wrong I believe it's real. I just have a hard time believing a restaurant can be so overwhelmingly loud. Like sure it's annoying, but it's a level of noise that's fairly common, in my life atleast.[/QUOTE]It's not necessarily a volume thing, it's more of a 'volume of information' thing. Noise from the TVs, noise from the music, all kinds of noise from the people. There's more incoming information than you can process, and a certain type of brain goes into a panic in that scenario. This isn't too hard to understand, mate. [editline]28th August 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=grob;52624417]Oh trust me, when I was typing my comments I was fully aware that people have problems with their eardrums, sensory overload and all of that stuff. So, I'm not confusing anything. Even with all of that, nearly breaking down into tears and then commenting about it on the internet with a "FUCKING" behind every word to fully emphasize just how "FUCKING" stressful it was; is still dramatic. Like I said, everyone has problems. Not everyone throws a pity party when they deal with them though. I will be with you 100% when you go through actual [i]hard-ships[/i]. Because I know not one of you have an actual eardrum problem where it's medically unbearable to go through.[/QUOTE] Hardship is subjective, not objective.

[QUOTE=grob;52624433]If any of you did, you would no doubt say it in the first sentence of the post because that's the kind of people you are. It may sound rude but... it's the truth. You wouldn't wait a second to let people onto that little problem you have in your life.[/QUOTE] I can't believe we've stumbled on the expert of all hardship and turmoil. Shit, might as well go home! Grob says we can't be upset until we've [I]actually[/I] suffered. This is such a silly post, dude lol. Mental and physical illness and disability affect people in a huge variety of ways and just because it's not a big deal to you, it could absolutely be a big deal to someone else. The fact that you're blowing someone's personal experience up as some kind of pity plea is so ridiculous. The dude shared a story. He's not asking for you to critique it for "real signs of suffering".

Now imagine being a server or waiter

Anyway, back on topic: Is it because restaurants are so much larger and have so little furniture/decorations in them that sound echoes in there more loudly? I've had some issues in some restaurants but it's usually just because I caught them at their rush hour. But I don't think I've been in a restaurant that, on a normal operating day, is excessive. But then again, I can't say I've really been into any higher end "modern" restaurants lately either.