Airflow noise in telephone handsets and methods for its reduction

• Published in: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America Vol. 118; no. 1; p. 205
• Main Authors: Stinson, Michael R, Daigle, Gilles A, Quaroni, John F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.07.2005
• ISSN: 0001-4966; 1520-8524
• DOI: 10.1121/1.1931087

The noise in a telephone handset produced by the bursts of airflow that accompany plosive sounds such as a "p" or "t" has been investigated. Measurements have been made on a series of modified handsets, using various arrangements of ports and tubes between microphone and the exterior of the telephone mouthpiece. A narrow stream of air was used to probe the mouthpiece and the signal picked up by the microphone recorded. The use of one, two, and multiple exterior holes was considered. Two-hole approaches alleviate the static pressure buildup that occurs when a single microphone hole is used and in many cases they result in reduced noise generation; for some directions of incident airflow, though, noise can be markedly increased. This was found to be due to interaction between intersecting streams of air. By using a large number of small (less than 0.5 mm) exterior holes, the airflow noise can be reduced by over 30 dB for all incident directions of airflow. It is also beneficial to ensure that none of the exterior holes is in direct line with the sound tube leading to the microphone.