One provides natural hearing when sound levels are safe and either 9- or 15-dB sound reduction when sounds exceed safe levels.

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The result is a pair of intelligent, high-fidelity active sound-reduction earplugs that allow natural hearing when sound is safe and provide automatic protection from both loud, sustained music and sudden, loud percussive sounds.

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These things are well worth the price for the short- and long-term power of tax-rate reduction, sound currency and unclogged credit arteries.

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That's why it's slightly perturbing to hear The Verge's suggestion from "sources familiar with the matter" that the Lumia 920 will ship with a paltry 8-megapixel version of PureView, which doesn't sound like it could deliver the same noise reduction or lossless zoom or other powers.

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Other noise reduction features include a quiet-operation windshield wiper motor, a sound insulation windshield design and a dual-isolated motor-mounting system.

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That might not sound much of an improvement, but proportionately it is far greater than the one-tenth reduction by Mo Farah.

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The Select Committee on Deficit Reduction should be selected within the next 24 hours and the tough work of putting our country on a sound fiscal path should start immediately.

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