Can YOU hear the Mosquito noise?
So, I remember reading about this last year. Basically, a research group found a pitch that most teens and children can hear, but not adults due to slow degradation of the ear. A store was first used to ward off unsightly teens that hang out in front of the store....
Now, it's becoming a popular ringtone since most teachers are unable to hear it.
Give it a try! *Warning* It REALLY hurts your ears if you have your speakers turned up like I did... So turn it down before you play this.
http://graphics.nytimes.com/packages...0_RINGTONE.mp3
Article if you want to read more about it.
http://news.com.com/A+ring+tone+mean...l?tag=nefd.top
So... What about you guys?
Now, it's becoming a popular ringtone since most teachers are unable to hear it.
Give it a try! *Warning* It REALLY hurts your ears if you have your speakers turned up like I did... So turn it down before you play this.
http://graphics.nytimes.com/packages...0_RINGTONE.mp3
Article if you want to read more about it.
http://news.com.com/A+ring+tone+mean...l?tag=nefd.top
So... What about you guys?
Comments
oh I'm 30..
I guess I won't be loitering at that shop.
flick.
At this point, I'm not sure to what extent I was hearing the actual sound one is supposed to hear, or if I was just hearing some lower-frequency encoding noise. Headline News did a story about this a week or so ago. When I saw this on TV, and was sitting on the sofa listening through my B&W P6 speakers, I didn't hear a thing.
It could be that my hearing isn't good enough to hear any of this sound without the extra high-end boost headphones can provide, or without the clue of the extraneous noise. If I play music in iTunes at the same time I play the ringtone, the ringtone is pretty much lost on me -- if this was my ringtone I'd have to be in a damn quiet room to know that my phone was ringing.
But I also have my doubts that the TV demo was valid. According to the linked article, the ringtone is based on "an ultrasonic teenager repellent, an ear-splitting 17-kilohertz buzzer". Convential NTSC analog TV tops out at 15KHz for audio. I was watching via digital satellite TV, but as far as I know DirecTV is digitizing and rebroadcasting an analog feed of Headline News. Given many factors -- the studio sound equipment, analog elements in the broadcasting chain, digital compression of the audio which might drop such high frequencies -- there might not have been anything left for Headline News's viewers to hear, no matter how good their hearing.
Originally posted by maimezvous
I could not hear the sound consistently until I turned the volume all the way up on my computer. Even then, the sound was not bad enough to annoy me, and it didn't persist. I would hear it for a few seconds and then it would disappear. I am 17 years old.
Is it possible you tend to listen to music very loudly, and/or go to a lot of loud concerts?
In my work place, I can't get away from white noise -- lots and lots of computers and network gear all around me, most of it with less-then-quiet fans cranking away all the time. I'd guess it's likely that has cut into my high frequency hearing a bit over the years.
That means we're going to start to see modern schools built with grounded aluminum sheet inside the walls and ceilings of classrooms, and the return of wire-reinforced glass. That should do wonders to curtail wireless device usage.
- Jasen.
my co-worker next to me couldn't hear a thing and i think he is 25.
he thought i was pulling a joke on him until everybody came here complaining.
I could hear it through headphones with the volume all the way up.
Through my desktop speakers I could hear slightly but it was definitely giving me a headache.
I'm 34. In the 90's in college I spent a lot of time in reggae and hip hop clubs with large booming bass speakers. So I'm sure my hearing isn't the same as my teens.
Originally posted by shetline
Is it possible you tend to listen to music very loudly, and/or go to a lot of loud concerts?
In my work place, I can't get away from white noise -- lots and lots of computers and network gear all around me, most of it with less-then-quiet fans cranking away all the time. I'd guess it's likely that has cut into my high frequency hearing a bit over the years.
I certainly don't take the best care of my ears. I'm in marching band, and pep band. It can get pretty loud during football/basketball games. I also go to the indy 500 every year, and I have yet to wear ear plugs. It just ruins the experience. Boy, am I going to pay for all of this later. I don't listen to music particularly loud, but it probably is louder than it should be. I tried to listen to it again, but I still didn't hear very well.
Originally posted by Placebo
Same sound a TV makes, and my parents can hear that at mid-fifties.
THANK YOU! I (34) have been telling my wife (43) that TVs make a noise even if the sound is off. She can't hear it and I can.
And sweet Jesus...I played that file on my Powerbook with the sound up and my reaction was "Owww!! God!!! Turn it off!!!"
But I can also hear dog whistles.
Originally posted by midwinter
THANK YOU! I (34) have been telling my wife (43) that TVs make a noise even if the sound is off. She can't hear it and I can.
My parents sold the TV when I was born as any overly concerned parent does, and since I almost never hear that noise at home it hasn't really canceled out for me like it does for many people.
Originally posted by Placebo
My parents sold the TV when I was born as any overly concerned parent does,...
Anybody else have their parents tell them to sit at least 6 feet from the TV because otherwise it'd hurt your eyes and you'd be affected by the "radiation?"