Can YOU hear the Mosquito noise?

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
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?
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 32
    user23user23 Posts: 199member
    Thanks for the link. I'm 35 & I can definitely hear it. Not a pleasant sound.
  • Reply 2 of 32
    Yeah that sure cuts directly in to that part of your brain responsible for headaches...



    oh I'm 30..



    I guess I won't be loitering at that shop.



    flick.



  • Reply 3 of 32
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    Same sound a TV makes, and my parents can hear that at mid-fifties.
  • Reply 4 of 32
    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.
  • Reply 5 of 32
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    I can DEFINITELY hear it. Almost 27 years old.
  • Reply 6 of 32
    shetlineshetline Posts: 4,695member
    At 43 years old, I can hear the sound a little bit, at least through the headphones I'm wearing right now. It doesn't sound very loud to me, but it is annoying, like the high-pitched whine CRTs sometimes emit. I tried cranking up my volume to full, and although the sound still didn't seem very loud to me, and it certainly wasn't what I'd call painful, I'm left with the odd feeling that I've just had my ears blasted.



    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.
  • Reply 7 of 32
    shetlineshetline Posts: 4,695member
    Quote:

    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.
  • Reply 8 of 32
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    In some nations, the laws are more flexible, and it's legal to send jamming noise. Not the USA.



    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.
  • Reply 9 of 32
    jasenj1jasenj1 Posts: 923member
    37. Hear it fine. My ears are still ringing. I hate sounds up in that frequency range. I'm always turning off the TVs in our conference rooms at work because they're ringing bugs me.



    - Jasen.
  • Reply 10 of 32
    i'm 24. played it at the office, and had a bunch of people come up to me begging to turn it off.



    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.
  • Reply 11 of 32
    dacloodacloo Posts: 890member
    26. It hurt. Almost as if keeps on going even when I stopped playing the sound.
  • Reply 12 of 32
    tenobelltenobell Posts: 7,014member
    I could not hear it through my laptop speakers.



    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.
  • Reply 13 of 32
    17. I hear it every at random intervels during the day including in my house and I don't have that ring tone. Some people say that if you hear it your spirt is not human (aliens)
  • Reply 14 of 32
    nofeernofeer Posts: 2,427member
    so most adult age can hear this, so maybe it's a trick so teenagers think they have something over on us (oh don't tell them about the silent vibrate button) but in reality most adult non teenagers are annoyed by this. another conspiracy to annoy parents. and remember don't tell them about the "vibrate" mode. we can't hear that either
  • Reply 15 of 32
    maimezvousmaimezvous Posts: 802member
    Quote:

    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.
  • Reply 16 of 32
    i asked my mom to listen to it and she could not hear it!!!!! But i could perfectly!!! That is really cool!!!
  • Reply 17 of 32
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    Yeah, my history teacher played it at maximum volume on the computer speakers this morning with a grin on his face. He couldn't hear it but god could we.
  • Reply 18 of 32
    midwintermidwinter Posts: 10,060member
    Quote:

    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.
  • Reply 19 of 32
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    Quote:

    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.
  • Reply 20 of 32
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    Quote:

    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?"
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