Hearing Check

[tryrrthg]

Kids these days... Kids are downloading a ringtone for their cell phones that is too high pitched for most adults to hear, so that they can use their phones in class, etc.

Can you hear the tone? Web Link (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5434687)

I can still hear it at age 28 going on 29. Guess I'm not as old as I feel. ;)

[shack]

52 and can still hear it.

[PolkThug]

But how high do you have to turn your volume up to hear it? I'm sure we can all hear it at various volumes.

It reminds me of the sound I hear when a TV is turned on.

[wodom1]

At 25, I can hear it.

[steveinaz]

I can only hear to about 16.5kHz @ standard hearing test reference levels. Most will never notice hearing loss above 13kHz. This is why old people like Bose...LOL

[shack]

But how high do you have to turn your volume up to hear it? I'm sure we can all hear it at various volumes.

It reminds me of the sound I hear when a TV is turned on.

Normal volume. My computer speakers are at less than 20% volume. Just loud enough to hear "sports talk radio" here in the office without it disturbing anyone else.

[tryrrthg]

But how high do you have to turn your volume up to hear it? I'm sure we can all hear it at various volumes.
I thought of that after I posted it.

I could hear it on my crappy ass headphones at work, which I have loud enough just to make out vocals on most music, so as not to disturb anyone... of course "loud enough to make out vocals" is all relative too... Where's my SPL meter?

[faster100]

I can hear it, and i have tinittus (sp) and im sure some hearing loss... very annoying sound though, almost hurts my ears

[Fireman32]

couldn't hear it at all. I also have tinittus so mabye thats why

[unc2701]

ouch. ok, i have my volume cranked way down and that's ear-bleeding uncomfortable.

[Zero]

Cruelness.

[ohskigod]

I heard it, but only a little bit. was more like an annoying head ring then a tone.

[ohskigod]

AAAAHHHHH!!!!! scratch that.....with ear buds in my ear, I cant hear it much, but as I pulled the ear bud out of my ear. HOLY CRAP!!!!!

time for some exedrin migraine!!!!!



**********edit, I can hear it with the computer speakers. why am I torturing myself ...LOL

[Sami]

You have to remember that high frequencies do not travel as far as low frequencies so if the kid can barely hear it next to the phone then it is almost impossible for the teacher to hear it feets away. High tone minimizes the area where you can pick it up.

[Eric Wong]

Becareful trying to "hear" this test tone over speakers, if you try to turn it up. I had a customer blow out his tweeters specifically from trying to hear this tone.

[PolkThug]

A guy in my office died trying to hear this tone, be careful.

[bobman1235]

I heard that after you play the tone, someone will call you, and you will have seven days to live.

[krabby5]

I didnt hear $hit..

Neither could my coworker

[Demiurge]

Don't be fooled, it's the mystical brown note.

[PolkThug]

I heard that after you play the tone, someone will call you, and you will have seven days to live.

LIES! You only get 6 days.

[speakergeek]

I heard it at normal volume. Very annoying sound though.

[joeparaski]

I had to put it at very high volume to hear something.....I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

[wingnut4772]

I heard nothing..guess I am old.

[madmax]

At normal volume I could just barely hear it. If I turned my head the right way it kinda hurt though.
madmax

[PolkThug]

I heard nothing..guess I am old.

Could also be a physical limitation of the drivers in your computer speakers.

[mrbigbluelight]

Hear what ?

What'd you say ?

[millerman 3732]

I'm 27 and I couldn't hear a thing and the spectrum analizyer on the stereo that my computer runs through didn't show any thing either

[tonyb]

Didn't hear crap,but then again,thats what my wife says too:D

[ND13]

38 and heard it even at low volume with the tv on in the background. I actually had to turn the speakers down it was so annoying.

My dog's ears perked straight up.:D

It is a very annoying tone alot like the "tv emission" mentioned earlier.

[janmike]

Can hear that one. Maybe another ten year and I will not be able to hear that ringing. Does this mean that I am young?
:D :D :D

[scottnbnj]

I'm 27 and I couldn't hear a thing and the spectrum analizyer on the stereo that my computer runs through didn't show any thing either

open "download ringtone" instead of "listen".

)

[millerman 3732]

that did it, man that will get on your nerves quick. thanks scottnbnj

[petrym]

I tried the download and was very skeptical when I not only heard a tone, but it sounded way too low to be 17KHz. I found a tone generator and found that the NPR link is a combination of multiple tones that were way too low. I found that my personal hearing drops off at 13.2 KHz

Here's where to get the wave tools program suite: Wave tools Zip File (http://www.web-ee.com/Downloads/Sound%20Cards/4n1tool[1].zip) SIG-GEN.exe is the file you'll want to use.

You'll also need to put vbrun300.dll in the same directory folder: vbrun300 (http://pacosdrivers.com/files/vbrun/vbrun300.exe) (Note: this is an executable that will generate the dll and a text file)

Have fun! :D

[MacLeod]

I heard nothing..guess I am old.

Im right there with ya old timer. I heard nothing.

Edit - My wife didnt hear it either.

[swerve]

PolkThug
you hear that noise when the TV is turned on as well?!
Who else here hears that noise!?
So many people think I'm full of shit when I claim I can tell who has their televisions on, but low volume or muted in their apt. complex.

oh yea! I can hear it!

[ESAVINON]

ouch. i heard it thru one ear only. I have tinnitus and hearing loss too.

[MattN03]

I can hear it. A co-worker d/l it to his PC yesterday & was playing it in the office. I start asking my boss, who is talking to me, if he hears this high pitch noise. No, he doesn't hear. The noise goes away for a minute and then comes back-this goes on for the next few minutes. I'm thinking my computer is making some noises or something and finally the other guy says "you can hear that"? Yeah, I can hear it! Turn it off!!! This kid is 20 or 21 & couldn't hear it at all, and I'm 27 and could hear it just fine. I can also hear a TV that is turned on, but has no sound coming from it...strange...

[reeltrouble1]

Sounds like some of you should stay away from Kryptonite, super hearing Polkies. I cant hear anything except some radio announcer dude.

RT1

[PolkThug]

PolkThug
you hear that noise when the TV is turned on as well?!
Who else here hears that noise!?
So many people think I'm full of shit when I claim I can tell who has their televisions on, but low volume or muted in their apt. complex.

oh yea! I can hear it!

Yep, I used to describe it as 'I can "feel" when a tv is on.'

[ND13]

Sounds like some of you should stay away from Kryptonite, super hearing Polkies. I cant hear anything except some radio announcer dude.

RT1

You're clicking on the wrong tab. Click the download ringtone tab, not the listen tab.

[wingnut4772]

PolkThug
you hear that noise when the TV is turned on as well?!
Who else here hears that noise!?
So many people think I'm full of shit when I claim I can tell who has their televisions on, but low volume or muted in their apt. complex.

oh yea! I can hear it!

I hear that noise too. I can always tell if a TV is on as I walk up to a house on the job but I didn't hear this thing. People think I am crazy too:D

[PolkThug]

I hear that noise too. I can always tell if a TV is on as I walk up to a house on the job but I didn't hear this thing. People think I am crazy too:D

The tone the tv makes is 15.75kHz. Yeah, you can walk down an apartment complex hallway and when you pass each door you can tell if they have a TV on.

Now, if I could only hear the difference between a copper or silver rca interconnect. lol

[joeparaski]

OH...it's the "ringtone" that we download. I guess when I turned the speakers way up, the sound I was hearing was....a speaker turned way up with nothing playing sound.

I downloaded the ringtone and hear it just fine.

[joeparaski]

OMG OMG OMG!!!!! YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS......When I played the ringtone in my upstairs office, my 20 yr. old daughter, who was downstairs, called out asking me what that noise was. We exchanged places and she played the ringtone upstairs and I went downstairs to where she was and I couldn't hear a darn thing. She says the sound gave her a major headache and the side of her head is pounding....this has been for at least the last 5 minutes. The cat was also downstairs sleeping and his ears went up and his eyes went wide open.


Hmmmm........now I know how to "get" my daughter. WoW....this opens up a whole new way of..........hmmmmm...........*thinking devious things*

[krabby5]

I thought it was fake until I played it for another younger coworker...She heard it just fine...Most of the people I work with couldn't hear it, either. I'm 36 and have a constant ringing in my ears at all times..I don't notice it until I think about it, though...I'm pretty sure it's from all the loud music and concerts I have been to in my life...especially Motley Crue back in the late 80's or early 90's..I remember not being able to hear the microwave or the phone ringing for a week after that concert....

thanks Vince

[Demiurge]

OMG OMG OMG!!!!! YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS......When I played the ringtone in my upstairs office, my 20 yr. old daughter, who was downstairs, called out asking me what that noise was. We exchanged places and she played the ringtone upstairs and I went downstairs to where she was and I couldn't hear a darn thing. She says the sound gave her a major headache and the side of her head is pounding....this has been for at least the last 5 minutes. The cat was also downstairs sleeping and his ears went up and his eyes went wide open.


Hmmmm........now I know how to "get" my daughter. WoW....this opens up a whole new way of..........hmmmmm...........*thinking devious things*

How loud were you cranking that thig? I have crappy speakers at work, and I can hear it, but it definitely isn't hurting my ears. It's just annoying, but I'll try that at home.

[joeparaski]

That's just it, it wasn't loud at all, it fact, the volume on my computer speakers was actually low, I never thought she'd hear it all the way downstairs. Plus , the AC is on in my office and there's a couple of air purifiers running upstairs plus one downstairs plus I built her a modded computer that's running 6 fans. The sound gave her a headache that took a good 7 minutes to dissipate. And try as might I couldn't hear a sound when I went downstairs.

[Demiurge]

That's just it, it wasn't loud at all, it fact, the volume on my computer speakers was actually low, I never thought she'd hear it all the way downstairs. Plus , the AC is on in my office and there's a couple of air purifiers running upstairs plus one downstairs plus I built her a modded computer that's running 6 fans. The sound gave her a headache that took a good 7 minutes to dissipate. And try as might I couldn't hear a sound when I went downstairs.

So there's a bit of a grey area with the sound I guess? :confused:

[joeparaski]

Here's something weird.....I was at my daughters' boyfriends' house, and we played the ring tone, this time it was ME who couldn't hear a damn thing, yet the young people were cringing with pain (I had him turn the volume way up and I still didn't hear it). Now I just played it on MY computer and I hear it fine even at low volume.....why would that be? Speaker quality? Sound card?

[unc2701]

I'm kinda suprised no one has cross referenced this thread with one of the cable debate threads...

Anyhow, one of the big things to get accostumed to when i got an lcd TV was that there wasn't that 15hz tone... now it was fan noise.