# How old are your ears? (Hearing test inside) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 22, 2014, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-your-ears-hearing-test-inside/699280 "2014-09-22T22:27:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-your-ears-hearing-test-inside/699280/21 "2014-09-23T01:53:32Z")
I only heard the under 50. I’ll be 27 in a couple of weeks. I’ve had similar results on similar tests, so I’m inclined to believe it. No trouble hearing in my day-to-day life. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-your-ears-hearing-test-inside/699280/22 "2014-09-23T02:55:51Z")
I dropped out at 15kHz. So My ears are under 50, but older than 40. Which is just as well; at age 58, if I get too far ahead of my ears, I might only be able to hear sounds from the distant past. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-your-ears-hearing-test-inside/699280/23 "2014-09-23T03:04:59Z")
I’m 41. I heard Under 50. (12,000 Hz) I didn’t hear Under 40 (15,000 Hz) But I heard all the others, except the last. Weird, but I have my suspicions as to why. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-your-ears-hearing-test-inside/699280/24 "2014-09-23T03:35:24Z")
I could hear 15,000, which is normal for under 40-year old. I’m 75 years old, I had to turn the speakers up to what would be an uncomfortable level for my usual listening settings. just using external basic computer speakers. That would put my ears at about half my age. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-your-ears-hearing-test-inside/699280/25 "2014-09-23T03:44:32Z")
I am using a pretty cheap laptop. How much of this test is affected by speaker quality. On my old computer, a slightly more high quality model, I could hear the under 30 frequencies. That was about 5 years ago. I am 53 now. On my current computer, I could hear the 8000 htz, but nothing else. Have my ears got that much worse? Or is it the computer and the speakers? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-your-ears-hearing-test-inside/699280/26 "2014-09-23T03:45:42Z")
I could only hear the ‘everyone’ sound. I’m 37. The test seems to have triggered my tinnitus, though. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-your-ears-hearing-test-inside/699280/27 "2014-09-23T04:41:20Z")
I’m 49, and could only hear up to 12,000 hz. Dang. I’ve played “dog whistle” apps and the “mosquito tone” for younger co-workers, who all clasped hands to ears and squealed, whilst I heard… nothing. ---
**Author:** ![iljitsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@iljitsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iljitsch)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-your-ears-hearing-test-inside/699280/28 "2014-09-23T06:24:38Z")
According to the video my ears are age appropriate, hearing 12 but not 15 kHz. I downloaded the Tone Generator app for my iPhone to do some further testing. 12 kHz is no problem, I need a bit more volume by 13 kHz and by 14 kHz it’s over—nothing. I also tested the low end, and even on a train with less than steller in-ear headphones I can hear something all the way down to 22.5 Hz. I’m absolutely going to test some more with better headphones and speakers. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-your-ears-hearing-test-inside/699280/29 "2014-09-23T06:26:55Z")
I couldn’t hear a damned thing. Then I realized that my headphones were plugged into my iPod, not my laptop. Once I got over the fact that I obviously have some kind of early onset idiot-condition going on, thought, I managed to do the test, and my ears are, apparently, age-appropriately shitty. Which is OK, I guess. I mean, my body is clearly going to hell in a handbasket, but as long as it’s all according to plan, I’m good, right? ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-your-ears-hearing-test-inside/699280/30 "2014-09-23T06:35:17Z")
I can’t hear the 12,000Hz (under 50), and I’m 38. I tried on my phone first, and on my laptop in the hopes that somehow it was the phone to blame, but nothing on either. It’s not the first time I’ve had a result like that. About 10 years ago I took what I thought must have been a prank test until my (now) ex nearly fell off his chair and yelled “What the hell’s that noise?!”. That wasn’t the first time I did that test though - that would have been two decades ago in high school, when I could hear higher frequencies than any of my friends. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-your-ears-hearing-test-inside/699280/31 "2014-09-23T12:36:54Z")
> [@MoonMoon](#): > > I heard the under 30 and I’m 45. I’m pretty sure I heard sounds below that age level, but I definitely heard under 30. My ears make up for my decorative, but not functional, eyes. Exactly. I’m 50 and heard under 40…my eyes however are not so good. ---
**Author:** ![iljitsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@iljitsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iljitsch)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-your-ears-hearing-test-inside/699280/32 "2014-09-23T18:31:01Z")
I tried a bunch of different earbuds and headsets as well as my surround speakers and typically I can get to 14 kHz if I turn up the volume a bit, but sometimes just 13 kHz and with the speakers 15 kHz, but just barely. On the low end the differences are even bigger, with some not going much below 100 Hz but others down to 20 with the volume turned up a bit. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-your-ears-hearing-test-inside/699280/33 "2014-09-23T18:45:48Z")
I got “Under 50” with ear buds, but “Under 40” with the speakers on the computer. Not bad for pushing 60. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-your-ears-hearing-test-inside/699280/34 "2014-09-23T18:57:14Z")
I couldn’t hear any of them, probably because they couldn’t break through my constant tinnitus. Sucks. But at least I saw The Ramones 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![buckgully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb9ed0/32.png) [@buckgully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buckgully)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-your-ears-hearing-test-inside/699280/35 "2014-09-23T19:00:28Z")
I’m pretty sure that the compression that YouTube applies to uploaded videos is messing this up. I have a tone generator on my phone, and with my headphones I can hear up to about 17500 Hz. On that video, however, I can’t hear anything over 15000. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-your-ears-hearing-test-inside/699280/36 "2014-09-23T20:03:14Z")
Yikes. I copied what other people are doing and used a tone generator. Right ear: Doing okay, can hear up to 16500. Left ear: Can’t even hear 8000. Lesson: Wear hearing protection when you’re shooting! ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-your-ears-hearing-test-inside/699280/37 "2014-09-23T20:14:55Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > I couldn’t hear any of them, probably because they couldn’t break through my constant tinnitus. > > Sucks. But at least I saw The Ramones 🙂 If anything this test exacerbated my tinnitus for a little while. Though in reality it was just making me notice it more. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-your-ears-hearing-test-inside/699280/38 "2014-09-23T20:27:31Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > I couldn’t hear any of them, probably because they couldn’t break through my constant tinnitus. > > Sucks. But at least I saw The Ramones 🙂 Same for me, except the part about seeing the Ramones. My tinnitus is probably from using power tools in my old, tiny, concrete-walled shop without ear protection, and possibly form shooting when I was a kid. I’m 41. ETA: I did hear the 8000Hz, but none of the others. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-your-ears-hearing-test-inside/699280/39 "2014-09-24T01:03:41Z")
I tried it again tonight with my ear buds in and set the quality of the video to 1080 hd (which I hadn’t done yesterday either) and I got appropriate readings for my age, but no better. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-your-ears-hearing-test-inside/699280/40 "2014-09-24T01:48:15Z")
This test has more to do with your computer than your ears. I could only hear the first tone, but my laptop has shitty speakers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-your-ears-hearing-test-inside/699280.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-your-ears-hearing-test-inside/699280.md?page=3)