# Laurel or Yanny **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 15, 2018, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250 "2018-05-15T23:29:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/101 "2018-05-17T04:34:25Z")
I pulled up the same website on two different computers–the laptop, which puts sound out to an Oontz Angle Bluetooth speaker and my desktop media computer, which feeds out to a powered subwoofer that’s set up a little bass heavy and two powered speakers. The laptop (and my phone) say “Yanny” and I can’t make them sound any different. The media computer says “Laurel.” I can get both computers going and they each make their own sound that I can’t get to change no matter what. Although I have Audacity on my laptop, I could fuck about with that I guess but yawn. Anyway, my ears are the same no matter which source I’m listening to, so I say it’s not a perception thing so much as it is an equipment thing. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/102 "2018-05-17T04:38:18Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Actually, it’s those who hear “laurel” who have less acute hearing. Not necessarily. Which one you hear seems to be from the _relative_ intensity of low vs. high frequencies. Although it tends to be that people lose high frequency sensitivity as they get older, this is by no means the only form of hearing loss. Someone with hearing damage to the lower registers is likely to hear Yanny. Not to mention that most computer/phone speakers/headphones are absolute garbage (especially for bass) and their frequency response will affect the result. The hystersis effect of the sound also indicates that there’s some priming/expectation psychology at work. I could eventually hear Yanny, but it still seems strange because Laurel is a perfectly reasonable word and name, while Yanny is nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/103 "2018-05-17T06:12:42Z")
At first it was clearly Yammy. Then I tried that interactive tool and after sliding it several notches to the left I heard Laurel. Now it is Laurel at neutral and only Yammy at several notches to the right. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/104 "2018-05-17T06:37:55Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Is this the reason for the ambiguity? Can this be an auditory version of the “Hybrid Image” situation? > > In case you haven’t encountered it, a “hybrid image” is one in which two vaguely similar images are overlaid atop one another, but you only have the high spatial frequency components for one image and only the low frequency spatial components for the other. The result is an image that, up close, looks like the high spatial frequency component part, but far away looks like the low frequencu component parts. I believe that’s exactly what it is - the hybrid image thing sprang immediately to mind when I encountered this example. The linked article claims that the human brain can’t process both at once; I don’t believe that’s true (I can listen to multiple simultaneous conversations in a room full of people, for example) Unlike the hybrid images, which are partly dependent on the physical focus properties of our eyes, the Laurel/Yanny thing just requires: [ul] [li]Good quality audio equipment (i.e. a decent soundcard and headphones)[/li][li]Moderately acute hearing[/li][li]The capacity for careful, but detached listening[/li][/ul] The reason this one is producing argument and controversy is that not everyone has all three of those things - especially the first one. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/105 "2018-05-17T06:53:07Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Not to mention that most computer/phone speakers/headphones are absolute garbage (especially for bass) and their frequency response will affect the result. Tried again on my home computer speakers, which are fairly junky compared to my noise cancelling headphone at work. Clear Yanny here, as compared to Laurel on the headphones. With one step to the left on the NY Times site, I can easily alternate hearing Laurel and Yanny at will. Kinda neat how bimodal it was. With the better headphones, I could only barely hear Yanny with the slider all the way to the right. I claim that the speakers are by far the dominant factor here, but that there is a clear sensory balance point. I also claim that on good speakers, Laurel is dominant, but phones and shit have notoriously poor bass response and that probably explains the strong Yanny showing. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/106 "2018-05-17T06:55:27Z")
I almost forgot how nice it felt to have everyone talking about a subject, and disagreeing in good fun, and the subject is NOT Trump-related. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/107 "2018-05-17T07:55:23Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Actually, it’s those who hear “laurel” who have less acute hearing. > [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Not necessarily. Which one you hear seems to be from the _relative_ intensity of low vs. high frequencies. Although it tends to be that people lose high frequency sensitivity as they get older, this is by no means the only form of hearing loss. Someone with hearing damage to the lower registers is likely to hear Yanny. I doubt very much that hearing acuity has anything significant to do with this phenomenon. I have done the test where you listen to ultra low and high frequency tones to find the range of your hearing and my result was typical for someone of my age (40) But I can easily hear either Yanny or Laurel. The “Yanny” is not particularly high-pitched, and doesn’t seem to rely on high harmonics. And Laurel is not that low either. I think the real cause is simply that the recording is noisy. The brain is very good at filtering out voices from noise, it has to be. But here, there are two valid-sounding interpretations of the sound wave: A deep voice saying “Laurel” with some wheezing background noise, or a lighter voice saying “Yanny” with some low drone / reverb in the background. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/108 "2018-05-17T09:09:15Z")
Yanny, (down 20% still yanny, down 30% yelly) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/109 "2018-05-17T09:11:49Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > I doubt very much that hearing acuity has anything significant to do with this phenomenon. I more or less agree, although I wonder–even aside from raw acuity, are there differences in perceived loudness across the frequency spectrum between people? It’s clear that factors such as the frequency response of the speakers makes a difference (for me, there was an enormous difference between good headphones and crappy computer speakers). And the playback device itself has some frequency characteristics. But that doesn’t explain why two people would hear different words from the same device. I agree that basic hearing acuity is not a great explanation, since as you say the Yanny sound is not really that high pitched. But if the perceived loudness of high vs. low frequencies just happens to be different, that could explain it. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/110 "2018-05-17T11:46:29Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > I almost forgot how nice it felt to have everyone talking about a subject, and disagreeing in good fun, and the subject is NOT Trump-related. I couldn’t agree more; thanks for starting the thread 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/111 "2018-05-17T11:51:38Z")
I hear yanny. Here’s a good video that raises and lowers the pitch, so everyone can hear both. > **['Laurel' or 'Yanny': With one change, you can hear them both - CNN Video](https://edition.cnn.com/videos/cnnmoney/2018/05/16/laurel-yanny-pitch-zw-orig.cnn)** > > Some people hear "Laurel," others hear "Yanny," but if you want to know how the other half lives, watch this video. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/112 "2018-05-17T12:25:29Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > What do you hear in the [really original](https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/laurel) one, just out of interest? And what do you hear in [this version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ)? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/113 "2018-05-17T12:43:14Z")
Okay, at work on my computer I heard Laurel. I played it on my phone (Google Pixel 2XL, if anyone cares) for Ivylad and he heard Laurel but I heard Yanny. Mind. Blown. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/114 "2018-05-17T13:17:29Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > I doubt very much that hearing acuity has anything significant to do with this phenomenon. > > I have done the test where you listen to ultra low and high frequency tones to find the range of your hearing and my result was typical for someone of my age (40) > > But I can easily hear either Yanny or Laurel. The “Yanny” is not particularly high-pitched, and doesn’t seem to rely on high harmonics. And Laurel is not that low either. > > I think the real cause is simply that the recording is noisy. The brain is very good at filtering out voices from noise, it has to be. > But here, there are two valid-sounding interpretations of the sound wave: A deep voice saying “Laurel” with some wheezing background noise, or a lighter voice saying “Yanny” with some low drone / reverb in the background. There’s definitely some sort of frequency or fidelity angle to it - I can hear both names simultaneously on my laptop and headphones at home (which both are quality branded kit), but on another machine with simpler headphones (but the same ears), I can only hear Laurel I think the Yanny bit is in a very narrow band - if you have equipment or ears that struggles with that specific range, you’re going to hear Laurel only. The reverse may also be true. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/115 "2018-05-17T13:33:02Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > And what do you hear in [this version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ)? The sound of a potted plant coming to very gently beat you to death with a stick of limp celery. Is that what you hear too? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/116 "2018-05-17T13:57:41Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > I went and played the [vocabulary.com](http://vocabulary.com) one on all the devices in my house, just to see if I could hear ‘yanniness’ in it. And if I play it on the phone, or out of little cheap headphones I can hear a hint of it - a kind of tinny sound over the top of the ‘laurel’ that could be a ‘y’ and an ‘ee’ in a high register. > > But on the vocabulary version ‘laurel’ overwhelms everything. the ‘laurel’ frequencies seem to have been toned right down in the viral version While I’m sure there’s a bit of that going on, the way this discovery was made was by somebody going to [vocabulary.com](http://vocabulary.com) and playing the sound sample directly from the site and being surprised when she heard “yanny” instead of “laurel,” so clearly at least some people (like myself and the originator of the viral post) have heard it clearly on the direct audio sample. Like I said, when I heard it (which I can’t anymore for whatever reason), it was a distinct, absolutely clear “yanny.” No hissing or tones or anything weird. It just sounded like a person saying “yanny.” I tried to hear “laurel,” and couldn’t bring my brain to do it. It’s just really, really weird, as the sounds of both words have little in common. It got to the point that I thought the video was just screwing with me, randomly throwing in “laurels” and “yannies,” which is why I originally went to find the [vocabulary.com](http://vocabulary.com) sample, where the same effect was present. It’s just a bizarre, bizarre effect. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/117 "2018-05-17T14:22:05Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > The only way I could hear “laurel” was through the NY Times interactive tool. > [We Made a Tool So You Can Hear Both Yanny and Laurel - The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/05/16/upshot/audio-clip-yanny-laurel-debate.html) I first listened to this on the (UK) Times online edition, and all I could hear was Yanny/Yammy. However, after futzing around with the NY Times tool linked above I seem to have “trained” myself to be able to hear both simultaneously, even if I go back to the UK Times version where originally I could only hear Yanny/Yammy. The brain’s a tricksy thing, so it is. Sent from my SM-T713 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/118 "2018-05-17T14:25:50Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > The sound of a potted plant coming to very gently beat you to death with a stick of limp celery. > > Is that what you hear too? What can I say? That’s just how I roll. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/119 "2018-05-17T14:48:58Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > I hear yanny. > > Here’s a good video that raises and lowers the pitch, so everyone can hear both. > > [https://edition.cnn.com/videos/cnnmoney/2018/05/16/laurel-yanny-pitch-zw-orig.cnn](https://edition.cnn.com/videos/cnnmoney/2018/05/16/laurel-yanny-pitch-zw-orig.cnn) I never did hear ‘Yanny’ on that thing. It started off ‘Laurel’ in the now-familiar, slightly-higher-than-average male voice. Their raising the pitch a good bit turned it into something like ‘Lyal’ and their lowering it well below the level I’ve ever heard an actual person talk at turned it into something like ‘Youey’. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/120 "2018-05-17T14:54:02Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > I almost forgot how nice it felt to have everyone talking about a subject, and disagreeing in good fun, and the subject is NOT Trump-related. When presented with the “Laurel or Yanni?” question, Trump alternately hears either “Mueller” or “Avenatti”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250.md?page=7)