# Random poll: can you hear this sound? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 2, 2009, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-poll-can-you-hear-this-sound/484170 "2009-02-02T23:34:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-poll-can-you-hear-this-sound/484170/21 "2009-02-03T00:33:49Z")
I can hear it. My ears rang for a bit after, also. F, 48 (49 in a few weeks :eek: ) ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-poll-can-you-hear-this-sound/484170/22 "2009-02-03T00:35:32Z")
Husband, 37, former heavy metal musician and sufferer of medically serious ear infections as a child could also hear it. ---
**Author:** ![George\_Kaplin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3e96dc/32.png) [@George\_Kaplin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/George_Kaplin)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-poll-can-you-hear-this-sound/484170/23 "2009-02-03T00:36:25Z")
I’m 25 and I heard it quite clearly. Didn’t really find it annoying, but it did make my ears ring a little for a few minutes afterward. Also, I’ve got a nosebleed. And I think I just wet myself. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-poll-can-you-hear-this-sound/484170/24 "2009-02-03T00:52:27Z")
51, never abused my ears, have great hearing according to my doctor…can’t hear it at all. My 25-year-old son, who has blasted music thru headphones for years…heard it just fine (so I played it a few more times just to annoy him) ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-poll-can-you-hear-this-sound/484170/25 "2009-02-03T00:52:43Z")
Wow, that was unpleasant. In a quiet room, it was very clear, but the second time, with background noise (dishwasher, furnace, and TV) I thought it was more like a vibrating sensation in my cheekbones and jaw than an actual sound. I’m 44, and not bright enough to click on an annoying link only _once_. ---
**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:** [February 3, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-poll-can-you-hear-this-sound/484170/26 "2009-02-03T00:58:33Z")
41 and I can hear it - better in my left ear than my right. ---
**Author:** ![Daerlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Daerlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daerlyn)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-poll-can-you-hear-this-sound/484170/27 "2009-02-03T00:59:04Z")
1. I can’t really _hear_ it, but I was definitely able to perceive it as a very unpleasant vibration. It got my cat’s attention very quickly. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-poll-can-you-hear-this-sound/484170/28 "2009-02-03T01:01:26Z")
One caveat: I did not hear it in the link, but downloaded the file and played it. Is that cheating? ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-poll-can-you-hear-this-sound/484170/29 "2009-02-03T01:02:22Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > 50, I had the volume set at the lower third on my laptop and heard it clearly (it was REALLY annoying). I’m also confused because I can’t hear over 15 kHz on the [misquito ringtown web site](http://www.freemosquitoringtones.org/). I suspect the link in the OP might not be what its cracked up to be. I just checkd out the wensite provided by **Magiver** and I topped out at being able to hear the 16khz one. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-poll-can-you-hear-this-sound/484170/30 "2009-02-03T01:03:46Z")
Whoa. That was **waaaayyyyy** louder than I remember it being last time we did this! Good god. Ow! I could hear it all the way in the kitchen, which is the other side of the apartment… 60 feet or so if you’re going around the walls that are in the way, or about 25 feet in a straight line through the walls. And yeah, over 30. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-poll-can-you-hear-this-sound/484170/31 "2009-02-03T01:07:17Z")
Yeah I’m really not buying the idea that there’s a frequency only people under 30 can hear. For the record though I’m 23 and can hear it loud and clear. ---
**Author:** ![hawksgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-poll-can-you-hear-this-sound/484170/32 "2009-02-03T01:11:39Z")
Yeah, I can. Some kid in my class had his phone on this the other day. They all looked shocked when I told him to turn it off. “You can hear it?!” Yeah, idiot, I’m 22, my upper-range hearing is fine. Also, even if I didn’t, all the commotion and whispering amongst your friends would have been a good enough tip-off. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-poll-can-you-hear-this-sound/484170/33 "2009-02-03T01:14:05Z")
51 here. I can only hear a minimal buzz, and only with my speakers turned up to the max. This is a well-known, well-documented medical finding, hearing loss in this range once one gets older. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-poll-can-you-hear-this-sound/484170/34 "2009-02-03T01:14:24Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Yeah I’m really not buying the idea that there’s a frequency only people under 30 can hear. For the record though I’m 23 and can hear it loud and clear. Buy it, although the tone linked in the OP is a bad example. There’s another website I was at (possibly the other one linked up-thread) some time ago, and there was definitely a frequency point at which I was no longer able to hear the tones, but Whatsit Jr., age 6, definitely was. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-poll-can-you-hear-this-sound/484170/35 "2009-02-03T01:21:14Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Buy it, although the tone linked in the OP is a bad example. There’s another website I was at (possibly the other one linked up-thread) some time ago, and there was definitely a frequency point at which I was no longer able to hear the tones, but Whatsit Jr., age 6, definitely was. It’s more the crisp and clean “age 30” cutoff that I don’t believe, not that upper-range hearing loss can occur with age. But I find it far more likely that you are going to get data points all over the map, such as a 45-year old who hears it fine and a 25-year old with hearing issues who has trouble hearing it, etc. ---
**Author:** ![scarbrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@scarbrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scarbrow)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-poll-can-you-hear-this-sound/484170/36 "2009-02-03T01:21:29Z")
I’m hoping it’s because I’m playing it on cheap headphones at work, but I hear 3 different things at once here: 1. A light high frequency tone, similar to the ones on the hearing test when I was in the Navy. I gather this is the tone in question, and I barely hear it, and don’t find it annoying at all. 2. A “tape hiss” sound, for those of you old enough to remember cassette tapes. 3. A “Chirping” sound I usually hear on MP3’s with a low bit rate. I’m 41, with enough hearing loss to notice slight tinnitus when I’m in a quiet room. ETA: But it does seem to be making my ears ring a few minutes after listening. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-poll-can-you-hear-this-sound/484170/37 "2009-02-03T01:21:58Z")
OUCH! That hurt. Female, 38. One cat in my office cared, the other kept sleeping. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-poll-can-you-hear-this-sound/484170/38 "2009-02-03T01:33:43Z")
I’m 52, and I heard it. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-poll-can-you-hear-this-sound/484170/39 "2009-02-03T01:44:53Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I think maybe this isn’t the same frequency that made the rounds a while back, since so many of we “old people” are hearing it. [Try this one instead](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0). ---
**Author:** ![Gwyen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/858c86/32.png) [@Gwyen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gwyen)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-poll-can-you-hear-this-sound/484170/40 "2009-02-03T01:53:05Z")
24, yes I heard it, it hurt and my ears are ringing as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-poll-can-you-hear-this-sound/484170.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-poll-can-you-hear-this-sound/484170.md?page=3)