# That teenage sound again **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 11, 2016, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-teenage-sound-again/765618 "2016-09-11T03:05:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-teenage-sound-again/765618/1 "2016-09-11T03:05:40Z")
[Here it is.](http://theoatmeal.com/quizzes/sound/) This is the tone that supposedly only people under 25 can hear. Now, I’m aware that my hearing is a little but better that average, but I’m going to be 50 in January, and I can still hear this with no problem. I’m curious how much it really is a good test of youthful hearing. Poll to follow. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-teenage-sound-again/765618/2 "2016-09-11T03:39:16Z")
It didn’t play on the site, but I clicked to download the mp3 and it was plain as day. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-teenage-sound-again/765618/3 "2016-09-11T03:40:58Z")
I must have lousy speakers–I was hearing a hiss with a rumble underneath. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-teenage-sound-again/765618/4 "2016-09-11T03:44:27Z")
I can sorta hear something, but it’s so faint I would never notice it if I wasn’t trying. My tinnitus overwhelms it, easily. And, no, it was not caused by hearing damage. I took care of my ears. It is all mental. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-teenage-sound-again/765618/5 "2016-09-11T03:48:43Z")
I definitely hear it - but I’m 28. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-teenage-sound-again/765618/6 "2016-09-11T04:06:39Z")
Some older people think they hear it because their speakers will actually generate a hissing or other audible artifact in trying to produce sound at that frequency. I’m 57 and I have very clear hearing for regular sounds. On a computer system with high-quality speakers there’s this audible blip with hiss. It’s not actually a tone. If my ears were younger I would be hearing a continuous high frequency sound tone. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-teenage-sound-again/765618/7 "2016-09-11T04:17:20Z")
I guess maybe the usefulness of it is that teens find it annoying, as opposed to merely hearing it, which plenty of adults over 25 do. And I’ll be honest: I doubt I’d pick up on it as a ring tone, just because it’s easily overwhelmed by lower-pitched sounds. I’d have to be in a pretty quiet room to hear it as a ringtone. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-teenage-sound-again/765618/8 "2016-09-11T04:17:55Z")
Not me, but my cat can, and she doesn’t like it one bit. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-teenage-sound-again/765618/9 "2016-09-11T04:23:36Z")
I hear it (no hiss). I’m in my mid-50s. I’m also the person who turns off the cable box because it makes an electronic sound that bugs me (but nobody else in the house can hear it). ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-teenage-sound-again/765618/10 "2016-09-11T04:47:01Z")
I can only hear it if I turn my PC’s speakers all the way up. And then just barely (am over 50). ---
**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:** [September 11, 2016, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-teenage-sound-again/765618/11 "2016-09-11T05:00:55Z")
I’m 38 and can hear it plain as day, even with music playing in the background and some computer noise. I tried much higher frequencies and can easily hear up to ~19 kHz. I don’t go to many concerts. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-teenage-sound-again/765618/12 "2016-09-11T06:25:23Z")
I’ll be 71 in a couple of weeks, and I can definitely hear a distinct tone. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-teenage-sound-again/765618/13 "2016-09-11T08:11:13Z")
1. I hear it. It’s very faint but definitely a tone, not hiss. ---
**Author:** ![appleaday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@appleaday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleaday)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-teenage-sound-again/765618/14 "2016-09-11T08:33:42Z")
I’m 61. I can hear it, but only if I turn the volume up high. I definitely remember hearing a noise like that in my youth; it was emitted by certain electronic machinery, especially escalators. Haven’t heard that electronic “squeal” in ages, and I certainly don’t miss it. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-teenage-sound-again/765618/15 "2016-09-11T09:14:12Z")
I had to download the mp3 to hear it. I’m gonna be 68 in a few weeks and I could hear it with my computer speakers all the way up. No hiss or buzz but a faint high-pitched sound, similar to a whistle or a tea kettle but at a distance. I asked my ear, nose and throat guy a while back whether I should be tested for hearing loss. He said “If you’ve had 67 birthdays you’ve had some hearing loss”, lol. Then he said that unless I’d be willing to wear hearing aids a test would be a waste of time, and I don’t feel I’m anywhere near needing to wear hearing aids. ---
**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 11, 2016, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-teenage-sound-again/765618/16 "2016-09-11T09:39:03Z")
Stupid and meaningless exercise. The frequency response of your computer system is what’s being challenged. Yes, the frequency response of the human ear changes with age, but this test is meaningless without a standard. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-teenage-sound-again/765618/17 "2016-09-11T10:14:54Z")
1. Can hear it. Hear is a [Buzzfeed article](http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/b8234932-719b-11e5-ad6d-f4ed76f0900a.html#axzz4JwJ1Sad1). ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-teenage-sound-again/765618/18 "2016-09-11T10:29:48Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > 1. Can hear it. > > Hear is a [Buzzfeed article](http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/b8234932-719b-11e5-ad6d-f4ed76f0900a.html#axzz4JwJ1Sad1). I saw what you did there. I think. But that link points to the Financial Times. If that’s intentional, then I didn’t really see what you were doing there. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-teenage-sound-again/765618/19 "2016-09-11T10:36:04Z")
> [@Heracles](#): > > I saw what you did there. > > I think. But that link points to the Financial Times. If that’s intentional, then I didn’t really see what you were doing there. :smack: Here is the [teenage Buzzfeed sound](http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/b8234932-719b-11e5-ad6d-f4ed76f0900a.html#axzz4JwJ1Sad1). ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-teenage-sound-again/765618/20 "2016-09-11T10:54:37Z")
Yup, ISIS, has hacked my computer, since I can’t seem to get any other link saved. **Deep Breath** > **[Can You Hear This Sound That Only Young People Can Hear?](https://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/how-young-are-your-ears?utm_term=.alNVKxYg62#.ii87Ym5Na3)** > > Apparently, there's a noise that only people under 25 can hear. Can you hear it? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-teenage-sound-again/765618.md?page=2)