Free Mosquito Ringtone | Painful Warning!

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the perception of a high-frequency ringtone, often referred to as the "mosquito ringtone," and its effects on different individuals. Participants share their experiences with hearing the tone, its potential pain-inducing qualities, and its applications in various contexts, such as discouraging loitering in stores. The conversation includes personal anecdotes, technical analyses of the sound, and reflections on hearing sensitivity, particularly among different age groups.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants report being unable to hear the ringtone, attributing this to age-related hearing loss.
  • Others, including younger participants, claim they can hear the tone and describe it as painful or annoying.
  • A few participants mention experiencing a placebo effect, where they feel discomfort without actually hearing the sound.
  • Technical analyses suggest that the ringtone has a fundamental frequency around 15.2 kHz, with discussions about harmonics and subharmonics.
  • Some participants express curiosity about the ringtone's use in retail environments to deter loitering teens.
  • There are mentions of the ringtone's potential to be used discreetly in classrooms, with some discussing the implications of cell phone use among students.
  • Several participants share their sensitivity to high frequencies and discuss related experiences with other sounds, such as TV whines and fluorescent lights.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the ringtone's effects, with some finding it painful while others do not hear it at all. There are competing views on the ringtone's utility and its impact on different age groups.

Contextual Notes

Some participants note that their hearing sensitivity may be affected by prior exposure to loud environments, which could influence their ability to perceive the ringtone. Additionally, discussions about the technical aspects of sound perception include references to harmonics and subharmonics, which remain somewhat unresolved.

Math Is Hard
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Can you hear it? I can't. My ears are too old. :frown:

http://www.freemosquitoringtone.com/offer.asp?gclid=COHXudCry4UCFU1dDgodVAWW2w

*warning - just in case you don't read further than this post, a few people have mentioned later in this thread that this tone is actually painful*
 
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I can hear it (or a harmonic), and I'll turn 30 in November.
 
The only thing I hear is a tiny little pop in the sound file at the very end. I was surprised because I am really sensitive to noise, but I guess that tone is out of my range.
 
Math Is Hard said:
Can you hear it? I can't. My ears are too old. :frown:

http://www.freemosquitoringtone.com/offer.asp?gclid=COHXudCry4UCFU1dDgodVAWW2w

Nonsence, you are a spring chiken, i can not hear anything below a sonic boom so think yourself lucky young lady :smile:
 
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Can you hear the whining from (especially older) TV flyback transformers? That's around 15Khz.
 
wolram said:
Nonsence, you are a spring chiken, i can not hear anything below a sonic boom so think yourself lucky young lady :smile:

But you're a motorcycle rider, and, I'll guess, you ride without too much hearing protection.
 
Ouch! That hurts. Why would anyone want that as a ringtone?

Yeah, I can hear the TV whine also.
 
hmm.. I don't think I notice any noise around television sets, Nate.

Wolly, I think I did some damage to my hearing in my rock band days.

I bet someone will soon invent "The Mosquito Detector" to alert teachers to when those cell phones are ringing in class.
 
siddharth said:
Ouch! That hurts. Why would anyone want that as a ringtone?
What surprised me is that I heard this is the same tone shop-owners were playing in and around their stores to discourage loitering teens (I started a thread about this a few months back.). I figured it was just a very annoying whine.
 
  • #10
What a annoying noise!:eek:
 
  • #11
Math Is Hard said:
I bet someone will soon invent "The Mosquito Detector" to alert teachers to when those cell phones are ringing in class.

IIRC most schools don't allow cell phones or cell phone activity anyway.

If students were so inclined this could be used to, for example, morse.
 
  • #12
Math Is Hard said:
What surprised me is that I heard this is the same tone shop-owners were playing in and around their stores to discourage loitering teens (I started a thread about this a few months back.). I figured it was just a very annoying whine.

It's an effective idea, for sure. It's more than annoying, it's painful! It really hurts.
 
  • #13
Almost made my ears bleed
 
  • #14
NateTG said:
IIRC most schools don't allow cell phones or cell phone activity anyway.
They don't. So it's a little easier to sneak the phones in if the teachers and administrators can't hear them ringing.
Washington Post said:
The appeal of a kids-only technology quickly caught on: Teens around the world now use it to dodge cellphone restrictions in class.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/13/AR2006061301557.html
 
  • #15
They were very lenient about cell phone use in the Evo Childs school. I could call her while she was in class. Kids will usually SMS in class so they don't disrupt others.
 
  • #16
You know the most simple solution to this is? Leave your phone on vibrate.
 
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  • #17
God, that thing just shot my ears. Awful.
 
  • #18
Hootenanny said:
You know the most simple solution to this is? Leave your phone on vibrate.
You can still hear the vibration, especially in a silent classroom.
 
  • #19
I can easily hear it.

Flourescent lights and TVs can drive me nuts.
 
  • #20
Evo said:
They were very lenient about cell phone use in the Evo Childs school. I could call her while she was in class. Kids will usually SMS in class so they don't disrupt others.
That is naughty,you deserve a 100 lines.
 
  • #21
dav2008 said:
You can still hear the vibration, especially in a silent classroom.
I've got a motorola v3 razor and its quite quiet aslong as you leave it in your pocket and not on a hard surface :-p
 
  • #22
sounds like the emergency broadcast tone to me. I only turned the volume up a little, so it wasn't too painful.
 
  • #23
Okay, weird...I don't hear it, but when I played it, my ears started hurting, and they stopped hurting when it stopped playing, as if I can detect something, but not sound. It doesn't surprise me that I have some hearing loss in those higher ranges since I've spent a lot of time in loud places.

Edit: Nope, apparently I'm susceptible to a placebo effect when playing things people say will hurt their ears. :smile: I didn't have the computer playing to the right set of speakers. :smile: Yep, definitely can hear it. It's the same annoying sound that electronic equipment sometimes makes that drives me nuts.
 
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  • #24
Oh boy, I know how to torture MB! :-p

Edit: oh drat! I can only torture her with the placebo effect.
 
  • #25
Ivan Seeking said:
Oh boy, I know how to torture MB! :-p

Edit: oh drat! I can only torture her with the placebo effect.
:smile: That would be a new one, torture using the placebo effect. :smile:
 
  • #26
Math Is Hard said:
Can you hear it? I can't. My ears are too old. :frown:

http://www.freemosquitoringtone.com/offer.asp?gclid=COHXudCry4UCFU1dDgodVAWW2w

*warning - just in case you don't read further than this post, a few people have mentioned later in this thread that this tone is actually painful*

I can hear it. Ouch it hurts! Made my cats disappear too!
I was surprised I could hear it at my age...
 
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  • #27
Yep, many switching power supplies operate at about 20KHz. The good news is that ~20K is the upper limit for most people, and much of the newer stuff runs at higher frequencies. I saw recently that most flourescent lights are now running at 35K and higher.
 
  • #28
ooh! ow! I just played this at home on my laptop and I heard it.
 
  • #29
Well sooner or later you are bound to get a technical reply, so I might as well do it.

The signal (mostquito ring tone) is weak but i can hear it when I put my ear close to my speaker. The pitch sounds between an F# and G. (Perhaps a Sitar has this pitch. I can approximate with a "bend" on my guitar :smile:)

I imported the mp3 into a sound editing program and did a little
visual spectral analysis. It appears as a digitized sine wave, ~15.2KHz (I see a weak 1st (sub)harmonic1 at ~9.2KHz and stronger 2nd (sub)harmonic1 at ~3.2KHz.

NateTG was close on the fundamental. Nate, how did you figure?

Also when I kicked it up another 9dB, it is much easier to hear (if your ears are responsive at that frequency).

I am attaching this edited version. I made it a zip since we are not set up to receive mp3s on PF. For those who heard it before, let me know if this is the same sound (pitch).:smile:

1Ivan Seeking, correctly pointed out, these are not harmonics. (I would more accurately describe them as subharmonics).
 

Attachments

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  • #30
I heard absolutely nothing. I don't count, though, even if I am old. I have tinnitus in both ears so there are all sorts of sounds, both high and low-pitched that I can't hear at all.
 

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