Free Mosquito Ringtone | Painful Warning!

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The discussion revolves around the ability to hear a specific high-frequency ringtone, often referred to as the "mosquito tone," which is designed to be inaudible to older individuals but audible to younger people. Participants share their experiences with hearing the tone, with some expressing surprise at their ability to hear it despite being close to 30 years old. Others report discomfort or pain when listening to the tone, indicating that it can be quite unpleasant. The conversation also touches on the use of this tone in retail settings to deter loitering teens and its potential application in classrooms to alert teachers to ringing cell phones. Several users mention hearing loss due to age or exposure to loud environments, affecting their ability to perceive high frequencies. Technical discussions about the frequency of the tone and its harmonics are included, with some participants conducting sound analysis to better understand the characteristics of the ringtone. Overall, the thread highlights the varied auditory experiences related to the mosquito tone and its implications in social contexts.
  • #31
Being male and 54 years old, there's no way I could hear 17khz. According to charts, my limit at 60dbl should be 11khz, which sounds about right. At a higher dbl, I can hear 14khz, but not 16khz.
 
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  • #32
Ouabache said:
It appears as a digitized sine wave, ~15.2KHz (I see a weak 1st harmonic at ~9.2KHz and stronger 2nd harmonic at ~3.2KHz.

The harmonics would have a higher frequency than the fundamental [first harmonic], not lower.
 
  • #33
Ivan Seeking said:
The harmonics would have a higher frequency than the fundamental [first harmonic], not lower.
Thanks for pointing that out. The spectral analysis does indicate two peaks lower in frequency from the fundamental. They should be called subharmonics

(I am going to add your edition to my previous post)
 
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  • #34
I agree with other posters, that sound was on the edge of painful!

I had no trouble hearing it and I'm almost 48.
 
  • #35
Janus said:
I agree with other posters, that sound was on the edge of painful!

I had no trouble hearing it and I'm almost 48.

I wonder what is your setup.

My speakers on my desktop PC are on the shelf below my PC, (the PC itself being on the top shelf along with the monitor) the volume of the original mp3 to me, sounds considerably below my background noise (mostly from cooling fans in PC). But as mentioned earlier, I could hear it fine when I turned up the volume and put my ear closer to the speakers.
 
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  • #36
I had to turn the volume up all the way, but had no problem hearing the frequency. It wasn't unpleasant at all.
 

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