How Well Can You Hear? Test Your Frequency Range

  • Thread starter Thread starter PIT2
  • Start date Start date
AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around the ability to hear various high-frequency sounds, specifically those linked to the Mosquito ringtone, which is designed to be inaudible to adults but detectable by younger individuals. Participants shared their experiences with hearing different frequencies ranging from 15,102 Hz to 17,959 Hz, with varying results based on age, hearing sensitivity, and equipment used. Many noted that as people age, their ability to hear higher frequencies diminishes, a phenomenon exacerbated by exposure to loud music. Some individuals reported hearing all frequencies clearly, while others struggled, often depending on their sound system or environmental noise. The conversation also touched on the genetic factors influencing hearing ability, particularly in relation to asthma, and the potential for creating a structured hearing test to log results. Overall, the thread highlighted the subjective nature of hearing high frequencies and the various factors that can affect individual experiences.
PIT2
Messages
897
Reaction score
2
Which ones can u hear?

1. http://www.saunderslog.com/wp-content/sounds/15102Hz.wav"

2. http://www.saunderslog.com/wp-content/sounds/16000Hz.wav"

3. http://www.saunderslog.com/wp-content/sounds/16961Hz.wav"

4. http://www.saunderslog.com/wp-content/sounds/17959Hz.wav"

All links came from http://saunderslog.com/2006/06/12/the-mosquito-ring-tone-this-adult-can-hear-it/"
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Physics news on Phys.org
Couldn't hear the last one :(
 
Silence on all.
 
Can here all of them although the lowest frequency was rather uncomfortable.
 
I only heard the first two, nr.2 barely.
 
I could hear all I've surprised myself.
 
Generally I believe as you get older your ability to hear high frequency sounds diminishes, although I couldn't hear high frequency noises other kids could when I was younger, and no doubt I still can't now. I'll have to test it later, no sound card here.
 
I only heard the first one. A few days ago there was a commercial on tv: "silent ring tone! you're teacher won't hear your cell phone going off in class!" .. I couldn't hear it either :frown:
 
I could hear them all easily, maybe I didn't do it properly!
 
  • #10
fi said:
I could hear them all easily, maybe I didn't do it properly!

No, the ability to hear high frequencies reduces with age (or with rock music).
 
Last edited:
  • #11
I could not hear any of them. Of course it will also depend on the the capabilities of your sound system as well as the SENSITIVITY (not power!) of your ears.
 
  • #12
I can hear all of them, but only the last one if I increase the volume. This reminds me of the Mosquito ringtone story.
 
  • #13
I could only hear the first 2...I wish I could have heard the other two...would this have any affect on the music each person would hear when they hear an orchestra? like, someone hearing all 4, would they hear more or less music/noise from an orchestra...
 
  • #14
Most instruments and musical compositions I know of fall a fair way short of the maximum frequency the human ear can pick up. Even when we age and lose a fair chunk of the top range it will still not effect what you hear in an orchestra. There was an example of what older and younger people hear that I came across some time ago in relation to things in everyday life. this was an example of a train approaching a tube station and it had the a young persons aural perspective then an old persons with all the top frequecies removed. Its not accurate to individuals but gives you some idea of what its like. I'll try and find it on the web.

Another interesting thing I noticed is that i can hear a high pitched whine from most electrical equipment in the background most of the time when its switched on. Obviously most electrical appliances these days operate at high frequencies. How many also hear this background whine of electrical equipment?
 
  • #15
Can't really find that demonstration but I did find a page with the frequency range of various instruments etc if anyone was interested.

http://www.listenhear.co.uk/general_acoustics.htm
 
  • #16
I could hear the first one, and the second one, barely, but whether I could hear either or not depends on how much other noise is going on outside (I kept pressing play just as some other noise started up ). I'll have to give it a try with external speakers and away from the fan motor of the computer before I report final results.
 
  • #17
I can only hear the first one, but my hearing aid detects the second. Although it detects, I hear nothing.
 
  • #18
siddharth said:
No, the ability to hear high frequencies reduces with age (or with rock music).
thanks siddharth for implying I'm young, but I'm not really, and I've been to plenty of concerts. Also, I've never really thought I have good hearing -I have trouble hearing people talk at parties with loud music - or perhaps I actually prefer listeneing to the music!
 
  • #19
Monique said:
I only heard the first one. A few days ago there was a commercial on tv: "silent ring tone! you're teacher won't hear your cell phone going off in class!" .. I couldn't hear it either :frown:
yeah, that's the "mosquito"
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=123901
 
  • #20
It is said that asthmatics tend to have a higher hearing range than normal.

None come through on my laptop speaker (though I suppose they did and I wouldn't know it...)

I downloaded the app listed on the blog and tried it. I can hear up to 14750 (on my laptop speakers). It is very dependent on testing conditions. The files posted are way too short to get a good sound. At first I couldn't hear them, but the moment I moved my head I could. I was in a "node".



This would be a cool test to post and log the results...
 
Last edited:
  • #21
Doh. My laptop speaker is definitely working...

My 20 year old son - who listens to very loud music on headphones - doing a blind test, could hear reliably up to 16,800Hz!
 
  • #22
  • #23
PIT2 said:
Which ones can u hear?

1. http://www.saunderslog.com/wp-content/sounds/15102Hz.wav"

2. http://www.saunderslog.com/wp-content/sounds/16000Hz.wav"

3. http://www.saunderslog.com/wp-content/sounds/16961Hz.wav"

4. http://www.saunderslog.com/wp-content/sounds/17959Hz.wav"

All links came from http://saunderslog.com/2006/06/12/the-mosquito-ring-tone-this-adult-can-hear-it/"
All of them!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #24
Just on a side note, perhaps the word "sensitive" rather than "powerful" would be a better option for describing ones hearing ability. :wink:
 
  • #25
I can't hear the last one:( But I'm going to blame it on my speakers. On that note, it actually could be my speakers...
 
  • #26
Okay, final results for me...sitting in a quiet corner, with my ear pressed against the speaker, I can hear all four in my left ear, and only the first in my right ear (barely). I've suspected my hearing in my left ear is better than in my right ear for a while now, and this really demonstrated it. I can tell the speakers are working because there's a click at the beginning and end that I do hear. I don't know if that's something the speakers do when they turn on and off, or something in the clip itself.

More than an inch or two from the speakers, I can only hear the first one, and sometimes the second, but not reliably...I need to be pretty close to hear it, so just a little difference in distance and I can't.
 
  • #27
i can hear them all fairly easily actually, do you happen to have links to higher frequencies? I'm curious to see how high i can go =P

that kind of surprised me because my ears are constantly bombarded with incredibly loud music and I have that *sounds are muffled because I've just been blasted by way-too-loud" music effect like 4 times a week, and even more often in the past

edit - I went to the link in the OP and downloaded the software he used to generate the sounds, unfortunutely I think the software is buggy or otherwise flawed, since past 18khz the tone seems to get deeper... in fact I was hearing the tone all the way up at like 125khz lol so... if anyone could help me out that would be great.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #28
Moonbear said:
Okay, final results for me...sitting in a quiet corner, with my ear pressed against the speaker, I can hear all four in my left ear, and only the first in my right ear (barely).
Moonbear, are you sure you're hearing the actual tones and not some other sort of sound? The tones up there should not sound like anything so much as they should feel like someone sticking a needle in your eardrum.
 
  • #29
You know... I wonder if that's why I've been feeling pukey for the last hour. Anyone else feel a bit yucky after this experiment?

[EDIT] Moonbear's got the right idea. If I move my laptop in relation to my head, and get close enough, I can hear all the way up to 16,000Hz. That's way better than the 14,750 I measured earlier today.

If you were to test various people, you would want to carefully control the test conditions.
 
Last edited:
  • #30
I could only hear the first two through my ear buds. I only heard clicks with the other two.
 
  • #31
I could easily hear all of them! :approve:
(although those sounds were QUITE annoying!)

Are there any tests of hearing available over the internet
involving sounds higher than 18,000Hz ?
 
Last edited:
  • #32
DaveC426913 said:
Moonbear, are you sure you're hearing the actual tones and not some other sort of sound?
They sounded like really high-pitched whistles. Well, maybe whines. They sounded very soft to me, probably because they're right at the limits of my hearing range. I suspect if they were louder, they'd have had the painful effect you describe. No ill feelings though.
 
  • #33
I can hear the first two fine, I can't hear #3 too well, and #4 I can BARELY hear
 
  • #34
aaaaaah those sounds HURT! Couldn't hear them with my earphones
but when i hooked up my speakers i thoght i was going crazy...too sharp and too loud even with my speakers on medium volume and now my ears are ringing
 
  • #35
DaveC426913 said:
It is said that asthmatics tend to have a higher hearing range than normal.
Just a few thoughts about this.. I don't suffer from asthma but my Mum does, I don't understand the genetics involved but maybe there is a link to my hearing. Another thought is that because my Mum needs to speak softly, maybe my ears have needed to be more sensitive. One last improbable thought, as my Mum could barely talk during my early years when she was taking care of me, and things were very quiet apart from her beautiful musical recordings, perhaps I have don't hear people as well as others are able to when music is playing because my ears prioritised music over speech!
 
  • #36
It is said that asthmatics tend to have a higher hearing range than normal.

fi said:
Just a few thoughts about this.. I don't suffer from asthma but my Mum does.

It is a genetic link, yes.
 
  • #37
Hmmm. I tried the first one again. I tried using my best earphones, turned the volume all the way up, and turned the 16kh button on the windows media player graphic equalizer all the way up and heard a clear loud tone. If I turned the 16KH all the way down, I heard nothing.
 
  • #38
DaveC426913 said:
It is said that asthmatics tend to have a higher hearing range than normal.



It is a genetic link, yes.
Thanks, so are you saying I'm a carrier? Also, I guess I was wondering why there is a link between hearing and asthma, do you have any idea? Another thought I had was that I can usually tell when my Mum will have an attack, before she knows herself, from the way her breathing sounds. Thankfully that is fairly rare these days.

I've also been reading about the brains selection of frequencies, and it might have been relevant to mention that I didn't begin to talk myself till I was seven years old.
 
  • #39
fi said:
I've also been reading about the brains selection of frequencies, and it might have been relevant to mention that I didn't begin to talk myself till I was seven years old.

That's actually kind of normal.
 
  • #40
JasonRox said:
That's actually kind of normal.
Not talking until 7 years old is not "normal" unless you were just shy.

http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/thebasics_speechandlanguage.asp"
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #41
I heard them all. Not bad for someone my age.
 
  • #42
I can still hear all 4, but the 4th one is really low.
I'll blame it on the what I'm using for sound :smile:

At one time I could hear dog whistles, motion detectors (really really annoying), the old ultrasonic TV remotes and track a mosquito from 20' away.
Tested myself one time with some ceramic transducers and a sine generator. I could detect up to about 28-29khz, but the transducers were only rated for 15-25khz.

It just sounds like any other sound not particularly painful except sometimes getting too close to a motion detector, they are loud.

I have a friend who could also hear motion detectors.
Neither one of us is asthmatic, although my friend recently became allergic to bees.

The thing I miss the most about loosing the high end is that mosquito tracking bit.

fi said:
thanks siddharth for implying I'm young, but I'm not really, and I've been to plenty of concerts. Also, I've never really thought I have good hearing -I have trouble hearing people talk at parties with loud music - or perhaps I actually prefer listeneing to the music!
I've got that party problem. I think its just overload.
 
  • #43
larkspur said:
Not talking until 7 years old is not "normal" unless you were just shy.

http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/thebasics_speechandlanguage.asp"
Not shy, just pretty dreamy, as evidenced here!:smile:
Sorry to concern you, I was just emphasising how little was spoken in the years that my Mum suffered chronic asthma.

I've got that party problem. I think its just overload.-Quote from Notime,
thanks, yes, that's probably all it is.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #44
fi said:
Thanks, so are you saying I'm a carrier? Also, I guess I was wondering why there is a link between hearing and asthma, do you have any idea?
It means that the gene for hearing and the gene for asthma are very closely associated on the chromosomes. That's very often how unrelated traits are linked.

BTW, asthma is an auto-immune trait. Wouldn't surprise me if you had other immune-related troubles, such as allergies and excema etc.
 
  • #45
LOL you know what would be great, add a few "blank" .wav files in there and see if anyone thinks they hear something. Sort of a placebo effect...
 
  • #46
Mech_Engineer said:
LOL you know what would be great, add a few "blank" .wav files in there and see if anyone thinks they hear something. Sort of a placebo effect...
That's how I tested my kid. I clicked many times so he did not know if it was on or off. He still nailed em all.

I'm thinking I might set up a little webpage that does the test and tracks results. It would intersperse dummies with ... "realies", and you would have to get them right.
 

Similar threads

How can you solve the 12 ball puzzle with a twisted balance scale?
Replies
9
Views
6K
Can we hear beats between ultrasounds in the audible range?
Replies
23
Views
7K
How Far Can You Hear the Siren at 2400 Hz?
Replies
1
Views
2K
Modern Digital Audio: Understanding Dither and Oversampling in Hi-Res Age
Replies
17
Views
4K
Exhaust and engine accoustics for asthetics and performance
Replies
2
Views
7K
TabletPCs for Science and Science Teaching [blog entry from 2006]
Replies
3
Views
4K
How Can You Model Car Oscillations Over a Speed Bump Using Excel?
Replies
3
Views
4K
News Bush Honest & Trustworthy Until How Many Lies?
2
Replies
65
Views
10K
Do You Have What it Takes to Be a True Mathematician?
Replies
21
Views
4K
A suggestion for dolphin communication.
Replies
6
Views
6K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top