Take a listen to this clip. (mirror) … careful, it’s loud.
What do you hear? If you don’t hear anything, you’re not alone.. and you’re probably over the age of 25. If you can hear it, then you likely find it fairly annoying.
As we age, the little hairs in our inner ear lose some of their function and we begin to lose our heaing in the very high frequency ranges. Tones like the one above are sometimes used by teens for their cel phone ring tones so their teachers can’t hear their phone rigning in class (where cel phones are usually banned). The teacher, who is likely older than 25, has some degree of hearing loss and is oblivious to the ring.
Another ingenious use of this concept comes in a $1500 package called the “Mosquito“, which is an anti-teen loitering device. The device is placed wherever teen loitering is unwanted, with the idea being that teens will find it so annoying that they’ll go somewhere else. Adults, on the other hand are not bothered by the tone because they can’t hear it.
In any case, if you can’t hear the tone, don’t feel bad – it just means you’re getting wiser.
If you liked this article, please check out our High Frequency Hearing Test to see just how high your hearing actually goes.
16 Comments Received
February 26th, 2009 @1:27 pm
This can’t be right. I was 20 20 years ago and I can hear it.
March 5th, 2009 @12:14 am
I’m a couple months shy of 38 and I can hear that plain as day. For the most part I’ve tried to take good care of my hearing for the past 15 years or more but it’s not as good as it used to be. When I was a teenager I had no problem at all hearing the 19 khz carrier frequency of some FM stations. I could even hear the high frequency “whine” when somebody turned on a TV in another room, even with the door closed.
I worked in a noisy factory for 9 1/2 years, used to ride sportbikes, still attend NHRA drag races, and shoot guns, and I think I’ve done pretty well compared to most people my age. I’ve spent a good chunk of money on higher-end audio equipment and I want to be able to enjoy it for many years to come.
March 5th, 2009 @12:54 am
I guess I have better hearing than I thought. I can hear this one, and I just turned 36. I’ve worked in very noisy places, wearing a walkman (and now an MP3 player) for 8 hours a day, for the past 10 years. Also didn’t have a problem with the other tones untill I hit 21Khz.
March 5th, 2009 @11:41 pm
I’m 51 and can hear 20Khz!I’m quite amazed
March 6th, 2009 @6:34 am
Amazing..I can hear to 22khz without 16-18 khz band frequency!. 20khz i hear poorly, but 21,22 i hear very good! I`m 32 years old
March 10th, 2009 @6:41 pm
I cant so much hear it as sense something uncomfortable. I tried it with my son playing the sound and my eyes closed just to make sure I wasn’t fooling myself.I definately sense something there but I cant hear a thing lol.I’m 48
April 5th, 2009 @10:55 pm
sketchy test…
most consumer grade audio equipment (both the audio card in your computer and the speakers attached to it) are only capable of producing tones up to 20khz (if your lucky and even then often at -6dB, 1/4 loudness of lower frequencies) reasonably flat response to 16khz is more likely.
however your point is valid, i’ve done this test in a lab with a function generator, an amplifier with +-1db response to 25khz and monitors(speakers) rated to the same.
The 60+ year olds in the office could not hear much beyond 13khz.
The younger of the group (i’m 25) could hear to 20khz or higher.
As with low frequencies very high frequencies can be felt as much as they are heard, quite often ~20khz + can be felt in the jaw bone area assuming a reasonable SPL.
Bone conduction is a powerful mechanic in human “hearing”.
April 7th, 2009 @12:47 pm
Im 23, im a dj and i can only hear as far as 15…. oh dear
April 7th, 2009 @6:07 pm
IMO if you have crappy computer speakers you might not hear it, though no one here seems to have had a problem. I have tinnitus in both my ears and it is very annoying — it sounds like a high pitched squeal, but even through it I could hear the tone. I suspect I can hear hire considering the quality of my equipment. Most of my family is deaf. Here is to enjoying your hearing as long as you possibly can.
AND I BELIEVE THIS: It is never too early to make sure you protect your hearing. Consider ear plugs, plugging your ears when you expect loud sounds (i.e. CC Philadelphia
)
Peace.
April 24th, 2009 @1:18 pm
I can hear the high, piercing tone, depending on how my head is oriented toward the speakers, but I also hear a lower (still high, but not piercing) tone when my head is turned so that I don’t hear the higher tone well. Odd effect of my environment?
May 1st, 2009 @10:12 pm
Crap. I’m 17 and I can’t hear a thing.
May 8th, 2009 @6:48 pm
I’m 19. I can hear 19kHz and sense 20kHz. I get a faint ringing in my ears after hearing 20. Weird!
May 9th, 2009 @12:00 pm
What a pleasant surprise; I’m 53, have been doing music professionally for more than 30 years, and found that annoying as hell. Yay!
June 4th, 2009 @11:21 pm
cant be right; my dad’s 50, even he can hear this easy, infact, he can hear 21 khz (so can the rest of my family, pretty obvious as all of us are younger than him)
September 18th, 2009 @7:54 pm
I bet this high frequency noise damages my hearing. I can only hear up to 19 khz and I am a young adult, however when I go to 20 khz I hear broken noise and silence, sounds like an error with the recording.
December 29th, 2009 @10:17 pm
Everyone needs to understand that even though you’re above the age of 25 and you can still hear it, doesn’t mean it’s wrong. It simply means you have exquisite hearing; in fact, consider it a compliment. Some are gifted with excellent hearing their whole life, regardless of how much they’ve gone through.
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