11 ms·

Interesting one. I remember I went to the local One Stop with my son - he was about 15 at the time. He couldn't bear standing outside - he said the noise was un

Interesting one. I remember I went to the local One Stop with my son - he was about 15 at the time. He couldn't bear standing outside - he said the noise was unbearable. I said "what noise"? Apparently they used some kind of sonic device that emits sound that can only be heard by teenagers, and it was incredibly effective - they wouldn't hang around outside the shop more than a moment longer than necessary. I do wonder whether it caused any damage though? One Stop was later bought by Tesco and they got rid of it.

Chardok 9y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mosquito https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mosquito Teens also have used this frequency as a ringtone in class as most teachers couldn't hear it.
- kevinmchugh 9y ago
  The cell phone ringtone didn't make sense to me when people started using it. Sure, the teachers can't hear it, but they can see an entire class wince simultaneously. Plus, there's a lot of teachers in their 20s who can hear it just fine.
  - JosephRedfern 9y ago
    The whole class may have winced, but I guess it'd be harder for the teacher to pinpoint where the sound came from.
  - WalterSear 9y ago
    There's no reason to wince - it's just a sound. The wincing is caused by the volume.
    - kevinmchugh 9y ago
      Perhaps it was a flinch? I find the tones on this site I found[0] highly unpleasant to listen to at any volume. The ringtones I was hearing were no louder than any other, but I know I recoiled on hearing them. [0] https://www.ultrasonic-ringtones.com/ https://www.ultrasonic-ringtones.com/. Unsurprisingly, I can't hear above 17k anymore. I'm not terribly upset.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- wolfgang42 9y ago
  In my high school, very strong peer pressure was applied to anyone who tried this as it was generally considered excessively annoying. For my part, I used a Morse code ringtone that happened to sound similar to the howling noise the radiators made, which everyone had learned to simply tune out.
smileysteve 9y ago
I (31m) can hear high frequencies - Last night, an ecigarette's capacitor/resistor (from 20 feet off) - Home Depot has high frequency bird detractors - A friend has a heart condition and a phone addon to help manage it. - TVs w/ bad speakers/signals/lighting - Some fluorescent lights. The worst part is that it hurts, it's like nails on chalkboard you feel it inside when it happens, almost debilitating, and definitely hurts the balance.
- lightedman 9y ago
  35 here. I can still pick up the flyback transformer whine of a CRT, electronic fluorescent ballasts (really horrid in the induction ones) and inverters in laptops/LCDs using CCFL backlighting. It used to not be so bad, but then people stopped potting their coils in the name of saving money...
  - clueless123 9y ago
    Wow! that comment takes me way back to when I could tell a CRT was about to go bad because of the sound of the flyback transformer leaking ! :)
- freehunter 9y ago
  A few years back I had a monitor at work where I complained to my boss that it was emitting a high pitched whine. I was about 10 years younger than anyone else on the team, and no one else could hear it. The PC technician I called to look at it couldn't hear it. Needless to say it didn't get replaced, that is until we got a summer intern. The first time the intern walked past my desk she asked "how can you stand that sound?" and I had her go to my boss to say the same thing. My boss got another intern from another team to listen and confirm, and I got a replacement the next week. It's one of those sounds you can never drown out, it's such a unique frequency.
  - SilasX 9y ago
    Advice for next time: you don't have to depend on a human's word. You can use a real-time analyzer [1], now available in smartphone apps. They display the frequency spectrum of ambient noise. We had a similar situation at our office, were the smoke detector was emitting a steady whine that only a few employees (including me) could hear. One skeptic was finally convinced by getting out an RTA app and seeing the big spike at 12 kHz. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_analyzer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_analyzer
SippinLean 9y ago
Commonly known as "Mosquito alarms" they emit high frequencies that adults have lost the ability to hear. I've never read a study that showed they cause permanent hearing loss, especially in adults, but it's unlikely someone would be exposed to them for long (vs the hypothesis here, that the diplomats were continually undergoing exposure).
ourmandave 9y ago
That's the Mosquito Anti Loitering Device http://www.movingsoundtech.com/ http://www.movingsoundtech.com/ It a high frequency that only young ears can hear that sounds like the whine of a mosquito. Old ears lose frequency range so aren't bothered. It's not harmful, just annoying.
- jsjohnst 9y ago
  These devices still bother my ears even at 37.
  - StavrosK 9y ago
    Same here, we encountered one in Tokyo and I had to run away. My (younger) friends all thought I was crazy until I sent them the link to the device months later.
    - zapperdapper 9y ago
      That was my son's reaction - he couldn't get out of there fast enough!
- PeterisP 9y ago
  At a sufficient volume, the sound would be damaging the ears even if it's above the frequency that you can hear.
  - ourmandave 9y ago
    Hopefully they'd make it so even cranked to 11 it couldn't hurt anyone.
    - kfriede 9y ago
      For a manufacturer it's not as cut-and-dry. The damage caused is a factor of the level (dB) received combined with the length of exposure. Assumptions will have to be made as to how far away the user will be from the device and how long they can reasonably be expected to be exposed. For example, if you assume that someone will be under it for 8 hours (an employee during a work day), the OSHA approved exposure is 90dB, which will likely not be annoying enough to serve its purpose.
moomin 9y ago
At Oval Station (next to the cricket ground), they have an entertaining anti-loitering strategy: they play classical music. I seem to be immune to its deterrent effect, though.
- theEXTORTCIST 9y ago
  I have heard one of these in San Francisco, CA in the USA. The music had a really high pitched note behind it that sounded horrible.. like a cross between a mosquito and the buzzing of an input jack
wlesieutre 9y ago
If anyone's curious about their hearing range, try the example sound files here: http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2009/03/can-you-hear-this-hearing-test/ http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2009/03/can-you-hear-this-hearin...
- ncr100 9y ago
  14khz here :)
  - pluma 9y ago
    I find it hard to pinpoint. 14kHz is pretty clear, 15kHz very faint and 16kHz gets uncomfortable when I turn the volume up but otherwise not really audible. Anything beyond that I only hear the clipping at the start and end with nothing in between.
  - lifty 9y ago
    16 KHz clear but annoying. Nothing at 17 kHz.
  - unimpressive 9y ago
    18khz, I'm 21
- biggieshellz 9y ago
  Keep in mind that it's a common misconception that if you're exposed to noise or loud music, you'll lose hearing at the highest frequencies first. Hearing loss due to noise exposure tends to be centered around 4 KHz ("noise notch") -- you lose the higher frequencies with age (presbycusis).
- SAI_Peregrinus 9y ago
  Of course normal computer headphones or speakers aren't a great test for this, since their frequency response rarely goes that high. Especially the samples >20kHz, since that's beyond the normal range of human hearing. Even high-quality headphones won't play high-frequency sounds, the -3dB (half power) cutoff is generally about 20kHz. Having it higher can allow the headphones/speakers to produce unpleasant harmonics, so good devices are built to damp out such high-frequency resonances.
pluma 9y ago
That's not high tech. That's literally just a device constantly emitting a high pitched beep. As you grow older, your hearing degrades. Especially if you subject yourself to loud noises or loud music (e.g. almost any live concert). The beep the device emits is just outside the hearing range of most adults (kinda like the hum old CRTs sometimes gave off). Unless it's extremely loud it won't cause any damage, and it's less harmful if you can't hear it (because not hearing it means your ears can't pick it up in the first place) but I wonder if there are concerns about noise pollution.

Chardok 9y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mosquito https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mosquito Teens also have used this frequency as a ringtone in class as most teachers couldn't hear it.

kevinmchugh 9y ago
The cell phone ringtone didn't make sense to me when people started using it. Sure, the teachers can't hear it, but they can see an entire class wince simultaneously. Plus, there's a lot of teachers in their 20s who can hear it just fine.
- JosephRedfern 9y ago
  The whole class may have winced, but I guess it'd be harder for the teacher to pinpoint where the sound came from.
- WalterSear 9y ago
  There's no reason to wince - it's just a sound. The wincing is caused by the volume.
  - kevinmchugh 9y ago
    Perhaps it was a flinch? I find the tones on this site I found[0] highly unpleasant to listen to at any volume. The ringtones I was hearing were no louder than any other, but I know I recoiled on hearing them. [0] https://www.ultrasonic-ringtones.com/ https://www.ultrasonic-ringtones.com/. Unsurprisingly, I can't hear above 17k anymore. I'm not terribly upset.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
wolfgang42 9y ago
In my high school, very strong peer pressure was applied to anyone who tried this as it was generally considered excessively annoying. For my part, I used a Morse code ringtone that happened to sound similar to the howling noise the radiators made, which everyone had learned to simply tune out.

smileysteve 9y ago

I (31m) can hear high frequencies - Last night, an ecigarette's capacitor/resistor (from 20 feet off) - Home Depot has high frequency bird detractors - A friend has a heart condition and a phone addon to help manage it. - TVs w/ bad speakers/signals/lighting - Some fluorescent lights. The worst part is that it hurts, it's like nails on chalkboard you feel it inside when it happens, almost debilitating, and definitely hurts the balance.

lightedman 9y ago
35 here. I can still pick up the flyback transformer whine of a CRT, electronic fluorescent ballasts (really horrid in the induction ones) and inverters in laptops/LCDs using CCFL backlighting. It used to not be so bad, but then people stopped potting their coils in the name of saving money...
- clueless123 9y ago
  Wow! that comment takes me way back to when I could tell a CRT was about to go bad because of the sound of the flyback transformer leaking ! :)
freehunter 9y ago
A few years back I had a monitor at work where I complained to my boss that it was emitting a high pitched whine. I was about 10 years younger than anyone else on the team, and no one else could hear it. The PC technician I called to look at it couldn't hear it. Needless to say it didn't get replaced, that is until we got a summer intern. The first time the intern walked past my desk she asked "how can you stand that sound?" and I had her go to my boss to say the same thing. My boss got another intern from another team to listen and confirm, and I got a replacement the next week. It's one of those sounds you can never drown out, it's such a unique frequency.
- SilasX 9y ago
  Advice for next time: you don't have to depend on a human's word. You can use a real-time analyzer [1], now available in smartphone apps. They display the frequency spectrum of ambient noise. We had a similar situation at our office, were the smoke detector was emitting a steady whine that only a few employees (including me) could hear. One skeptic was finally convinced by getting out an RTA app and seeing the big spike at 12 kHz. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_analyzer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_analyzer

SippinLean 9y ago

Commonly known as "Mosquito alarms" they emit high frequencies that adults have lost the ability to hear. I've never read a study that showed they cause permanent hearing loss, especially in adults, but it's unlikely someone would be exposed to them for long (vs the hypothesis here, that the diplomats were continually undergoing exposure).

ourmandave 9y ago

That's the Mosquito Anti Loitering Device http://www.movingsoundtech.com/ http://www.movingsoundtech.com/ It a high frequency that only young ears can hear that sounds like the whine of a mosquito. Old ears lose frequency range so aren't bothered. It's not harmful, just annoying.

jsjohnst 9y ago
These devices still bother my ears even at 37.
- StavrosK 9y ago
  Same here, we encountered one in Tokyo and I had to run away. My (younger) friends all thought I was crazy until I sent them the link to the device months later.
  - zapperdapper 9y ago
    That was my son's reaction - he couldn't get out of there fast enough!
PeterisP 9y ago
At a sufficient volume, the sound would be damaging the ears even if it's above the frequency that you can hear.
- ourmandave 9y ago
  Hopefully they'd make it so even cranked to 11 it couldn't hurt anyone.
  - kfriede 9y ago
    For a manufacturer it's not as cut-and-dry. The damage caused is a factor of the level (dB) received combined with the length of exposure. Assumptions will have to be made as to how far away the user will be from the device and how long they can reasonably be expected to be exposed. For example, if you assume that someone will be under it for 8 hours (an employee during a work day), the OSHA approved exposure is 90dB, which will likely not be annoying enough to serve its purpose.

moomin 9y ago

At Oval Station (next to the cricket ground), they have an entertaining anti-loitering strategy: they play classical music. I seem to be immune to its deterrent effect, though.

theEXTORTCIST 9y ago
I have heard one of these in San Francisco, CA in the USA. The music had a really high pitched note behind it that sounded horrible.. like a cross between a mosquito and the buzzing of an input jack

wlesieutre 9y ago

If anyone's curious about their hearing range, try the example sound files here: http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2009/03/can-you-hear-this-hearing-test/ http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2009/03/can-you-hear-this-hearin...

ncr100 9y ago
14khz here :)
- pluma 9y ago
  I find it hard to pinpoint. 14kHz is pretty clear, 15kHz very faint and 16kHz gets uncomfortable when I turn the volume up but otherwise not really audible. Anything beyond that I only hear the clipping at the start and end with nothing in between.
- lifty 9y ago
  16 KHz clear but annoying. Nothing at 17 kHz.
- unimpressive 9y ago
  18khz, I'm 21
biggieshellz 9y ago
Keep in mind that it's a common misconception that if you're exposed to noise or loud music, you'll lose hearing at the highest frequencies first. Hearing loss due to noise exposure tends to be centered around 4 KHz ("noise notch") -- you lose the higher frequencies with age (presbycusis).
SAI_Peregrinus 9y ago
Of course normal computer headphones or speakers aren't a great test for this, since their frequency response rarely goes that high. Especially the samples >20kHz, since that's beyond the normal range of human hearing. Even high-quality headphones won't play high-frequency sounds, the -3dB (half power) cutoff is generally about 20kHz. Having it higher can allow the headphones/speakers to produce unpleasant harmonics, so good devices are built to damp out such high-frequency resonances.

pluma 9y ago

That's not high tech. That's literally just a device constantly emitting a high pitched beep. As you grow older, your hearing degrades. Especially if you subject yourself to loud noises or loud music (e.g. almost any live concert). The beep the device emits is just outside the hearing range of most adults (kinda like the hum old CRTs sometimes gave off). Unless it's extremely loud it won't cause any damage, and it's less harmful if you can't hear it (because not hearing it means your ears can't pick it up in the first place) but I wonder if there are concerns about noise pollution.