Poll: Can you hear this hideous noise?

[Congratulations]

Since I don't have a need to be clandestine about it, my ringtone is sort of the opposite thing. It's just one of those generic ones offered by my setup, but it's this really, REALLY obnoxious version of the "French Can-can", as some of us know the tune. It's so Monty Pythonesque and manic-sounding, I'm forced to answer or let myself and others suffer.

This is similar to my cell phone strategy. I got tired of confusing other people's rings for my own, so I found this odd cat meow ring that came with my phone. What's so disturbing is how realistic it is. It sounds like a real cat meow, until it does it the second time, exactly the same. It's... unique, to say the least.

[Nanohedron]

Ooh. Cat meow. Most cool.

[Innocent Bystander]

I vote with Cynth and Slude Dude.
Not a sausage (pas une saussicon) on the original BBC soundclip.
A mild but not especially irritating whine on Wanderer's soundclip, but only when the volume was pushed all the way up.

(Perhaps another poll with this option?)

[RonKiley]

I hear nothing but background noise on the first clip. Wanderer's clip is very loud with the volume turned down. I wouldn't call it real objectionable but I hear it loud and clear and I am 67.

Ron

[izzarina]

Ok...that one from Wanderer KILLED my ears when it was on. And that was through my speakers. I'm glad I didn't have on headphones

I tried it with headphones and the volume cranked all the way up; couldn't hear a thing.

Wow...you must be REALLY old!!!!

[Lambchop]

Can anyone else hear bats? That noise is right up there with bats.

Since I have poor vision and bats are really fast, I used to walk through near-clouds of them in the early evening, but heard only a lot of high-pitched chirping. Until one flew right in front of my face one evening, I kept wondering why there were so many tiny birds still chirping and what kind they were.

At work, we have bats in several buildings, including the one I work in. Working late one evening, a guy from across the hall stopped by to say it was almost time for the bats to fly out for the night. I replied that I hadn't seen any, but thought there might be some, since I could hear a lot of chirping. He's since acted as though I were mildly possessed.

[izzarina]

When I sit outside at night, I can hear the bats too, but apparently no one else can. One night, I saw a cat go into the yard across the street, and you could see that it was carrying something in it's mouth as it went under the street light. I kept hearing this very high pitched noise from that general direction, but Mr. Izz couldn't. I never did get to see what it was in the bat's mouth, but I'm fairly certain that it was a bat.

[Doug_Tipple]

I listened to both sound clips, but I couldn't hear the sound that others have been describing. I should add that I am 62, and I do have tinnitus, or ringing in the ears.

However, this topic deals with objectionable sounds, so let me step up on the soapbox and voice my displeasure about many of the loud sounds that I cope with everyday. My apppartment is very close to a busy street, so I hear all of the motorcycles, sirens, boomers, etc. that pass by my house. The concept of "disturbing the peace" seems to be an obsolete idea. Harley Davidson motorcycles with straight pipes (no mufflers) are an assult on the human sensorium. If I am not mistaken, they weren't able to get by with this before, but now, it is carte blanche. Even the sirens of the emergency vehicles that pass my house are getting louder and louder. No wonder that I can't hear the sounds in question. I can still hear well enough to play my violin in tune, though.

Another problem that I have with using sound as a means of influencing human behavior is a legal issue. Just because a sound may not be perceived, it doesn't follow that the sound isn't processed by the subconscious and may have an effect on human behavior. Subliminal advertising is not legal for the same reason. We need to be very careful when we go down this path. I think that there needs to be protections for unsuspecting people who are subjected to this sonic onslaught.

[BoneQuint]

Weird. I can't hear any whine or squeal on either of the clips -- just the background noise in the first one, and nothing on the second one. The spectrum analyzer on Windows Media Player says there's a sound there, though. But I *can* hear TVs whine sometimes, and I can hear bats "chirping." Just last month, I was in Austin, and all the bats under the bridge were LOUD! Strange. I'm 39.

[Martin Milner]

I vote with Cynth and Slude Dude.
Not a sausage (pas une saussicon) on the original BBC soundclip.
A mild but not especially irritating whine on Wanderer's soundclip, but only when the volume was pushed all the way up.

(Perhaps another poll with this option?)

Ditto, and I'll be 40 in a couple of months.

I used to hear bats, but I don't hear the ones in the local park anymore. It's possibel they're not the same frequency as the last ones I heard.

I do get bothered by high pitched electrical whines, especially the dishwasher here in the office when the cleaners set it going.

My mother used to wear a mosquito repelling ultrasonic device round her neck in the summer, and I could hear that. Maybe this year I'll be spared the headaches.

[avanutria]

I could hear that mosquito thing too. I felt bad for the dog on her lap, who always seemed a bit more anxious than usual...

[Martin Milner]

a bit more anxious than usual...

How can you tell, with a chihuahua? It's like saying the sea seemed a bit damp today.

[Whistlin'Dixie]

Weird. I can't hear any whine or squeal on either of the clips -- just the background noise in the first one, and nothing on the second one.

o.k. I'm confused. Nothing?

I may or may not "hear" something in the "background" of the first clip, but Wanderer's clip is nothing "BUT" that high pitched squeal, no?
Are we listening for something besides that, or is that the sound?!?!?
Because it's very loud and very obnoxious.
Or are you sure your computer is really turned on?

M

[Congratulations]

I had my mother listen to it, and she heard nothing of either sound. And she was really trying--speaker held close to her ear, volume all the way up, desperately trying not to be "old."

[Wanderer]

Weird. I can't hear any whine or squeal on either of the clips -- just the background noise in the first one, and nothing on the second one.

o.k. I'm confused. Nothing?

I may or may not "hear" something in the "background" of the first clip, but Wanderer's clip is nothing "BUT" that high pitched squeal, no?
Are we listening for something besides that, or is that the sound?!?!?
Because it's very loud and very obnoxious.
Or are you sure your computer is really turned on?

M

That's the sound. I think the first clip and my clip are a slightly different frequency range, and mine's in an easier to hear range.

And really, some people can't hear it. I can't hear it unless I have headphones on, or I'm really close to the speakers. In both cases, it has to be turned way up. My wife can hear it easily, though.