Check This: Hearing-Related ~ Mosquito Ringtones

[Thunderbroom]

From Wikipedia:

Teen Buzz (or Mosquito Ringtone) is a popular ringtone that was hijacked from a technology that was originally used to repel loitering teenagers from shops in the United Kingdom. Inventor Howard Stapleton developed the "Mosquito device" for Compound Security Systems. This device emits a modulated 17khz sound that proves to be a great annoyance to teenagers or anyone younger, but leaves most over thirty years of age unaffected. This is due to presbycusis, a normal loss of acute hearing that occurs with advancing age. Teen Buzz was developed using the same technology, but as a constant 17khz high frequency ringtone. It is primarily used in the classroom, allowing students to be alerted of incoming text messages on their mobile phones without the knowledge of their teachers. The company that developed the device said that they were impressed and admits to the idea being humorous, although they considered it may be an infringement on their intellectual property rights. They developed their own ringtone which they sold as the authentic mosquito tone.

 

 

Link To Tones

 

 

 

Check out the link. Listen to the clips. Report here with your age and the highest frequency you can hear.

[SpaceGhost]

Weird, I'm 18 and I can hear all the way to 18.8khz but I think my ears are bleeding now.

[Thunderbroom]

Holy Crap!

 

I was trying to do the test on my laptop but it kept freezing so I went down to my office.

 

I'm 41 and was able to hear 21.1kHz!

[s4001]

I'm 42 and I could only hear the 15.8.

 

My 8 yr old son could hear the 21.1

[Thunderbroom]

 

My 8 yr old son could hear the 21.1

 

 

And as an aside, I realize how old I am as I remember meeting your son when he was around 3.

[bholder]

Sad - 49, the only one I can really hear is 8000. On the 10000, I can barely tell there's something there, but I can't really hear it. Of course, my hearing's been pretty well {censored}ed up since the 70s.

[sarabella]

Those sounds are hideous.

 

I'm almost 31 and I could hear the 21.1khz.

[misterhinkydink]

I'm 51 and can hear 21.1KHz.

[skatalite]

14.9 is the highest I can go And I'm only 22! It says it's for 39 year olds and younger.

[78pbass]

everyone, I realized that my speakers have a range of 40 Hz to 20 kHz, but begin roll off at ~18k. It could be possible that the lack of fidelity is causing some incorrect impressions.

[hawkhuff]

From Wikipedia:

Teen Buzz (or Mosquito Ringtone) is a popular ringtone that was hijacked from a technology that was originally used to repel loitering teenagers from shops in the United Kingdom. Inventor Howard Stapleton developed the "Mosquito device" for Compound Security Systems. This device emits a modulated 17khz sound that proves to be a great annoyance to teenagers or anyone younger, but leaves most over thirty years of age unaffected. This is due to presbycusis, a normal loss of acute hearing that occurs with advancing age. Teen Buzz was developed using the same technology, but as a constant 17khz high frequency ringtone. It is primarily used in the classroom, allowing students to be alerted of incoming text messages on their mobile phones without the knowledge of their teachers. The company that developed the device said that they were impressed and admits to the idea being humorous, although they considered it may be an infringement on their intellectual property rights. They developed their own ringtone which they sold as the authentic mosquito tone.

 

 

Link To Tones

 

 

53 and able to hear the 14.9 kHz and 14.1 kHz
 

My ears are ringing now. 
 

I think the fidelity might play a role but the fidelity on a phone might be even worse, wouldn't you think? Aren't most run of the mill PC speakers rated to 20 kHz?

[bholder]

I just determined that even on the 8K, I can only hear it with might right ear, the left gets almost nothing, which is odd, because I normally consider my left ear my "good ear" for conversation.

[Zebra]

I could hear the 16.7, and very very slightly the 17.7. I could hear an initial click all the way until 22.4 but no tone.

[y-o-y]

30 and I could hear 21.1 with headphones and 17.7 on the laptop speakers.

[Crescent Seven]

I made the mistake of playing that through my speakers.

 

Linus was laying under the desk when I played the 8khz tone, and he took off upstairs and is hiding in my room it scared him so bad...

 

I can hear up to 17.7khz and I'm 28. Looks like I wont need to worry about the capacitance in my cables, I can't hear that high anyways.

C7

[King Kashue]

53 and able to hear the 14.9 kHz and 14.1 kHz My ears are ringing now.

 

28 and I can hear the 21.1k just fine, and it didn't hurt at all. However, the 14.1, 14.9, and 15.8 were distinctly unpleasant...

[Super Bass]

I dont think I have speakers that produce frequencies that high. My Logitech X-230 speakers go up to 20Khz and my Sennheiser HD435's go up to 19.5Khz.

 

Listening through the speakers I can hear up to 19.8Khz, for 21.1Khz I can hear a starting click and and ending click and for 22.4Khz I can't hear anything.

 

I think we need a blind test for it with 5 different speakers ranging from cheap stuff to ultra boutique stuff.

[Mudbass]

The company that developed the device said that they were impressed and admits to the idea being humorous, although they considered it may be an infringement on their intellectual property rights.

 

Wouldn't it actually be an infringement on intellectual property rights of mosquitoes?

[mike fitzwell]

 

I could hear the 16.7, and very very slightly the 17.7. I could hear an initial click all the way until 22.4 but no tone.

 

 

Same for me. I'm 32.

[Jateca]

 

everyone, I realized that my speakers have a range of 40 Hz to 20 kHz, but begin roll off at ~18k. It could be possible that the lack of fidelity is causing some incorrect impressions.

 

 

Was just about to say this myself. I'm 21, and I think I can hear 18k through good studio speakers. I could only hear up to the 17.7k though.

 

That's why I use ear plugs so much these days

 

Edit: Interesting, I just tried it with my Sennheiser HD-25 studio headphones. With the volume turned up I could hear something on the 21.1k tone, but it definitely wasn't 21.1k. It was much lower in pitch than the 17.7k tone, almost as if there was some alisasing going on there.

 

Btw, the click sound is just a digital recording thing

[Gaui]

I'm 23 and I can't hear anything higher then 16,7

[Onkel Bob]

I'm 23 and I can't hear anything lower then 16,7

 

Doesn't that make you practically deaf? I mean you might be able to hear bats and mosquitoes and crickets and such but no way you could hear normal speech. And isn't it a bit strange that you play bass considering you can only hear really high tones?

[L-1329]

Cool, not the most accurate test of your hearing but still interesting. I could make out the 18K but not more. My high frequecy hearing is bombarded for hours on end every time I fly, walk around screaming jet engines on the ground. I know before long my hearing will be affected like all pilots. But hey, at least I'll still hear good bass.

[BeeTL]

 

I'm 42 and I could only hear the 15.8. My 8 yr old son could hear the 21.1

 

Our ears spec out the same: 42=15.8.

 

I'll have to see how my 9 & 11 year old daughters do.

[bassguy]

21 and i cant get past 15.8...

 

could also be my speakers not being able to play, but im going to assume its my ears...