Can you hear this?

free2beme

This is the most popular ringtone for young people today, as it allows them to hear something that most people over the age of 40 can not. Test it out, can you hear it. I could, but then again I am only 36. I have tested it with several people and many of them could not hear it. What is funny, is those who can not hear it, often think I am playing some sort of joke and that there is no noise coming out of the speakers, when there is. This is not a joke, if you hear it, you will believe me.

http://www.jetcityorange.com/MosquitoRingtone.html

tall penguin

I couldn't hear the one you posted but I looked up another article and their file seems to be different and I could hear theirs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/12/technology/12ring.html?ex=1184130000&en=b0c5e3bb75af6dc5&ei=5087&excamp=mkt_at10

tall penguin

Leolaia

I told my doctor about this ringtone this week. I can easily hear it. I played it for my boyfriend and he can't hear it (he's older than me). BTW, audibility depends on both volume and frequency, so even a very high frequency sound can be heard if you turn the volume up high enough.

Leolaia

BTW, I think the original ringtone was not just a 17Kz tone but an undulating variable freq tone that sounds quite irritating to those with better hearing (originally used by some shops to discourage teenagers from loitering around outside).

I remember well when I was 8 or 9, when I was taken out in field service, I would often know from across the street whether or not someone was going to be home, because I could hear that high-pitched whine (at 15-16 kHz) emitting from the householder's television whether or not the volume is muted. I can still hear the sound when I'm near the TV, but no longer at such a distance.