Saturday, March 06, 2010

Can you hear me now?

I'm totally ripping this off from Ace, but this is fascinating: the Noise Addicts Can You Hear This hearing test.

They say that most people over 25 can't hear tones over 15 kHz. Sho'nuff I pegged out at 15 kHz. My four-year-old was next to me while I was doing this and he heard all the way up to 19 kHz. I wonder if he's already suffered some hearing damage from me listening to loud music in the vehicle with him.

Certainly makes me think twice about turning up the volume in the future.

Also cool on the linked page, they link to a couple of products to help save your hearing - a set of earplugs that don't just block sound, but reduce the volume to a normal level; and some noise-blocking headphones so you don't turn up the volume so much.

9 comments:

Crotalus said...

Dude, I have mild tinitus (sp?). It sucks. When I try to go to sleep is when I notice it most. Oh to go back in time and slap my stupid young self up side the head.

Cullen said...

I get ringing ears sporadically, fortunately not chronically - yet. Sure makes me more apt to protect my hearing. My father in law's got an awesome pair of over-ear hearing protection for the shooting range. They don't block sound, they just drop the volume of loud noises and amplify quiet noises. Awesome stuff.

Maggie May said...

I could barely hear at 15 kHz, and nothing above. Our parents warned us about all that rock music. Let's just hope they weren't right about the going blind too...

Cullen said...

My brother was able to hear different frequencies using different types of speakers. Through his standard iPod, he was able to hear 16 but could hear 17 with his skull candy earphones. I imagine the fidelity of your speaker has a good bit to do with it. I've tried it through a couple of different speakers and I was indeed just able to hear 16 kHz through a better set of speakers. I can make myself believe I'm hearing 17 kHz, but I think I'm just hearing the speakers cycle.

Andy said...

Cullen, I pegged out at 10. Sigh.

I am 50. Sigh.

Andy said...

Hey Cullen, my 13 year old son just took the test. He topped out at 21. That is cool. I stole the link, but as always told who I ripped it off from.

Cullen said...

Make sure to try it through different speakers, Andy. I found I had different results through better systems.

nightfly said...

With the crappy speaker bar at work, I could make out the 18 if I listened really closely. Luckily I was never a big concert guy.

The link the the most powerful speaker in the world article? Wow. 165dB. It'd literally make your ears bleed.

JeffS said...

10 KHz.

:-(