I’m curious, how many people are aware of these sounds. I have designed, etched, and built my own switching power supplies along with winding my own transformers. I am aware of the source of the noise. So, does anyone else hear these high frequency sounds regularly?
My father used to make fun of me for saying that I could hear the TV on even if it was muted, or that I could hear the furnace ‘scream’ before it came on.
One year, I got as a gift for Christmas, a handheld recorder and a fancy microphone from my stepfather a university music professor And that recorder could actually record the sound which he was able to show me on the computer.
That was like 25 years ago, I’ve been working with computers ever since, and now I am familiar with many many many devices that make high pitch whines.
This must be a snippet from Anthony Doerr’s latest All the Squeals We Cannot Hear
The TV thing, from what I’ve gathered, is normal in kids and lasts up until your 30s or somewhere around there. After that your ears just can’t pick up that pitch anymore.
CRT TV’s stopped being common at the same time I was aging into the range that would be unable to hear their distinctive whine.
I’m 40s and can pick it up sometimes. Depends on the TV.
Exactly what I was thinking hahahahhaha
Yes, often. It doesn’t really bother me that much, plus tinnitus generally overwhelms those sounds.
My favorite is when the ringing from power resonates with the tinnitus and ends up with an oscillating tone. Drives me absolutely insane.
I used to hear all these sounds, but I’m 40 now so I don’t hear them anymore.
43 years old here. I can still hear it. I think I put about 10-15 chargers in the bin because of the noise. I also really hate those anti-mosquito ultrasone emittors people put in their yards. I can hear them whenever I walk around the neighborhood.
47 here. Battery chargers for tools in the shop drive me insane. I used to work at a city run arena that had those hi pitched squeaky things to keep young people from gathering. I had to get transferred it was like torture.
Do you remember when you could hear text messages over your speakers before getting the on-phone alert?
Yup, I remember that 😄
Freaking Nokias man… haha
And it was these speakers
They may not look very nice, but at least they didn’t sound very good.
Yes some of my smart bulbs make that sound when they’re off or on low power. I’m 38. I do have a mild tinnitus as well but it’s on a different frequency so I hear the difference.
I used to hear this…back when I was in my 20s 😭
Same I used to be able to tell when my boss shorted his board by the sound of the power supply going into overregulation. Now it’s just eeeeee all the time.
Yes. On a side note: do not buy hp printers they are really bad for their power supplies.
I will add this to the list of avoiding HP.
I did when I was younger but I don’t hear it since I hit around 30
Despite me having tinnitus, I hear those sounds very clearly in quiet environments. They annoy the crap out of me…
I used to hear tv tubes, power supplies and all sorts of high frequency noise. These days I mostly just hear tinnitus. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Yes, I can hear them. Usually it’s not a problem but I have had 1-2 power adapters that annoyed me.
Yes. They drive me nuts. My family had a PC that would buzz whenever you moved the mouse. We have a bunch of cheap LED lamps in my apartment and every one has an especially loud transformer.
My main laptop is making similar noises all the time, I think they come from the CPU.
The CPU itself doesn’t produce sound, but inductors (coils) can. Therefore, when you move the mouse, the CPU power increases, potentially causing inductors to go into resonance.
- Belkin travel surge protector
- 5-port USB hub
- wireless charger
Thankfully none else!
It is never quiet enough in my house to hear myself think without difficulty, so it definitely never gets quiet enough for that.
I’m 56, wear earplugs at night, and still hear an intermittent electrical noise. It’s not a high-pitched whine, more like a low hum. I live in an apartment complex so it’s likely the wiring. I have hyperacusis.
I remember sometimes waking up in the middle of the night and start noticing/hearing a loud as fuck deep humming sound that seems to have some kind of hearthbeat if I just stand laying on bed doing nothing, I have lived in totally different places and I remember hearing the exactly same sound sometimes at night I just seem to notice that happens the same day I would go hiking to certain place, everytime I notice the sound at night it feels like the sound is leaking itself through the walls and reverbs like being inside something like a water pipe
