The Annoying Sound Stores Use To Drive Youngins Away

[Are_grits_groceries]

Here's an example of that annoying noise that's supposedly being used to drive teenagers away from stores and other places where they tend to gather and formulate their plans for world domination. It has also been used in commercials. Supposedly, only people under 25 can hear the noise. For the record, our staff can hear it and we think it sounds like that ringing in your ears that happens when people are "talking about you." Annoying.
http://consumerist.com/

Teenage audio test: http://trainhorns.net/sound/

Bleah. Nasty noise.

[Aviation Pro]

1. I'm 50 and have unusually acute hearing....

...and I heard it. It's just like the sound used by museums to keep people moving from one exhibit to the next (such as the Tut exhibition or anything involving gold and jewels).

[safeinOhio]

2. 60 and nothing

[ShortnFiery]

62. 50 and nothing.

But in my youth I attended far too many Rock Concerts. :blush:

[ShortnFiery]

64. Correction: When I turned-up the volume, I heard it just fine.

:shrug:

[Mugweed]

3. 40, and it was slightly painful

Maybe I had my speakers up too loud, but damn that almost hurt!

[Donnachaidh]

4. NOT a teenager and heard it fine

Bogus test. :shrug:

[lightningandsnow]

5. That's actually terrible.

It's painful for me to hear that. (And yes, I know people who have it as their ringtone and such).

It wouldn't only prevent me from loitering, it would probably prevent me from being there longer than 10 seconds. That's money they're not getting. Assholes.

[Lilith Velkor]

55. Think of what it does to the employees

Now we don't have to wonder why they're so hostile anymore.

Whoever came up with this idea needs to be locked in a room and forced to listen to Skinny Puppy for the rest of his life.

[ChazII]

6. Can't wait to try this with my third graders since

we are in the middle of our unit on sound in science.

edited for spelling

[madrchsod]

7. 62 and worked in heavy industry all my life...i`ve heard worse

[Romulox]

8. Maybe people over 25 with tinnitus can't hear that, but I can!

Try the following website to put a finer point on it (I use it to test my speakers!)

http://www.freemosquitoringtones.org/

[ChazII]

10. Thank you for this information.

This will make for a better sound discrimination and the site also works with our IB communication unit.

[alfredo]

51. I made a 17KHS tone for a friend suffering from a gathering of young people

outside his house. We don't have enough police to handle non emergencies, so he wanted to use it to encourage them to move along. I haven't heard back.

I have Tinnitus and hearing loss. I can hear the 8KHS, but that's it.

[riverdeep]

68. Interesting.

I heard the one for 30 and younger and I'm over 40. 24 and younger has 4 entries. There's a lot of hiss I hear in the background, I wonder if that matters any.

edit: I can also hear the sound in the OP, it's quite annoying, and when it stops playing, my ear feels irritated.

[annabanana]

9. 59 and not a peep. .

My 19 year old called it an annoying beep

[Marrah_G]

11. 38 and I could not hear it.

[Quantess]

41. I'm also 38 and I can't hear it, either.

[bunnies]

12. 35. That noise is torture.

:banghead: Seriously.

[susanna]

19. 41. Agreed. Ouch. n/t

[BadgerKid]

13. Sounds like an old TV

with a high pitched whine.

[IDemo]

14. Probably not so different from what I hear 24/7 from tinnitus

[Joe Fields]

17. I can relate to that.

[Buns_of_Fire]

21. Oddly, even with my tinnitus I managed to hear it.

Kind of a low drone overlaying the brain-eating cicadas that have been partying in my skull for the last 15 years or so. (Too much of that mind-rotting rock 'n' roll, played at earbleeding volume in my younger days, I've been told.:shrug:)

P.S. I'm 58, BTW. Rock on!

[LiberalPersona]

38. That would suck

I have tinnitus but nowhere near that intrusive.

[tularetom]

15. I heard it fine and I'm 67

Even when I turned the sound most of the way down I could hear the higher pitched whine. But what I want to know is how does this affect the people who work in the stores where they ue it to keep teenagers out? I think after hearing that all day I'd be ready to kick somebody's ass, anybody, for any reason, or none at all, just because I was so pissed off having to listen to that godawful sound all day.

[Joe Fields]

16. well I wish something would drive them from the stores.

just the ones that run in packs. the others I can tolerate.

[Odin2005]

18. Ugh, that sound would drive me, and I'm sure many other people with Asperger's Syndrome, to meltdown

I'll bet $100 dollars that this thing will cause Aspie and Autistic kids to have vicious temper tantrums because of sensory overload and parents will never find out why because they can't hear the noise. Assholes. :grr:

[walkaway]

20. Got a sound that will get them to mow the lawn? nt

[havocmom]

25. Hey...

:think:

[Buns_of_Fire]

30. I'd heard once that there was a certain subsonic tone...

that would cause an involuntary loosening of the sphincter. I've been looking for the plans ever since, to modify my car horn to produce that tone.

And maybe make a pocket version, too, just to be a prick next time I'm at the supermarket.:evilgrin:

[Mari333]

22. 58 and i heard it, very annoying

my ears are under 25 the rest of me feels 90.

[gollygee]

23. I heard it and I'm 39

so they'd drive me and my money away too.

[Forkboy]

24. That's ok, I use Cannibal Corpse to get rid of old people.

:P

[OnyxCollie]

35. Hammer Smashed Face is an old favorite of mine. nt

[Historic NY]

26. I would drive me nuts until I found the plug....I'm going to be 53...

I sometimes can't hear conversations mostly due to years of loud noise, machines, guns, sirens etc. back when hearing protection was something most people didn't use properly. Low whines, hums, absolutely get my attention.

[NeedleCast]

27. I can hear it at age 35, but only with the volume on my computer cranked

[originalpckelly]

28. 22, and I can hear it.

Of course, I'm supposed to, so I guess I'm at least normal one way. :P

[RubyDuby in GA]

29. I'll be 35 this summer and I heard it

And I wouldn't stay in a store that had it blasting - but I'm old and crotchety that way.

[mwooldri]

31. If stores want to drive away teenagers they don't need to have this...

... may I suggest some classical music instead? Or Opera?

Apparently this has worked quite well too.

Mark.

[JHB]

33. I've read that Frank Sinatra works wonders as a youth-repellent. n/t

[dana_b]

54. unless you're my kid

she's 19 and she and her bf listen to classical a lot and sometimes opera too. weird kids.

[JHB]

32. It's much easier to just play Frank Sinatra tunes...

...which are more likely to chase the young-uns away.

[tekisui]

34. 28 and it was painfully piercing.

[sinkingfeeling]

36. I'm over 60 and heard it when I upped the speaker.

[LiberalPersona]

37. 29 and I can hear it quite clearly

Sounds like one of those tones they use for hearing tests.

[Javaman]

39. I'm 45...what? nt

[Withywindle]

40. 39 and I can hear it.

Ugh. That would be torture to spend more than 5 seconds listening to that. But it's kind of like some kind of electronic malfunction - I hear tones a little like that in office buildings sometimes, and it always sets my teeth on edge.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

42. 26 and I can hear it....

and so did my cat who just fled the room.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

43. I don't think it sounded like a mosquito buzzing...more like a high pitched electronic sound.

It reminds me of the sound I hear from the sidewalk when a TV is on somewhere.

[ZombieNixon]

44. God, that made my eyes water.

x(

[I Have A Dream]

45. I can hear it, and I'm well beyond 25. No wonder I hate to shop.

x(

[Luna_C_06]

46. Holy crap!

I heard it and it was almost painful! :-(

[Sequoia]

47. In this town the officials thought piping Mozart throughout the area

would drive the teens away but brought more in because they dig the scene man !!!

[margotb822]

48. I'm 25 and I'm not sure

Was it just a real high pitched noise? I thought it was supposed to sound like a mosquito. It didn't sounds like buzzing to me, but my ear hurts now...

[treestar]

49. Works for me

I can't hear it!

[SoCalDem]

50. I thought they just played Barry Manilow music

:shrug:

[Greyhound]

56. Now, that would drive everybody away...

:rofl:

[benEzra]

61. Snort! (nt/)

[Raineyb]

52. Under 25 my ass! I hear it just fine.

Vile, vile noise it is too.

Someone needs an ass kicking for that noise. Blech!

[dana_b]

53. Damn! I have tinnitus but I heard this!

Very unpleasant.
I was convinced that 28 years of rock concerts would be enough to kill my hearing but I heard it. Of course I had to turn off all other noises around me. Youngins can probably hear it with extraneous noises going on around them.

[zagging]

57. 47. Left ear no, right ear yes.

If I turn my head one way or the other.

[csziggy]

58. 56 and I heard it - so that is why there is that annoying sound in some stores!

Guess what - they are driving away older customers, too. I've left businesses due to that tone.

[havocmom]

59. I'm pushing 60, have a cold with congested ears and I can hear it

But I am suddenly overwhelmed with a craving for Nacho Doritos and a coke

Seriously, most jewelery stores I have ever been in have a most painful high pitch noise I was never able to abide. Good thing I prefer hardware stores to shops with overpriced baubles.

[benEzra]

60. I'm 38 and can hear it. And I'd never shop in a store that was playing it...

I'd go 25 miles out of my way to avoid being exposed to that sound for more than a few seconds.

[eridani]

63. But the kids are getting their revenge

I heard they were using these frequencies as ringtones to outwit adult teachers. Unfortunately for them, some adults retain hearing acuteness.

[TahitiNut]

65. Nuthin'

:shrug:

[AllieB]

66. I'll be 40 soon and I heard it fine.

[leftyclimber]

67. My stepson uses that as his cell phone ringtone.

It's hard to tell if he's really on the phone or if he's just messing with you. :D

I can hear it if I put my ear up to his phone (or my PC speaker, in this case). I'm 37.

[Burma Jones]

69. I'm 49 and I heard it...........