399
submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by j4k3@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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?

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] phanto@lemmy.ca 112 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I have tinnitus and it sounds just like power supplies, except it comes from nowhere. So, when I hear the squeal, I turn my head. If the squeal noise follows the movement of my head, tinnitus. If it stays put, power supply!

It's like skunk and pot! (I'm in Canada, it's legal and everywhere.) If I smell it, I look around. If I see a burrow, skunk! If I see a dozy looking dude with red eyes...

[-] SamsonSeinfelder@feddit.de 23 points 9 months ago

It's funny that you mentioned pot. Because people described the reaction of pot sometimes in the way of OPs question: When you smoke weed, you get sensitive for things your brain normally is able to filter out as irrelevant information because your head can only process so much before it gets overwhelmed. Some people described that when they smoke weed, that they can sit in their living room or kitchen and start noticing the humming of the fridge or the buzzing of an electrical object as your synapses are wired "differently" when blocked by THC and you start to notice things, your brain normally suppresses.

Sorry for your tinnitus bro. I hope you find ways to make it bearable at times.

[-] phanto@lemmy.ca 20 points 9 months ago

It's funny, I had a horrible toxic job for way longer than any sane person should ever have to deal with, and one aspect of it was dangerous noise levels. We complained, and the company always sent "independent" inspectors who always found that the noise levels were juuuust inside the legal safe limit. Even when they added enough equipment to double the volume! Funny that... Anyways, I am now over six months gone from that job, and I just realized that my tinnitus is way better than it was! Ditto my mental health... Now I just need a winning lottery ticket or a not-soul-sucking job...

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[-] GBU_28@lemm.ee 57 points 9 months ago
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] force@lemmy.world 40 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

It's especially common among people with Autism/ASD and ADHD to hear noises other people often don't hear. Like those LED light bars, or coffee pot crackling, or electricity from appliances. For ADHD I've seen a few people claim that those sounds are just as audible for everyone else, but everybody just subconsciously filters it out and doesn't notice it, while people with ADHD are easily caught by it. I assume for ASD it would be somewhat similar – plus Autistic people are a lot more susceptible to sensory issues, although people with ADHD also often have fucked up senses, which can make noises like that a LOT more noticeable (and even problematic/headache-inducing/stressful/painful).

load more comments (8 replies)
[-] AFaithfulNihilist@lemmy.world 32 points 9 months ago

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.

[-] MTG8175@lemmy.ml 10 points 9 months ago

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.

[-] Toribor@corndog.social 7 points 9 months ago

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.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] plz1@lemmy.world 32 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Coil whine ? Yup. They told me it would go away as I got older and lost range of hearing. Still waiting for that.

Edit: typo

[-] bloodfart@lemmy.ml 9 points 9 months ago

😎 Cool whine bro 😎

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Coreidan@lemmy.world 25 points 9 months ago
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] ryven@lemmy.dbzer0.com 24 points 9 months ago

I did as a kid, but my tinnitus covers it up now.

[-] RGB3x3@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

‎^^eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[-] MadBabs@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago

I have tinnitus AND can hear my lightbulbs buzzing. Follow me for more tips!

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] snrkl 23 points 9 months ago

Yes. I can hear to about 18kHz, so cheap USB chargers are no longer allowed in my house....

Worse, the EV chargers I used to work with had PEMs switching at 10kHz for the US UL variants. EVERYONE could hear those!!

Test your hearing range with this if you want...

https://www.szynalski.com/tone-generator/

I used the 10kHz tone to annoy the eng dept in the office till they changed the PEM switching freq to 20kHz....

load more comments (6 replies)
[-] TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz 22 points 9 months ago

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.

load more comments (4 replies)
[-] MechanicalJester@lemm.ee 22 points 9 months ago

Not anymore.Age.

When I was a kid I hated going to the city art museum because all the humidity and temperature control devices emitted this awful high frequency noise that made me nauseated.

I can't hear the "mosquito" pitch noise emitters used to deter teenage loitering in some cities anymore. I kept that longer than I thought I would.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] bloopernova@programming.dev 21 points 9 months ago

Yes, often. It doesn't really bother me that much, plus tinnitus generally overwhelms those sounds.

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 19 points 9 months ago

Yes and it drives me bonkers. I've had to leave rooms because the noise was just too loud

[-] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 17 points 9 months ago

Not since I developed tinnitus...

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] boatswain@infosec.pub 17 points 9 months ago

Used to, until the tinnitus kicked in.

[-] FireWire400@lemmy.world 17 points 9 months ago

Despite me having tinnitus, I hear those sounds very clearly in quiet environments. They annoy the crap out of me...

[-] Illuminostro@lemmy.world 17 points 9 months ago

I play electric guitar a foot from my computer. I hear all kind of noises through my amplifier. Scolling with my wired mouse makes a noise through it. I also know my phone is goimg to ring before it does because the cell,signal makes a noise through mu computer speakers.

load more comments (5 replies)
[-] doctorzeromd@sopuli.xyz 16 points 9 months ago

Yes, and CRTs as well.

[-] Anamnesis@lemmy.world 15 points 9 months ago

I used to hear this...back when I was in my 20s 😭

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] andrewta@lemmy.world 13 points 9 months ago

Yes. On a side note: do not buy hp printers they are really bad for their power supplies.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] june@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago

Yep. I was told I’d stop hearing it as I got older but I turn 40 next month and I still hear it.

[-] flambonkscious@sh.itjust.works 7 points 9 months ago

45 checking in. I hate them

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago

please don't make me aware of more sounds I wasn't aware of before, I have enough of them already

[-] glibg10b@lemmy.ml 12 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I can hear coil whine from my PC's graphics card, but that's it.

Edit: Also our home stereo system (not the speakers) when it's turned on.

I used the have a PC that ran Windows XP, and when I moved the mouse, sound was heard from the speakers. It probably had a cheap sound controller on the motherboard.

[-] XEAL@lemm.ee 8 points 9 months ago

My PC fucked with me with the coil whines.

Playing Metro Exodus with raytracing and shit? No noise.

Playing Grid 2, released over a decade ago? "Let me play you the song of my people"

[-] SecretPancake@feddit.de 12 points 9 months ago

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.

[-] squiblet@kbin.social 11 points 9 months ago

Yes, I can hear them. Usually it’s not a problem but I have had 1-2 power adapters that annoyed me.

[-] bleistift2@feddit.de 11 points 9 months ago

I just remembered that the Dell docking station I’m using makes a sound when it processes data. I can literally hear my mouse move.

Don’t buy Dell.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] Lemminary@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I don't think I own anything that makes noise like that anymore, but we used to have a big TV a few years ago that I could tell was on or off from the other side of the wall.

E: I just remembered that my speakers sometimes make noise if I listen at a certain angle and last week I heard someone's iPhone charger make a ringing noise while sitting on the socket so I disconnected it.

[-] Gabu@lemmy.ml 11 points 9 months ago

Two of the best investments I've ever made were good quality PC fans and SSDs instead of HDDs. Now, the loudest noises I hear come from my tinnitus.

[-] TwanHE@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago

Got the fans in my pc turned up higher than needed just so i dont heat the coil whine.

[-] cpw@lemmy.ca 10 points 9 months ago

I used to hear tv tubes, power supplies and all sorts of high frequency noise. These days I mostly just hear tinnitus. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[-] XEAL@lemm.ee 9 points 9 months ago

My air fryer has a blinking light whet it's on standby. Well, when the light's OFF, I can hear a high pitched noise. My partner is 4 years older than me and she can't hear it ლ(ಠ_ಠლ)

The transformer of my electric shaver makes a similar noise too.

[-] doctorcrimson@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago

I tend to flip off powerstrips at night because of that exact sounds. And also because I think my devices could be listening.

[-] autumn_rain@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago

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.

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] Aux@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I used to hear all these sounds, but I'm 40 now so I don't hear them anymore.

[-] Maestro@kbin.social 10 points 9 months ago

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.

[-] Beeps@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago

Do you remember when you could hear text messages over your speakers before getting the on-phone alert?

load more comments (7 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Nemo@midwest.social 7 points 9 months ago

I can't hear it but I can often tell when it clicks over because it causes a spike in my tinnitus.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2024
399 points (98.1% liked)

Asklemmy

44076 readers
895 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy 🔍

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS