Teen Buzz: A Ringtone Adults Can’t Hear

May 30th, 2006 | by amarfresh |

Back in November I posted about The Mosquito, a device which emmitted an unpleasant sound only teenagers could hear. The device was introduced outside a UK storefront to prevent teenage loitering. Well, the same science is used to create a ringtone which only teenagers can hear. Now, unbenknownst to their parental units, kids can receive text messages and phone calls and Mom and Dad would be none the wiser.

It seems that there is a very real medical phenomenon known as presbycusis or age related hearing loss which, according to The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, “begins after the age of 20 but is usually significant only in persons over 65″. It first affects the highest frequencies (18 to 20 kHz) notably in those who have turned 20 years of age”. It is possible to generate a high frequency sound that is audible only to teenagers.

Follow the links below for download information.

Read: kvue.com
More info: Textually

  1. 39 Responses to “Teen Buzz: A Ringtone Adults Can’t Hear”

  2. By Tachion on Jun 13, 2006 | Reply

    I dont buy it… to me (17 yrs old) … its IRRITATING… and worst part? My parents can hear it too… so its a hoax

  3. By chris on Jun 14, 2006 | Reply

    wow…I’m 15 and i can hear it clearly. the sound is so….piercing and loud to the ear!!! its hard to imagine someone not to hear the sound. I tried it on my dad and he said that it was silent!

  4. By Katie on Jun 15, 2006 | Reply

    well im 13, and i can hear it fine, i played it for my mom and asked her if she could her it, she anwered no what is it im suppose to hear,
    even thought its a little loud and irritating i think its the coolest.!

  5. By Sunny on Jun 16, 2006 | Reply

    It works for sure…tried in on mah teachers as well…Its kooll. a MUST download for all teenagers….

  6. By dallas on Jun 18, 2006 | Reply

    i tried it and i sure heard it. then i tried it on my mom and she told me to turn it off. she heard it. man, it made me mad. this thing is just a big fake.

  7. By Old Beatles song with same kind of tone in it... on Jun 22, 2006 | Reply

    There is an old Beatles song (I think “A Day in the Life”) that has an ultra high pitched tone at the end that John Lennon put in as a joke - the listener is not supposed to hear it, but it is supposed to drive dogs nuts.

    Well, I’m 44 years old and I CAN HEAR IT. My wife cannot. Maybe I have special genes for super-hearing.

    - Allen

  8. By Jason M on Jun 25, 2006 | Reply

    I’m 36 and I can hear it quite clearly, and yes it’s very annoying.

  9. By S.C on Jul 6, 2006 | Reply

    my mother could not hear it, but i could. I can’t listen to it for long though because my ears start to hurt.

  10. By I on Jul 13, 2006 | Reply

    it works! some adults can hear it, but most can’t. i tried it on my 24 year old civics teacher, and he said he couldn’t hear it. everyone else in my class( we were freshmen in high school) could. cool!

    ~me

  11. By TY on Jul 18, 2006 | Reply

    IM 14 AND I HEAR IT LOUD AND CLEAR I TRIED IT ON MY MOM AND THE VOLUME WAS ALL THE WAY UP…SHE HEARD BUT THEN I PUT IT DOWN A NOTCH I COULD STILL EAR SHE CANT NOW I THINK ITS ASEOME

  12. By Dean on Jul 24, 2006 | Reply

    I think it only has effect on certain types of people. Depends really, my mum said there is nothing there while its annoying to me!

    Bad idea though because adults can use it to annoy us and they wont hear it one bit.

  13. By Wyatt on Jul 25, 2006 | Reply

    how do you even like receive an msm or something i bought ringtone that was sent with msm message i cant find anything someone help i got this phone 5 days ago so im kinda new

  14. By deltachick1913 on Jul 26, 2006 | Reply

    I tried it and could hear it…and I’m 30…however people older weren’t able to. I also tried it on a teenager…for him it was a lot louder..however even now my ears are ringing!

  15. By ryan on Aug 29, 2006 | Reply

    this isnt a hoax, my friend has it and when he plays it all the kids in my class look over, only thing is… i cant hear it, and im 17. wtf? it really does make dogs go nuts, will someone set it off in a pet store and tell me what happens?

  16. By Dalton on Oct 9, 2006 | Reply

    I am 15 and when ever i hear it, it hurts my ears. Even after i hear it it still fell like my ears are ringing.

  17. By yukk on Dec 1, 2006 | Reply

    mm…im 14 i could hear it
    its so annoying!!!

    but my sister couldnt hear it..and shes 10….

    scary ay…

  18. By hawkeyefile on Dec 27, 2006 | Reply

    THis would only work if your phone had an adio output frequency of 17Khz. most phones can’t do this. not even the RAZR. although this does work perfeclty on pda/phone’s. since those contraptions use a real speaker.

  19. By Tiffany on Dec 30, 2006 | Reply

    This is soo kewl im 13 and i hear it ..its loud and ANOOYING but no one can hear it.. i use it as my ringtone for my Cell phone so whenever my dad calls me at school i can awnser you see. I told him to call me and then wait till it gets to the voice mai. Then to call me again 1 minute later that gets me enough time to ask to go to the bathroom and then i can go wait till he calls me and talk to him. It Is awsome whoever said it doesnt work lied cause it does trust me …Over people who are 30 caant. Cause my 28 year old cousin can

  20. By Jonathan on Jan 10, 2007 | Reply

    Wow. I’m in the middle of class blaring this… All the kids are complaining, and the teacher can’t hear a thing! It’s funny.

  21. By E and T on Feb 23, 2007 | Reply

    Both of my parents couldn’t hear it and they’re in their 40s. But my friend and I could definitely hear it. She ’s 16 and I’m 15. It’s SO ANNOYING!!! It hurts our ears.

  22. By Jeffrey on Feb 26, 2007 | Reply

    This is awesome. my friend plays at school and the teachers don’t notice. One of my teachers actually stopped us in a test and had a girl play it to see who can hear it. almost all the kids raised their hands even a girl who’s almost completely deaf! but of course the teacher didn’t think it was too cool. made him feel old

  23. By Andi on Mar 2, 2007 | Reply

    I’m 12… i can’t hear it.. neither can my 7 year old brother… what does it sound like?

  24. By Andi on Mar 2, 2007 | Reply

    I dont get it… my headphones & speakers r both on high and working but nobody can hear it..!!

  25. By Ellie on Mar 23, 2007 | Reply

    Wow! When my best firend told me only teens could hear it, I was like whatever, then i walked back into the room, and she turned it full blast! It was awful! Totally wicked, but its like oh my gosh ,am i like insane. I love it!!!!!!! If I put it on my phone as a ringtone, I could have my phone on in class and no teacher would hear it…..hopefully!!!

  26. By Zach on May 1, 2007 | Reply

    I swear sometimes I feel like gouging my eyes out when I hear this. I find it neat that only we can hear it with a few exceptions.

  27. By Alex on May 16, 2007 | Reply

    u suck. it works on MOST adults. And if u ask them if they can hear it they’ll say yes because they can feel a tickle in their ear. But if it goes off without asking them, they wont notice it at all.

    (I found this out with trial and error)

  28. By lala on May 30, 2007 | Reply

    where do you hear it

  29. By Michael on Aug 22, 2007 | Reply

    You are wrong little gilr, it is a fact the this sound can be herd by dome adults but over time the elders of the species lose their sence for hearing high pitched sounds to me it seem’s that your mother had a little fun in high school and you and her are only a few years appart.

  30. By Michael on Aug 22, 2007 | Reply

    Also if your 17, why did you spell buy as if you would pay for it, are you stupid?

  31. By Jazzmyn on Aug 25, 2007 | Reply

    haha, it really does work. i played it for my 60 year old grandma, and she couldnt hear a thing!!

  32. By Jazzmyn on Aug 25, 2007 | Reply

    Uh, it’s OBVIOUSLY not going to work on every single adult. But it does work.

  33. By tony on Aug 29, 2007 | Reply

    i have heard it its way cool but where do you get it for free and not subscribe… i need it on my phone for sure

  34. By joyce on Jan 1, 2008 | Reply

    i’m a 47 years of age and i found the web site for my child who is 16yrs and she told some friends and they let their mm and dad hearit and they under 47 i.m 47 and can;t hear is on tone teenbuzz in the one i can’t hear so far everyone under 47 can i’ll be doing some more test on this ring tone trust me JD 2008

  35. By Steph on Apr 14, 2008 | Reply

    To everyone who keeps saying this is not true…
    some adults can hear it. It depends on the amount of damage they have done to their ears. However, MOST adults can not hear it.
    Also, your computer speakers don’t always play the sound as high as it should go, allowing adults to hear it. Cell phone work better.

  36. By Ian on Apr 17, 2008 | Reply

    I desparately need one of these devices, but the $1400 pricetag is a little steep. Does anybody know if there’s a place I can rent one of these? Better yet, has anybody ever thought of recording the sound on a CD? Would this have the same effect? Somebody’s gonna make a fortune with this!

  37. By Shay on Apr 22, 2008 | Reply

    My ears hurt :( lol i cant figure how to download it to my cell without payin though. lame

  38. By Terence on Apr 30, 2008 | Reply

    I can hear it perfect and im 13 but my mom cant hear nothing at all! put it on my phone and tryed it on my teachers 4 of them said they couldent hear anything but one said he could and he was in his thirties so i think ill keep it turned off in his class

  39. By angie on Aug 12, 2008 | Reply

    this doesnt work i played it on my parents who are over 40 both and they said they herd it -_-

  40. By angie on Aug 12, 2008 | Reply

    i tried it on my parents and they are both over 40 and they said they herd it -_-

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