Hearing ultrasonics?

[DrFrankenstein]

Am I the only one that notices they can hear within the ultrasonic range??

For quite some years now, I can hear bats at night, can hear ultrasonic bug/pest repellers and have even heard the faint whistle of a few dog whistles..it has always reminded me of the scene from Teen Wolf when Michael J. Fox hears the kid blowing the dog whistle.

Is this really all that uncommon?

[Nigel Goodwin]

Originally posted by DrFrankenstein
Am I the only one that notices they can hear within the ultrasonic range??

For quite some years now, I can hear bats at night, can hear ultrasonic bug/pest repellers and have even heard the faint whistle of a few dog whistles..it has always reminded me of the scene from Teen Wolf when Michael J. Fox hears the kid blowing the dog whistle.

Is this really all that uncommon?

Usually children and females have hearing ranges beyond the average - males tend to be poorer, and all get worse with age.

[DigitalJunkie]

I Used to be able to hear a fair ways above 20khz,but i'm not so sure anymore...Loud music and old age must be taking thier toll..(and i'm 'only' 26yo.)

[DrFrankenstein]

Well, the weirdest thing is I've been told since I was a kid I have hearing loss and actually have scar tissue and a tube lodged in my left ear. At the same time, I pick up on barely audible sounds all the time that friends and family don't until I point it out to them and force them to really focus.
I've always noticed weather effects everyone's hearing too. On certain days everyone else seems to be shouting and talking excessively loud, my ears are hyper sensitive and everyone tends to hurt them. I must be on the opposite end of the slope of those air pressure and humidity influences.

Still, I hear these ultrasonics pretty loud and clear. Stepped outside last night and as I often do, heard and then saw a bat. I hear them loud enough and clear enough that I can usually zoom right in on them to spot them. It's loud enough that I've always assumed everyone hears them though.....
I'm a freak!

[lndm]

Just a strange thought. Ears may be subject to gain/bandwidth product. Your ears behaviour may have confused the doctor.

I had a friend that couldn't sit too close to a TV as he disliked the 16kHz whistle

I used to be able to hear beyond 20kHz. When I got my first good tweeter, I hit it hard with the sig gen. IIRC, I'm sure I could hear at least 26kHz.

[DrFrankenstein]

Oh I confused the doctors and the stupid hearing test lady that came to our school, my hearing was well beyond the normal range and the fools couldn't figure it out. The air pressure of the test rooms alone was deafeningly loud. So loud that it would drown out the test tones. Meanwhile they thought I was suffering hearing loss and continually sent me to specialists and screwed with my ears. Had tubes 3 or 4 times I think it was.
Another variable was simply the humidity and air pressure these "Einsteins" never accounted for which greatly effects everyone's hearing. Guess they gotta maintain their salaries some how. The hearing tests they use are the most scientifically faulted audio tests I have ever encountered in my life.

I've had the same issues with a LOT of TV's as your friend, the whistle and hum of some sets are unbareable and some actually hurt my ears.
I've toyed around with some ultrasonic transducers and test tones and hear the high frequencies far beyond what's claimed to be within the human hearing range but... I'm certain anyone could hear these pitches.
Maybe these "specialists" just aren't that good at what they make their living from and the human hearing range is much larger than they realise. I never saw other kids tested more than once a year, if that. I'm inclined to believe most anyone could hear the bats and other noises I do but..maybe not.

[Cortez]

I also hear these (bats, TVs, etc...), but I think its nothing special.
Most of the time everyone could hear them, they just dont listen enogh...

[DrFrankenstein]

So do you believe in the 50 hz -15 khz audio range being the limits of human perception?

I don't what so ever.

[phase_accurate]

There are certainly people who hear above 20 kHz.
But be aware that not all sounds caused by bats are above 20 kHZ. My hearing isn't that good anymore at the upper end (fc approx 16 kHz) but I can hear them anyway. They use the very high frequencies for their sonar and lower ones for communications.

Regards

Charles

[DrFrankenstein]

I'm certain it's their sonar I'm hearing based on their flight pattern and behavior when I spot them. I'm also one of those freaks that had better than 20/20 vision as a kid...not so sure it's that good anymore though.