Am I a Dog? I think I can hear the 15kHz tone at the end of Sgt. Pepper

I always thought I had good hearing, but as I get older I can’t hear as well out of my right ear. However, when I listen to my Sgt. Pepper LP (but also the CD), I can hear the very faint 15KHz tone. I am not imagining it, because I hear it every time. The question is, is this unusual? Does anyone else hear this?

 

I can still hear it.

 

You might be just hearing tape hiss......which is something to celebrate on this board at least...

 

It don't affect the cat but screws with my ears.

 

...can you hear this whistle? OK, listen now...

 

No it's very clearly not tape hiss. It's very high pitch but faint.

 

No, you're a DAWG!!! I'm just about to turn 50, and I'm sad to say that all I can hear on my 1976 Parlophone LP via a pair of Stax Lambadas is a touch of hiss. Grrrr. . .

 

The 15KHz tone before the Beatles chatter seems pretty loud actually, but I think that high-pitched whirring at the end of King Crimson's "Islands" is even louder. Is it me or is it getting louder with every reissue?

 

I can hear it but dogs pick it up so much louder than humans do.
Funny. I played for my dog and he doesn't seem to be annoyed as was John Lennon's suposed intention (and my dog isn't deaf).

 

I can hear it too. I really wonder if it's like 14.2khz because at 16, I can just barely pick up the tone.

 

Don't have this LP, but I can still clearly hear the "flyback" transformer in a TV, which to me is very annoying at times. And that is at 15,750 Hz. That's usually how I can tell a TV has been left on in a room.

 

I hear that too, even outside a house as I walk by sometimes. In the early 1970s security systems used something that made a sound like that, but a lot louder.

 

I hear a very similar high-pitched signal in "Girl From Ipanema" on the Getz/Gilberto album. I think Jamie said it was a tube going bad in the mic. I've heard this since about 1984 (when the first Verve/Polygram CD came out) and it took 20 years to find out that 1) I wasn't the only one that heard it and 2) exactly what it was. And 3) I can still hear it on the SACD, so I knew that it wasn't some kind of bizarre problem that occured during mastering of that original CD.

 

A similar sound is audible in the intro of Scott McKenzie's "San Francisco".

 

I need to find my test disc again... last time I tried it was a bit over a year ago, and I could hear the 18kHz tone. I think I could just barely make out the 19kHz tone, too, but that one might been wishful thinking .

Guess this explains why CRT TVs left on with no video annoy me, and why I prefer a softer treble response in my speakers/audio system. Bright recordings are just evil...

 

I can still hear it. WOOF!

 

I can hear it. In fact, to my shock and delight, according to my last test, I'm still good up to nearly 18 k! A VERY pleasent surprise.

GD

 

Rudy,

The first time I was ever in a real studio I heard a high frequency tone in the control room. I asked what that tone was from and nobody knew what I was talking about. I told them that I couldn't believe nobody could hear this, because it was fairly annoying to me. Finally they started shutting things down and as soon as they got to the video monitor that had the front door camera on it the sound went away. It was the 15,750 for sure.

How they could record and mix well with that distraction, and not even hear it, was surely a mystery to me.

 

It's been many years since I ran tones through my system and I seem to remember hearing up to 20k, but it was definitely attenuating. I don't seem to notice any difference in my hearing now, but I haven't really checked. But I am pretty sensitive and like to think I'd notice if things started getting duller. OTOH, I am older now so I imagine my high frequency response is going to suffer eventually. Boy do I dread that day.

 

'Roundabout' by Yes has that in a section as well. I never could tell if it was intentional or not. It's fairly high so I wonder how many people heard it. I've heard it from day one.

 

Several years ago, I played the end of the Sgt. Pepper CD to both my dogs, and they perked up immediately. More recently (they're about nine years old now), I played it again to them and they didn't have any response. So my dogs' hearing seems to be getting worse with age

I've always been able to hear the 15 kHz tone, but then again, I get annoyed by the sounds of florescent lights, digital clocks, VCR's, and other electronic devices that no one else can hear.

 

I heard Pepper three days ago with headphones - and for the first time the tone wasn't in the middle anymore - but much more on the left ear.
I'm almost 40 now and I 'm not what I used to be...

Martin

 

There's also a similarly annoying sound on Bill Evans' "Portraits in Jazz" XRCD... But I guess this is quite a bit lower in frequency...

 

I think it's really easy to hear on the CD. Don't have the UK LP. I find all that stuff at the end of the cd pretty annoying. Although, it was a cool idea for the record at the time. Im sure.