are you a LAUREL or a YANNY?

I saw this mentioned on a couple of tv shows Friday. Perhaps you've seen something about it? Anyway, there is a sound "clip" circulating on the internet that has a high frequency front end and a low frequency back end. Some people hear it as LAUREL and some hear it as YANNY. I called it to the attention of my wife and she heard YANNY. I was flabbergasted because it's LAUREL, plain as day!

I mention this as it relates to metal detecting and the equipment we use. Chiefly:

Perhaps every detector should have a Laurel/Yanny switch that selects the SET of tone frequencies that best match OUR hearing.

Perhaps Location, Location, Location should be Location, Location, Hearing?

Perhaps the Laurel/Yanny "debate" is what best explains how one group of users will praise a detector's audio nuance and another group will decry its total absence.

And lastly, WHEN will a detector manufacturer bring a product to market that provides a visual representation of the "sound pattern" produced by targets, so that if we do not hear it well, we can examine it with our eyes!

Wayne

Good post Wayne.

I hear Yanny. My wife hears Laurel. My son Yanny. My son then made me listen to another audio that has the pitch adjusted 30% higher or lower. At the adjusted higher pitch (or lower..can't remember), I heard Laurel. He still heard Yanny. Everyones hearing/perception of pitch, is different.

I have always valued detectors that I could mesh with on an audio level. Visual ID for me is down the list in terms of priority. Audio is at the top. No matter how a unit performs, if I can't mesh with the audio and how it 'speaks to me', then for me I will have a hard time using it. Maybe part of it is psychological as well...knowing I am not getting the optimal performance out of the unit for ME due to not liking the audio.

In addition, I always want to use a really good set of quality headphones....even if it's hot and sticky out (but I do realize that at this stage of the game, some of the wireless headphones have come a long way in terms of audio performance and do a heck of a job).

How the audio relates to my brain and ear when a target is iron or not, jagged, big or small, co-located targets close together, etc. is what I value most in a unit.

As clear as a bell I heard 'yanny' even after playing it over and over again. It so far from 'laurel' that it was impossible for me to believe that anyone could possibly hear 'laurel' when it was without a doubt 'yanny'. The next day I was sitting in the room across from the room where my TV is located and they played the sound bite again. I heard 'laurel' as clear as a bell! I raced across the hall and hit the playback button to hear it again. Damn, I then heard 'yanny'. Now that's weird.

tabman

I hear both if I concentrate hard like I'm in a hearing test sound booth. But for me, the dominant side is definitely Laurel. Hearing tests at work confirm I have a little above the norm hearing loss for someone my age...most of the upper frequencies are gone for me. Too many hours riding 4 wheelers, boats, lawn mowers, etc without hearing protection. I always wore protective muffs for shooting a firearm but never did for the loud machinery.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/2018 01:42PM by Daniel Tn.

Overlooked but essential to ones detecting abilities.....for instance not having the best hearing myself able to pick out audio variances missed by many...
Quite obvious when trying to explain audio variances with Tesoro units and gold rings...

I hear Yanny. When my wife speaks it only comes out as Laurel. Did she say something?

They said if you hear Laurel, you have gay tendencies. I didn't fall for the temptation, they probably switch it around.....kidding about the gay thing.lol

I hear both. If you focus on the first part you hear Laurel. If you focus on the last part of the word, you hear yanny. just depends where you focus. Some people can't understand british english as it seems they are talking too fast, but you need to listen and hear the first part pf a word as it is being said. Not after it was said.

you must be the ONE in every crowd <g>

Wayne

Laurel for me no matter the change in pitch. Had my ears tested a while back and found out that the old ear drums have lost a lot of flexibility. The graph showed a response that barely registered into the normal range.
Fortunately most detectors let me here the high tones around 700 Hz very well.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In a democracy, it is difficult to win fellow citizens over to your own side, or to build public support to remedy injustices that remain all too real when you fundamentally misunderstand how they see the world.

I hear Laurel. I've lost my high tone hearing and more. As Tom has seen. I like my headphones louder and if he uses them, they are to loud for him.

Rick

YANNY !

IMO this isn't a tone issue, it's a cognition issue. Your brain recognizing a pattern.

LOL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb7tIplr6SI

Beyonder-Pa Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> IMO this isn't a tone issue, it's a cognition issu
> e. Your brain recognizing a pattern.

Bey,
I don't think so. I've got very good observation/cognitive skills.
There's no way I can perceive anything other than Laurel.

I can focus on any part of the word, and the guy can adjust the bass anywhere he wants...
But I don't hear anything that even hints at Yanny...beginning or end...and I'm trying hard.

I think what's making this fun/interesting, is that folks that hear it a certain way can't get past the assumption that everyone hears things the same as they do.
And having working in the Hearing Healthcare industry at one point, I can assure you...that's not even close to true.

Along with sound, there's a supposition that we all see and perceive shades of color slightly differently from each other, as well.
To put it in engineering terms; our senses are not 'calibrated' to a common reference standard.

I think it's safe to say, we're all a little different...some of us are just more 'different' than others.

mike



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/21/2018 08:12PM by Mike in CO.

This reminds me of my cost accounting professor in college. He was from Venezuela, the first two weeks of class, his accent was so thick, I had no idea what he was teaching and thought this was going to be a serious problem. Something adjusted in my brain, the Monday of the third week, something clicked and thick accent and all, I was now able to listen to his lectures and understand him just as well as a native English speaker. Amazing how your brain can reprogram like that. I think this is more of what's happening here vs lack of hearing due to pitch/tone deafness blocks in your hearing.

I think this whole thing is a load of pure BuxxShxt!

The 1st day when ncwayne posted this = I went to youtube and listened to a good dozen different clips of this yanny vs laurel spoof/crap

I DISTINCTLY heard "yanny" over and over on each clip I listened to no matter how hard I tried to hear "laurel" and thought to myself = if anyone hears laurel then there's something wrong with them because it's as clear as day "yanny"

the next day I went back to youtube and looked for the same clips but couldn't find them and low and behold there was (and is) like a 1000+ new ones posted = so I figured what the heck - they all gotta be the same anyway. I clicked on one and instantly I heard "laurel"!?!? So I tried another and another and on and on for the past 3 days now and no matter which clip or who posted it or whatever = I hear laurel on every single one of them no matter how hard I try to hear "yanny". And again = it's so distinct that there's no mistaken it in any way/shape/form.

So my conclusion is = something's not on the up and up with this whole thing because you don't hear one thing one day LOUD AND CLEAR and then the next day & beyond hear the complete opposite. That's like hearing a Robin sing it's native tune one day and the next you wake up hearing Robbins singing the song of the Crow (night and day difference) = BS!!

If you really want a good scientific explanation by a Neuroscientist, take the 6 minutes and watch this (courtesy of Wired Magazine):
[www.youtube.com]

(He also explains how your can hear it one way/one day, and differently the next...or how you can hear it differently on different devices/headphones)

Mike in CO Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Beyonder-Pa Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > IMO this isn't a tone issue, it's a cognition is
> su
> > e. Your brain recognizing a pattern.
>
> Bey,
> I don't think so. I've got very good observation/c
> ognitive skills.
> There's no way I can perceive anything other than
> Laurel.
>
> I can focus on any part of the word, and the guy c
> an adjust the bass anywhere he wants...
> But I don't hear anything that even hints at Yanny
> ...beginning or end...and I'm trying hard.
>
> I think what's making this fun/interesting, is tha
> t folks that hear it a certain way can't get past
> the assumption that everyone hears things the same
> as they do.
> And having working in the Hearing Healthcare indus
> try at one point, I can assure you...that's not ev
> en close to true.
>
> Along with sound, there's a supposition that we al
> l see and perceive shades of color slightly differ
> ently from each other, as well.
> To put it in engineering terms; our senses are not
> 'calibrated' to a common reference standard.
>
> I think it's safe to say, we're all a little diffe
> rent...some of us are just more 'different' than o
> thers.
>
> mike

If you put the word in a sound editor, block out a few nanos of the front of the wave, you will hear yanny and visa versa

Beyonder-Pa Wrote:
> If you put the word in a sound editor, block out a
> few nanos of the front of the wave, you will hear
> yanny and visa versa

I'll try it and let you know here in a few minutes...

Update:
Nope. Didn't work.
Tried it in two different editors...nada.
No matter where I started it, it was the same "Laurel"

I think (based on watching the YT explanation link above) I may have simply lost a little too much of my high frequency response over the years.

EDIT:
Ha! Found a site that can let you hear both/either, by removing and emphasizing highs and low:
[www.nytimes.com]

Now I can finally hear Yanny. I can even fine tune it to hear both at the same time.
(Although the longer I listen to the Yanny, the more it sounds like Gammy.)

My day is complete...

mike



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2018 12:11AM by Mike in CO.

It's definitely in the frequency response, but if I get it balanced just right for my hearing, I can 'force' myself to hear alternating "Laurel", "Gammy".
It resembles an audio version of this famous optical illusion:
[www.123opticalillusions.com]
(back up about 15 feet and see Albert change into Monroe.)

As far as time-wasters go, that was fun...but it does emphasize how different everyone's hearing is.
And I think proves the point the OP was making.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2018 12:27AM by Mike in CO.