Riddle Me This Batman; Low Frequency Hum: SOLVED

[Ron3rd]

...in the sticks and bricks that is.

In one of our rear bedrooms, if you stand in a certain spot, there is a low frequency hum that can be heard. Drives the wife crazy. Not loud, but a soft hum. Sounds like some sort of electrical hum and I can't tell where it's coming from. In that part of the house, there is nothing in the attic and nothing unusual in the walls.

To see if it was something hidden and electrical, I turned off the power to the house. The hum is still there. What say you Batman?

[MrWizard]

i did not hear anything
but i know about my hearing

[Ski_Pro_3]

I couldn't hear it from that link. My wife however, down stairs in the kitchen fixing dinner hollered at me what the hell is that!! Ha!

[pnichols]

Ron3rd wrote:
Problem is solved; the hum came back this morning right at 9:00 am. By chance, the wife walked into a far area of the back yard and heard the hum. It was coming near a block wall on the rear of the property. I looked over the block wall and discovered the source. It was from a neighbor's pool pump. Not the neighbor's pool directly behind us; his pump was off. It was the neighbor NEXT DOOR TO HIM, and not directly behind us! Same sounds, same frequency.

Thanks for all the suggestions from those who offered help.

Yup ... that's California for ya! Not all places in the world need pool pumps turned on in the winter! (Mine's on as I write this ... but no hum from it at least per my current ears' frequency response.) 😉

[MEXICOWANDERER]

My hearing sensitivity

What's that noise?

Behind the rear fence

[Ron3rd]

Problem is solved; the hum came back this morning right at 9:00 am. By chance, the wife walked into a far area of the back yard and heard the hum. It was coming near a block wall on the rear of the property. I looked over the block wall and discovered the source. It was from a neighbor's pool pump. Not the neighbor's pool directly behind us; his pump was off. It was the neighbor NEXT DOOR TO HIM, and not directly behind us! Same sounds, same frequency.

Thanks for all the suggestions from those who offered help.

[wa8yxm]

wnjj wrote:

Just play this sound and see if it's about the same frequency:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_Sf7rSOU78

Just for fun I tried that link... 60 HZ is below the low frequency cutoff on my audio amp. NO SOUND. just a couple clicks.

Oh well.. (HP Chromebook) I know what it sounds like and have other devices that can do it.

[3_tons]

Sorry, not to steal this thread but was unable to get past the dreaded verification robot - after numerous failed attempts, I posted over here:

https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/29802963/gotomsg/29802963/p/1.cfm#29802963

[T18skyguy]

old guy wrote:
many years ago I heard of people with certain types of fillings in their teeth would have radio stations and music in their heads. Not sure if that is the same with you or not. And when I was in the Navy my ship had a fathomator and I was the only one who could hear it ping and answer no less. one night out of a deep sleep the ping increased, don't know if a sub or a whale went under the ship. sorry but at least I knew what caused the noise in my head.

That happens to be true. It happened to a number of people the most famous was Lucille Ball. Lucy was hearing people talking Japanese through one of her fillings on her teeth. That led to the authorities busting an underground Japanese spy station broadcasting in Hollywood.This was during WW2 of course.

[old_guy]

many years ago I heard of people with certain types of fillings in their teeth would have radio stations and music in their heads. Not sure if that is the same with you or not. And when I was in the Navy my ship had a fathomator and I was the only one who could hear it ping and answer no less. one night out of a deep sleep the ping increased, don't know if a sub or a whale went under the ship. sorry but at least I knew what caused the noise in my head.

[LittleBill]

pull the meter actually out of the socket and see if its there.

[T18skyguy]

There are hand held spectrum unit you can buy to isolate the frequency. Press your hand in the middle of each pane of glass, both inside and outside, and see if it affects it. Glass can resonate at times.

[wnjj]

Ron3rd wrote:

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:

Ron3rd wrote:

PaulJ2 wrote:
To track this down, the very first requirment is to verify the frequency of the sound. Is it 60 hertz, 30 hertz, 10 hertz, etc. Then you will have a chance to start looking for a source.

Makes sense. How would I do that?

Since no one followed up on an early in this thread suggestion with link for a downloadable audio frequency analyzer I suppose that vital assistance was rejected.

Hey Mex, sorry I missed that. I downloaded the program and will try to figure out how to use it.

Just play this sound and see if it's about the same frequency:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_Sf7rSOU78

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Tectonic Q-Waves. Preceding a New Madrid Mo megaquake (The worst in 48 state history). The last quake has the Mississippi running backwards for over a day.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Gnus Article Today

CHICAGO (CBS)—It sounds like an alarm clock that doesn’t stop.

That’s how people living and working in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood describe a mysterious hum in the air.

They’re asking, “What is it? And why can’t everyone hear it?”

Even though the noise is subtle, it’s been driving some people between Clark and Halsted streets crazy. They hear it in the morning, noon, and night, and they’ve been looking for an explanation.

The sounds of city life echo through Lakeview, but lately something sounds strange.

Lakeview resident Lindsey Hoffman couldn’t ignore the noise as she walked down a usually-quiet street with her son Joey on Thursday.

“I hear it right now,” she said.

Another Lakeview resident, Stephanie Boroski, described the noise as high-pitched.

“Like an alarm sound, like a pulse but not really,” Boroski said.

The sound can feel “maddening,” Boroski said.

The mysterious noise has been reverberating through Facebook message boards too.

But somehow not everyone can hear it. Five-year-old Joey Hoffman said he heard nothing unusual.

Andersonville resident Kate Korte said she couldn’t hear the strange sound. Korte, who works in Lakeview, speculated that the sound probably blends in with the usual city noise.

“Maybe I am just muted because I live in the area and hear sirens,” Korte said.

Audiologist Dr. Akbar Razvi said some people hear sounds that others can’t because everyone’s hearing sensitivity is different.

“People can have hearing loss at different frequencies and some people can of course have normal hearing sensitivity,” he said.

Dr. Razvi said learning what the sound really is requires detective work.

Boroski said she walked around a Lakeview parking lot to try to determine where the noise was coming from, but she couldn’t figure it out.

A man who lives in a high rise on the 800 block of Grace thinks he has the answer: a massive air circulation unit on the building’s third-floor garage.

Residents nearby say they’re convinced it’s to blame.

“The noise is definitely that machine–that’s the noise we have been hearing,” Stephanie Wide said.

Building management informed residents that they have scheduled a servicing for the fan that circulates air on all floors of the high rise.