Yanny or Laurel?

[Hoonigan]

So, there's a bit of a debate on the internet at the moment, and it's no secret as to why it happens, but it's still interesting how the same sound can be heard in two completely different ways.

So, what do you hear in the following clip? Yanny or Laurel?

Some people claim to be able to hear both, some neither.

[Phage]

heary...possibly yeary

[Hoonigan]

I'm firmly in the Yanny camp, I can't hear anything other than that.

[stevie lee]

yarrie or yowwie

[g8ina]

Purple, No ! Silver, or is it gold ?

[Ttaskmaster]

It's just an age-related thing based on sound frequencies. Same as that app that plays a hideous piercing high-pitched sound only young people can hear (and become annoyed by).

This is basically a poll asking who is old and/or has hearing damage from playing music too loud.
I'd hoped HEXUS had avoided this latest meme-fodder episode.....


However:

[Pob255]

Alais says that for him, and presumably many others, it’s “100% Yanny” without any ambiguity.

That lack of ambiguity he says is probably down to two reasons: firstly his age. At 52 his ears lack high frequency sensitivity, a natural result of ageing; and secondly, a difference in pronunciation between the North American accented computer-generated “Yanny” and “Laurel” and how the words would naturally be spoken in Australian or British English.

https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...ting-arguments
It's an interesting thing, shame people are trying to meme-a-fy it

“If you heard a conversation happening around you regarding ‘Laurel’ you wouldn’t have heard ‘Yanny’.

“Personal history can also give an unconscious preference for one or another. You could know many people named ‘Laurel’ and none called ‘Yanny’.”

I don't know many people called Laurel, But I've never heard of Yanny before today.

[g8ina]

OK, I *finally* had to listen to see what all the damn fuss is about.

Laurel, not even a hint of Yanny. Im 63 (next week ! eeek), I know my top end is shot.

[DanceswithUnix]

It's just an age-related thing based on sound frequencies. Same as that app that plays a hideous piercing high-pitched sound only young people can hear (and become annoyed by).

This is basically a poll asking who is old and/or has hearing damage from playing music too loud.

Nope, my son can hear high pitched whine noises that no-one else in the house can hear, like I used to be able to do when I was his age. All of us in the house hear "Yanny", including both kids.

If I try I can pick out what sounds like a noisy "laurel", but I have to work for it and I still think it says Yanny (and had already voted).

[Kumagoro]

The difference could be explained by the quality of speakers perhaps.

Listening on some mobile phone speaker Vs desktop ones could well play a difference.

[peterb]

I'm a contractor - I'll hear whatever pays best.

[kopite]

I've heard both now

When played through my phone speakers it was laurel but using headphones I got yanny..

[Saracen]

It's just an age-related thing based on sound frequencies. Same as that app that plays a hideous piercing high-pitched sound only young people can hear (and become annoyed by).

This is basically a poll asking who is old and/or has hearing damage from playing music too loud.
I'd hoped HEXUS had avoided this latest meme-fodder episode.....


However:

No, it isn't.

That might be a factor in explaining statistics of who reports hearing what, but I can hear both, though not at the same time. It's an either/or thing.

First listen, I got Yanny, though distorted. Second listen, the same. Then I tried it with my eyes shut and got Laurel, and pretty clearly.

Now, I can hear either, drpending on what I concentrate on, with my eyes shut to avoid visual input.

In no small part, this is one of a range of both visual and auditory devices that demonstrate, utterly convincingly, that both our ears and eyes are sensors but we hear and see with our brains. In other words, that raw data is processed, in very near real-time, and that same brain applies a host of contextual filters and processing which, once combined, serve to present us with 'sight' and 'hearing' that make sense to us. It seeks to present us with a 'result' that makes sense.

Trouble is, given ambiguous, unclear or poor quality data, the processed results aren't always "correct".

Ever tried one of those optical illusions that, if you stare at it or squint, you do a sorta refocus and see something completely different? That's the brain reprocessing the context, andcduddenly you see, or hear, something you didn't before.

Scientists believe it comes down to an ancient 'lizard-brain' reflex and is basically a strong if somewhat vestigial survival trait. Our brains, and most animals to some extent, have to process incomplete data and make decisions, especially whether to activate the flight reflex. We pick up signals, a rustling in the trees, a teig snapping, a particular scent and our reflex says ....

RUN.

If you fail to heed that and wait until you can clearly see the threat, well, the sabre-toothed tiger has his lunch.

It's that self-same processing, integrating and contextualisng of incomplete and/or unclear data that's going on.


Oh, and I can hear either depending on what I concentrate on, on the same device, using the same rather poor tablet speakers. With a clearer recording, and better audio reproduction, the effect ought to ge less, because the raw data is less unclear, less incomplete, so needd less contextualising

[Bagnaj97]

With my earphones at work I can hear both, but Yanny (actually more like Yammy) is dominant. With my headset at home I can only hear Laurel.

[Scryder]

I'm a contractor - I'll hear whatever pays best.

LOL, that made me laugh!

I heard Laurel. I was trying to hear Yanny, but couldn't.

[Unique]

i hear laurel clearly. i'm old enough to be a grandad and played music way too many times, went to a lot of gigs and and i'm a dj, and i can still hear high pitched sounds others can't hear, such as those bug deterrent things, so the years of playing loud music through inner ear monitors haven't caused any damage fortunately

the downside to good hearing is things like hissing and pops and clicks and rumble and wow and flutter and speed/pitch variations are perhaps more noticeable and therefore more annoying. tape hiss used to drive me nuts, so cd was a godsend. it also means i spent a fortune on improving hifi gear over the years