(It was originally posted on Instagram, then Reddit, then Twitter, which, as (opens in a new tab) Wired (opens in a new tab) pointed out (opens in a new tab), could all compress files differently.) Perhaps your unshakable Yanny devotion is due to your headphones, or your speakers, or your environment, or the particular mix of the clip you have plucked off the internet. Perhaps you knew about the Yanny/Laurel divide before listening, and your brain thought it "should," as Golub explained, hear Yanny. But what if you can still only hear Yanny despite knowing the clip is actually Laurel?Īgain, a number of things could be going on here. (The University of Minnesota's Ben Munson made the same point (opens in a new tab) in an in-depth post on Wednesday.)įor example, if you're listening on "stellar headphones versus crappy ones," you might be able to perceive higher frequencies with more ease, Levi said.Īnother potential influence is background noise - in the sound mix or around you IRL - which Levi explained can "mask obscure lower versus higher frequencies." Susannah Levi, an associate professor of communicative sciences and disorders at New York University, said in an email that in addition to hearing ability, how you listen to the clip affects how you perceive it. However, your Y/L alliance could also involve a number of other factors. So if you're Team Laurel, Golub explained, it could be that you've lost some of your ability to hear high frequencies. Yes, it's true that our ability to hear high frequencies diminishes as we age, particularly if we've sustained any hearing damage along the way. As (opens in a new tab) Popular Science (opens in a new tab) pointed out (opens in a new tab), it's kind of like when you focus on the person talking to you at a noisy party, then switch focus to eavesdrop on the person behind you.īut what if you can't toggle between the two? What if you are squarely Team L or Team Y, no matter how many times you listen? Is there something wrong with your ears?
Some people, especially when they know they can potentially hear two different words, are able to mentally toggle between the two words. "Some people, because of past experiences - an ex named Laurel? - may simply be more likely to hear one versus the other," he explained. hears what it wants to and what it thinks it should hear," Justin Golub, an assistant professor of otology, neurotology, and skull base surgery at Columbia University Medical Center, said via email. If you're interested in hearing Yanny, it's more likely your brain can pull it off under the right circumstances (sound mixing, speakers, headphones, et cetera). If you're interested in hearing Laurel, your brain is more likely to pay attention to those sounds. People have varying sensitivities to different frequencies, so your brain may interpret noises differently than others.Īnother factor is personal expectation. It's also important to remember that no two people hear the same things when listening to any given piece of audio. When the volume is turned back up, or if the audio is played on speakers with a higher bass response (opens in a new tab), they'll probably hear Laurel. The sounds that compose the tinny "Yanny" sound are of a higher frequency than those that compose "Laurel." That's why when some people turn the volume down - thus ridding the clip of much of its bass - they'll hear Yanny. Whether you hear Yanny or Laurel is in part due to the volume at which you perceive certain frequencies (opens in a new tab). And if you're still just hearing Yanny? That's (probably) totally fine too. According to the Redditor who started this whole mess (opens in a new tab), the viral audio was recorded from the entry for the word "laurel," meaning that those Team Laurel stalwarts are technically correct.īut that doesn't mean it's not an ambiguous recording. To be clear, we pretty much know what's going on with the clip now, including its benign origins.
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