Intentional | Audio Identity Blog

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The worst sound in the world?

January 24th, 2007 | Category: Sound

They asked. And the world answered.

1. Vomiting
2. Microphone feedback
3. Wailing babies
4. Train scraping on tracks
5. Squeaky seesaw
6. Poorly played violin
7. Whoopee cushion
8. Argument in a soap opera
9. Powerlines humming
10. Tasmanian devil

Entirely subjective, but still good for a chuckle. I’d be curious about an objective study that investigated involuntary stress-level responses to particular sounds…I have a feeling wailing babies and honking car horns might move a tad higher up the list. But that’s just my (entirely subjective) opinion. (Thanks Stephen.)

3 Comments so far

  1. Intentional | Audio Identity Blog » MetaFilter and Tom Robbins: Bring On the Noise! October 25th, 2007 3:39 pm

    [...] remedies for shutting up the neighbors. (Hint: plug your nose!) – Noel Franus Related: The Worst Sound in The World. Survey says… Related: No Two Spaces Sound Alike. The unexpected consequence of a jam-packed [...]

  2. Mike Sirkin February 4th, 2008 8:07 pm

    I think there was a study showing fingernails across a blackboard to be the most objectionable sound. This comes from “The Tuning of the World”. I can’t remember the author’s name.

  3. Mike Sirkin February 4th, 2008 8:09 pm

    This was before car alarms got popular.

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