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I've just searched for "mains hum" on Wikipedia and not found it. Most people know what it sounds like but I wonder if someone could relate it in terms of noise colour(color) if possible? -- Douglas 21:14, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC)
I was coming from writing an article (on another Wiki) about amateur sensory deprivation, in which white noise, pink noise and mains hum play a part. This is the closest article my search for some information on just what mains hum is, led me to. I really don't care if it belongs elsewhere but I do feel it belongs somewhere - surely not it's own page and this page already has an 'unofficial' section to it. I'll leave it to those who know more about this stuff than I but please make sure it's somewhere for those who want to search for it in future - and I'd suggest at least a link from this page. -- Douglas 20:58, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC)
I Propose that this be moved to electric hum, which is more representative of a worldwide view. - SigmaEpsilon → Σ Ε 21:02, 22 October 2006 (UTC)
I noticed on the page that there was a strong NPOV bias against American 60hz power hum. The European file sounds slightly annoying but quiet and easily dismissed, whereas the American file is loud, obonoxious, and contains a lot of harmonics and distortion. Could this be some Wikipedian's plot against the United States' preferred power frequencies?
Alright, kidding aside, I am curious as to why the files sound so radically different. I would naively expect that the files would differ mostly in frequency, not in amplitude or harmonic power ratios... Is there something special about 60Hz or the American power system that promotes terrible sounding hum? If the American hum really is louder and more obnoxious, then perhaps these files are OK, however I can't help but feel like two very differing sampling methods were used in creating those files. That makes the comparison likely to cause others to (possibly) make bad inferences about the differing nature of electrical noises on different continents.
And yes, I'm aware that many places that use 50Hz are radically different (I'm sure Western Europe vs Africa is a nontrivial difference). Any answers folks? - JustinWick 17:21, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
The section on tone currently talks about 60 Hz and 50 Hz tones and the piano key frequencies around those. But since, as pointed out previously in the article, the hum is primarily the 2nd harmonic and not the fundamental is that particularly relevant? Should the bracketing notes quoted be "B♭2 (116.541) and B2 (123.471)" around 120 Hz and "G2 (97.9989) and G♯2 (103.826)" around 100 Hz? Waerloeg ( talk) 09:27, 11 February 2012 (UTC)
Ears detect pressure waves - sound - not electrical current. So the opening definition of mains hum as "an audible oscillation of alternating current" is completely wrong. Try listening to a mains wire.
This article is rated Start-class on Wikipedia's
content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
I've just searched for "mains hum" on Wikipedia and not found it. Most people know what it sounds like but I wonder if someone could relate it in terms of noise colour(color) if possible? -- Douglas 21:14, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC)
I was coming from writing an article (on another Wiki) about amateur sensory deprivation, in which white noise, pink noise and mains hum play a part. This is the closest article my search for some information on just what mains hum is, led me to. I really don't care if it belongs elsewhere but I do feel it belongs somewhere - surely not it's own page and this page already has an 'unofficial' section to it. I'll leave it to those who know more about this stuff than I but please make sure it's somewhere for those who want to search for it in future - and I'd suggest at least a link from this page. -- Douglas 20:58, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC)
I Propose that this be moved to electric hum, which is more representative of a worldwide view. - SigmaEpsilon → Σ Ε 21:02, 22 October 2006 (UTC)
I noticed on the page that there was a strong NPOV bias against American 60hz power hum. The European file sounds slightly annoying but quiet and easily dismissed, whereas the American file is loud, obonoxious, and contains a lot of harmonics and distortion. Could this be some Wikipedian's plot against the United States' preferred power frequencies?
Alright, kidding aside, I am curious as to why the files sound so radically different. I would naively expect that the files would differ mostly in frequency, not in amplitude or harmonic power ratios... Is there something special about 60Hz or the American power system that promotes terrible sounding hum? If the American hum really is louder and more obnoxious, then perhaps these files are OK, however I can't help but feel like two very differing sampling methods were used in creating those files. That makes the comparison likely to cause others to (possibly) make bad inferences about the differing nature of electrical noises on different continents.
And yes, I'm aware that many places that use 50Hz are radically different (I'm sure Western Europe vs Africa is a nontrivial difference). Any answers folks? - JustinWick 17:21, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
The section on tone currently talks about 60 Hz and 50 Hz tones and the piano key frequencies around those. But since, as pointed out previously in the article, the hum is primarily the 2nd harmonic and not the fundamental is that particularly relevant? Should the bracketing notes quoted be "B♭2 (116.541) and B2 (123.471)" around 120 Hz and "G2 (97.9989) and G♯2 (103.826)" around 100 Hz? Waerloeg ( talk) 09:27, 11 February 2012 (UTC)
Ears detect pressure waves - sound - not electrical current. So the opening definition of mains hum as "an audible oscillation of alternating current" is completely wrong. Try listening to a mains wire.