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50Hz Electric Noise
Mains Hum Noise Generator (EU Version)

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StaticBroken AmpGround LoopTransformerStreet Light 1Street Light 2Street Light 3Street Light 4 Surprise!

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The electric buzz, without the shock

Mains' hum or electric hum is a sound associated with alternating current at the frequency of the mains' electricity. Electric hum has 60 Hz fundamental frequency in the US or 50 Hz in the EU, and a lot of harmonic content above. The fundamental frequency creates the hum (the brown slider), and harmonics create the buzz (the other sliders, the blue and purple in particular).

This noise came from a user's request, associated with a particular experience. Jenny writes:

"You are sitting at school and while the teacher blabs away about stuff you don't really care about, you stare up at the ceiling and get lost in the sound of the light. It buzzes in a medium monotone and it almost sounds like a fly or bee buzzing around. But it's a light and it makes you feel more comfortable than a bug. You know that some street lights do this as well, in different tones with each one. This is why you sometimes spend the day at a friend's, and walk home at night. You love this sound so much and sometimes you wish you could hear it all the time."

Don't forget to turn off the lights when leaving the room, Jenny.

Published by Stéphane on February 8th, 2014

User Stories

Write your own here. Click the blue bulletsto load associated settings.

  An eerie sound in the right context..

  The very first time I accessed this site, I was wearing my headphones attached to the computer and immediately I thought my next door neighbor had switched on his air compressor outside. I went on reading the main page and comments, etc., but the neighbor's air compressor never turned off. Then I finally realized that the humming noise was coming from the 50Hz Electric Noise site, duh, lol! Cool.

  My cat fell asleep listening to this! My back massager makes the exact same noise. It actually vibrates, not massages. Very interesting. Listening to both at the same time. Fractured spine and osteopenia, hope it helps.

  I feels like to stand near a transformer.

  Sounds like a transformer in the back room of a commercial building.

  Its like a massage for my brain. It feels as though my brain instantly relaxes. Its rather soothing. I used to use earphones but I have found the over the ear headphones produce a better bass sound and use these now. Anyway thank you for this invaluable resource. I describe it to all that will listen as "the best website on the internet" !

  Next to my former school was a 110 kV transmission tower that used to make this noise in foggy weather.

  I know it's the EU version, but the Street Light 1 preset makes me feel like I'm walking the streets I used to live on in Korea at night during the humid summers. And it's so relaxing...

  If this is really 50Hz, this could be used for therapeutic purposes. I think the reason people like this noise is partly because its frequency is known to lower blood pressure, which is nice.

  I prefer this frequency than the one we have here. What we have is 60hz. This makes me miss my freezer and air conditioner in Singapore that makes this kind of noise.

  Wow. I was curius so put all the sliders to the maximum. It feels like there's electric flowing through my brain. Sounds so strange, I like it though, not sure why.

  Sounds like a great big substation with the big transformers, and the insulators buzzing, 380KV maybe? Anyway it helps me sleep in transformer mode.

  I like this, though I'm unsure why :o It's quite peculiar too, there's a transformer at my university which has this perfect hum along tone, but neither the US, nor the EU version seem to be as easy to hum along with :o They still sound very lovely though!

  Helps me focus a lot, thank you!

  It helps me when I'm stressed out or not being able to think straight.

  Absolutely marvelous sound... some may find it annoying but it calms me down tremendously.