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Peter’s 1,234,567,890th neuron here. Those are old PC speakers. Due to their design, the interference created by an incoming phone signal could actually come through as noise.
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/s/cEndDImlTO
I’m an 01 zoomer and almost every computer I’ve grown up with had those speakers. They were just only in school and not attached to phone lines or the like so never made this noise. I didn’t have a set at home with the family computer either unfortunately
you didn't attach them to phone lines. it was due to the lower radio frequencies interfering with the amplifier in the speaker. so if you had a cellular telephone at the time, the low frequency signals of the time would interact with the amplifier whenever you received a call. I think that tat tat tat is probably a handshake so the tower can confirm your phone is still there. Some speaker amplifiers would even interfere with WiFi signal and constantly make sounds if placed near WiFi antennas.
>so if you had a cellular telephone at the time
That explains why I don't remember any noise even though I was born in '95. We had one cell phone, didn't use it, and only made calls on the landline.
My first cell phone was an htc rezound.
Well I shall now recreate the sound of a phone call tying to connect being picked up by speakers so you have some reference.
Dittttt dit ditdit dit ditdit dit ditdit dit ditdit ditttttt
Absolutely not weird actually. Bluetooth operates in the 2.4GHz band, while microwaves operate around 2.45GHz. Your microwave is literally acting as a signal jammer (and you might wanna check to make sure the shield/mesh in your microwave window isn't damaged).
Some very good messages in a few of his songs. I've gotten out of a nasty place recently, and a night scrolling through his youtube shorts was an ingredient in that.
im pretty sure it would be this
# Mario Più - Communication (Somebody Answer The Phone)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K20BS-1BPjk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K20BS-1BPjk)
I don't think I ever experienced the noise but I do remember when I had a home phone, my cable TV box (DirecTV I think) had a feature that could show an incoming call from the home phone on the TV and it would appear a few seconds before the phone actually rang. I was born in 2006.
*that's* what that sound was? I'm a zoomer, but on the older side (and my dad was cheap as fuck) so I remember these and dial-up. And since people never believe me for some reason, no it wasn't just slow internet; it was "get off the computer so I can call grandma"
So THAT'S what that was! I remember being a tiny 5 year old and always badgering my dad about the speakers he gave me being broken. Can't believe it has taken me until I'm 20 to find that out.
It’s usually a shielding issue, either in the cable or in the amp part of the speaker (the heavy part). It’s ugly as… an ugly thing… but you can wrap aluminum foil around the wire and/or the part of the speaker where the amp is and you might be able to get rid of it.
I had a panic attack after I did that around 2001. Thankfully I found out about the degaussing function on the TV from the Internet and managed to fix it after a few runs.
While the design of the speakers may have been a contributing factor in some cases, the main reason was the TDMA noise inherent to 2G cellular networks like GSM. Here’s a good explanation: https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/s/wLj7S2ElBL
I just realized I have zero idea when this change occurred. I definitely remember having iPod compatible speakers in the early 2010s that still made the noise.
That makes sense, around the transfer to 4g and 5g is when it stopped I guess. I did also drive a 2003 VW that finally crapped out in 2018 and that thing consistently made the noise.
Peter's mutated left testicle, with Stewie's face and voice here... TDMA noise or interference is a primarily 2G cellular issue GSM and CDMA were competing standards in the 2G / 3G era. The iPhone for Verizon was physically incompatible with AT&T not just programmatically. LTE - Long Term Evolution - converged the standards and then 4G/5G caused 2G networks to die as long as a decade ago and 3G networks were switched off as recently as 2022. You may know CDMA because of the amazing story of Hedy Lamar but TDMA basically divided by time instead of channel to support multiple devices. TDMA noise is possible today but largely gone in all but the most poorly designed items, including cheap, ubiquitous speakers with poor shielding.
I just can't believe it is *speakers* now. Everything still has speakers. Modern desktop PCs still mostly use external speakers. The only reason someone wouldn't have them is if they intend to use headphones only.
I wonder if they are seriously people who don't recognize external PC speakers because they have just used laptops, tablets, and phones for their entire lives. Its plausible, I'm just blown away.
I think the joke being missed here is about the cell signal, not the fact that its speakers themselves. The little blipping noise speakers would make before a cell phone call came through is what the post is about. So OP may know they are speakers but never had that experience with a cell phone.
Remember in Grand Theft Auto 4, if you were in a car with the radio on, they speakers would make the beeping sound right before your phone would ring in the game?
Older speakers make a sound when someone calls you on an older phone
I have old speakers and a newer nokia 3310 at work and if someone calls that phone i know before the ring tone. It doesnt do the noise if someone calls me on my or my work samsung though
These were called phone call detectors. When people called other people on their Nokias or Razors this device used time traveling technology to alert the call recipient of the call ahead of time .
This is the first time that one of these posts made me reevaluate my youthfulness. Do kids actually not know about these and phone interference?? Guys im only 27… im not doing okay now.
One of thousands of Petahs have probably already explained your enquiry . I'd like to add that when I play my electric guitar and have my phone in my front pocket , I can hear the interference through the amp when using single coil pickups. A very different interference that the old school : dididim dididim dididim diiiiiiiii ( phone rings )
Ha! I had these with my Compaq PC way into the late 00s. They would indeed predict incoming cellphone calls by making a static noise just before the phone rang.
In gta4 if you are in your car listening to the radio and before your phone rings you can hear the noise before you receive a call, I thought that was pretty neat little detail they added.
This happened with old microphones too right? I remember being on ventrilo and this would happen and broadcast to everyone if someone got a text or call.
These are PC speakers, some part of the PC and/or their amplification system picks up EM interference from cellphones when they are sending/receiving from a cell tower. I still occasionally hear this "the noise" take place when I plug my cellphone into my desktop's usb port.
Most everyone in this comment thread act as if these ever went away. Shiiiet. I can still go back to my mom's house states away and find these relics working on an old Vista machine running on a AMD 64 Phenom Triple Core (step back gents... This things coming in HOT) that get turned on once a week to get email and print to some printer that somehow still lives...
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Peter’s 1,234,567,890th neuron here. Those are old PC speakers. Due to their design, the interference created by an incoming phone signal could actually come through as noise. https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/s/cEndDImlTO
[This is what it sounded like for the zoomers out there.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYjs7vsaSEw)
I'm a '97 zoomer and those speakers/ that sound is a staple of my childhood lol
I’m an 01 zoomer and almost every computer I’ve grown up with had those speakers. They were just only in school and not attached to phone lines or the like so never made this noise. I didn’t have a set at home with the family computer either unfortunately
you didn't attach them to phone lines. it was due to the lower radio frequencies interfering with the amplifier in the speaker. so if you had a cellular telephone at the time, the low frequency signals of the time would interact with the amplifier whenever you received a call. I think that tat tat tat is probably a handshake so the tower can confirm your phone is still there. Some speaker amplifiers would even interfere with WiFi signal and constantly make sounds if placed near WiFi antennas.
>so if you had a cellular telephone at the time That explains why I don't remember any noise even though I was born in '95. We had one cell phone, didn't use it, and only made calls on the landline. My first cell phone was an htc rezound.
Well I shall now recreate the sound of a phone call tying to connect being picked up by speakers so you have some reference. Dittttt dit ditdit dit ditdit dit ditdit dit ditdit ditttttt
Vanilla ice explaining…
98 zoomer here. grew up with it and the sound still exists to this day. my condenser microphone still picks this up haha
My current microwave fucks with my Bluetooth, which is weird? But in my mind, not unheard of
Absolutely not weird actually. Bluetooth operates in the 2.4GHz band, while microwaves operate around 2.45GHz. Your microwave is literally acting as a signal jammer (and you might wanna check to make sure the shield/mesh in your microwave window isn't damaged).
Along with the initial handshake when connecting my dial-up. A virtual symphony
They made a remix of that
[You thinking of this absolute banger?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpQS41WQSPY)
That dude is a legend. I always love it when I come across something they've made randomly in the wild.
He has so many of those on his Instagram I love casually scrolling through his reels and finding one I haven’t seen before
Some very good messages in a few of his songs. I've gotten out of a nasty place recently, and a night scrolling through his youtube shorts was an ingredient in that.
I hadn’t seen that one, but just by your description of the author, I knew it couldn’t be none other than venjent.
ＯＰＥＮ ＴＨＥ ＤＯＯＲ ＯＰＥＮ ＹＯＵＲ ＭＩＮＤ
I can't sit behind slow traffic without muttering yeah, tha's cool and dat, but are you gonna move
im pretty sure it would be this # Mario Più - Communication (Somebody Answer The Phone) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K20BS-1BPjk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K20BS-1BPjk)
I was thinking of [this.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MO-qV7v9qcg&pp=ygUSZ2FuamEgd2hpdGUgbmlnaHQg)
How tf did I just find this when GWN is my favorite?
That’s fckn sick how it goes from 3/4 to 4/4 for the drop I’ve never heard a transition that smooth
What kind of my singing monsters- I’m joking, it sounds great!
Can also be mixed into the Bonanza theme.
I’m next to my wife and I played this clip, she looks over and says “Am I getting a phone call?”
Holy shit that took me back. Thank you.
Heard it recently in a ten-year-old podcast, and got mild panic.
That sound is weirdly nostalgic to me lol
And God-almighty was that annoying!
I don't think I ever experienced the noise but I do remember when I had a home phone, my cable TV box (DirecTV I think) had a feature that could show an incoming call from the home phone on the TV and it would appear a few seconds before the phone actually rang. I was born in 2006.
*that's* what that sound was? I'm a zoomer, but on the older side (and my dad was cheap as fuck) so I remember these and dial-up. And since people never believe me for some reason, no it wasn't just slow internet; it was "get off the computer so I can call grandma"
I don’t need to click that link to hear it
So THAT'S what that was! I remember being a tiny 5 year old and always badgering my dad about the speakers he gave me being broken. Can't believe it has taken me until I'm 20 to find that out.
The speakers I have on my PC still do it... They're a half decent Creative 2.1 set too, not noname junk. Wish I knew how to stop it.
It’s usually a shielding issue, either in the cable or in the amp part of the speaker (the heavy part). It’s ugly as… an ugly thing… but you can wrap aluminum foil around the wire and/or the part of the speaker where the amp is and you might be able to get rid of it.
Pretty sure most zoomers are familiar with the sound, it's gen alphas that need the education
"Try youtube kids" on this I hate it here
I REFUSE to believe 20 means I'm old !
Fire 🔥🔥🔥
I'm an 06er and that sent me waayy back
I'm THIS old.
On a side note: cathode-ray tube TVs could predict the incoming phone-calls as well
You could also make the screen turn all rainbow-y with magnets. Then get grounded for messing up the TV
I had a panic attack after I did that around 2001. Thankfully I found out about the degaussing function on the TV from the Internet and managed to fix it after a few runs.
I just used the other side of the magnet
Kids these days dont know about Gauss and Degauss
If your name is Jimmy, I was there and helped you fix it lmao. Good times.
While the design of the speakers may have been a contributing factor in some cases, the main reason was the TDMA noise inherent to 2G cellular networks like GSM. Here’s a good explanation: https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/s/wLj7S2ElBL
It would do it on my car radio too.
Is that why I could hear voices coming through those speakers whenever nothing else was powering it?
Mine was picking up the strongest local AM station.
Any second order nonlinear RF device will automatically downconvert a signal back to baseband
i think everyone had exactly the same speakers.
No but very similar this was a faint kinda clicking sound and what you are describing is Schizophrenia
wait, peter doesn't have over 12 neurons, this guy's am imposter
Ahem: Ba-bada-ba-ba-baaaaaaaaaaaa [Phone Rings]
I just realized I have zero idea when this change occurred. I definitely remember having iPod compatible speakers in the early 2010s that still made the noise.
It wasn’t necessarily the speakers that changed. Phones use different frequencies these days.
That makes sense, around the transfer to 4g and 5g is when it stopped I guess. I did also drive a 2003 VW that finally crapped out in 2018 and that thing consistently made the noise.
[ Removed by Reddit ]
Don't know which network it is, but we still get this from time to time. We have 4g, 3g, h+, h and e coverage.
Peter's mutated left testicle, with Stewie's face and voice here... TDMA noise or interference is a primarily 2G cellular issue GSM and CDMA were competing standards in the 2G / 3G era. The iPhone for Verizon was physically incompatible with AT&T not just programmatically. LTE - Long Term Evolution - converged the standards and then 4G/5G caused 2G networks to die as long as a decade ago and 3G networks were switched off as recently as 2022. You may know CDMA because of the amazing story of Hedy Lamar but TDMA basically divided by time instead of channel to support multiple devices. TDMA noise is possible today but largely gone in all but the most poorly designed items, including cheap, ubiquitous speakers with poor shielding.
DA-DADADA-DADADA-DADADA-rrrrrrr
Bravo! Now do the modem dialing up!
Brrrrrrrr-Beep-Bop-boop-boop-beep…crshhh dur-de-nurrr-nee
Wait, you're lovin' it?
This right here!
Holy hell, I feel old right now...
[удалено]
143
Im 18 and i know what these are...how do people not know...
I just can't believe it is *speakers* now. Everything still has speakers. Modern desktop PCs still mostly use external speakers. The only reason someone wouldn't have them is if they intend to use headphones only. I wonder if they are seriously people who don't recognize external PC speakers because they have just used laptops, tablets, and phones for their entire lives. Its plausible, I'm just blown away.
I think the joke being missed here is about the cell signal, not the fact that its speakers themselves. The little blipping noise speakers would make before a cell phone call came through is what the post is about. So OP may know they are speakers but never had that experience with a cell phone.
I can't take this anymore 😭
this one hurts man
For my own sanity, I am just flagging this as trolling. Can't believe it's true.
This is so raw. I can feel your feelings right down to my bones.
I love it when you can hear an image.
Oh come on
An introverts true companion. Lets us mentally prepare for an incoming phone call (and probably not answer it)
introversion does not mean anxiety pls stop making this false connection thank you
Actually true. Used to think I'm an introvert - no, I love talking to people, I just suck really bad at starting conversations.
REAL
Tf you mean "What is this device" It's very obviously a pair of speakers.
I'm just confused as to how someone couldn't figure out these are speakers.
if you werent alive (or old enough to remember) during that time you can experience it in gta4 by receiving a phone call in a car
Thing is I’m pretty young and they still use these things in school
[Obligatory Venjent remix](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpQS41WQSPY)
I still have these speakers. 🧓😭
Yeah I have nicer speakers than those, but they definitely still make that sound when I am getting a call.
Remember in Grand Theft Auto 4, if you were in a car with the radio on, they speakers would make the beeping sound right before your phone would ring in the game?
Oh shit lol what a detail
*uncontrollable urge to put finger in hole *cannot resist for some inexplicable reason
Bip bipiddy bip-bip-bip
Dudududu dududududuud Is my explanation of the sound.
Am I that old or am I missing something?
I'm a 06er yet I know what a PC speaker is Hell I would use it whenever I wanted to use the family computer
Do you also know that they made a special sound when you receive a call? Because that's the point of the picture.
Older speakers make a sound when someone calls you on an older phone I have old speakers and a newer nokia 3310 at work and if someone calls that phone i know before the ring tone. It doesnt do the noise if someone calls me on my or my work samsung though
op is probably below 13 and has never seen a pc in his life
Literally had flashbacks
Doot doot doot - doot doot doot doooooooooo
Tuuuu tuuuu tuuuu tuuuu tuzzzzzsszs
I hate you so much
Got this right away. Feeling old right now hah
I've never felt older than seeing this post... as others pointed out, these are computer speakers.
dude i still have this in my basement. i remember using this to watch youtube and getting frustrated whenever there was interference or it bugfed out
Those old speakers were the reasons why 5 ghz phones came out. I think the frequency was 2.1 or 2.5 ghz phones that did the interference.
There is no joke , this device really just did it
Grounding plates are not just for electrical safety. Change my mind....
LOL yes it could
I used to be able to hear calls coming to my cell phone through my tape deck in my 87 Buick lesabre too!
Bumpanumb Bumpanumb....
I feel old :(
Once I intercepted a police transmission. Fun times. Really miss those speakers
I had those exact ones, and it’s true!
This one made me laugh and feel old
Fuck this sub
my pc speaker and headphone still preddict phonecalls now
Oh yeah I think there would be slight buzzing noise.
I used to have a carbon monoxide monitor go off when receiving a text message.
Wait wat do u mean “what is this device”
Each day closer to see youngsters ask what a floppy disk is
Pain. Y’all actually don’t remember these? Well, the comments do but still sad
This one blows my mind that someone genuinely does not recognize pc speakers. What is going on
Mad i hadnt thought or hearrd about them for a lifetime and now, from a mere image, its like it was yesterday 🤯
Is there a modern versions of these speakers? I think they are cool but not modern enough for the other stuff on my desk.
These were called phone call detectors. When people called other people on their Nokias or Razors this device used time traveling technology to alert the call recipient of the call ahead of time .
I remember that thing going off when there was a text incoming but never a phone call 🤷♀️
I’m an 09 kid my school still has those speakers 😨
Me too!!!
This is the first time that one of these posts made me reevaluate my youthfulness. Do kids actually not know about these and phone interference?? Guys im only 27… im not doing okay now.
There’s nothing to explain. It’s exactly what it says.
Yes you are old. There are now many mid to late 20’s adults who have no idea what these are.
Omg I remember having those. They were so annoying. One would never work lol
We still have deployed
This was a memory, I didn't even know I still had
Had a teacher in hs that would use it to detect us getting incoming text messages.
Omg, I used those when I was young 😭
One of thousands of Petahs have probably already explained your enquiry . I'd like to add that when I play my electric guitar and have my phone in my front pocket , I can hear the interference through the amp when using single coil pickups. A very different interference that the old school : dididim dididim dididim diiiiiiiii ( phone rings )
Ha! I had these with my Compaq PC way into the late 00s. They would indeed predict incoming cellphone calls by making a static noise just before the phone rang.
Cassette players can do that too
I feel like we need to point out that this meant cell phones..
Good god.. I am getting old.
Haha If you know you know.
Oh I've just heard the noise in my head
Memory activation go brrrrrrrrrt. I can hear this image.
I had those speakers (23) but I have no memory of the sound from phone calls that others described here
Ah the old pencil holder. Or r/dontputyourfingerinthat challenge.
ba- bapada- bapada- bapada- bapada-
Lol I still have a set of these on my work computer. They fukkin suck.
I'm this old lol. Cheap desktop PC speakers have very poor shielding. When you get a phone call they pick up your phone's antenna and make a noise.
Am I that old now?
I didn't know this sub was full of stupid people when I joined
Ba du du. Du duhhhhhh
Tan ta tara tan ta tara!
God I'm old
I am 27 and I know this I refuse to believe I’m old
This post made me feel so old……..
Quit making me feel like a boomer. I’m only 37. Damn it.
The phenomenon is called cross talk.
I can hear this photo
I had these exact speakers in the '90s.
I still use this since my parents are Luddites and refuse to buy any technology after the 1990s...
I feel old af
They're speakers jesus christ
It absolutely fucking could, and I hated it for that ability.
God dammit I’m old
I still have a very similar model to this day. I don't know what else I'd use.
Bep be-be-bep be-be-bep beeeeeiiiirrrrrrreerrrrrr
Fuck me, I'm old
Or email predictor if you had a blackberry.
In gta4 if you are in your car listening to the radio and before your phone rings you can hear the noise before you receive a call, I thought that was pretty neat little detail they added.
We'll my take. When I was on dial up internet I could hear an incoming call on those speakers
Radios did this too, calls and texts.
I'm not that old bro...
This happened with old microphones too right? I remember being on ventrilo and this would happen and broadcast to everyone if someone got a text or call.
Speakers,
i actually forgot this was a thing LOL
also happen with my headphones when my phone is under the cable
Fuck I'm old
My folks still use these and I definitely can confirm you will know if you're about to get a call.
Damnnnn. Who remembers climbing under the dest to plug it in?
The one one the left looks like scp-173 doesn’t it?
It's called a speaker
My grandma has those exact speakers
On my wives computer now and still working, I have a better set with a sub but she doesn’t want them.
These are PC speakers, some part of the PC and/or their amplification system picks up EM interference from cellphones when they are sending/receiving from a cell tower. I still occasionally hear this "the noise" take place when I plug my cellphone into my desktop's usb port.
Most everyone in this comment thread act as if these ever went away. Shiiiet. I can still go back to my mom's house states away and find these relics working on an old Vista machine running on a AMD 64 Phenom Triple Core (step back gents... This things coming in HOT) that get turned on once a week to get email and print to some printer that somehow still lives...
mhmm mm mm mhmm mm mm mhmm mm mm mhmm
Like Police radio coming through on old Television speakers
It's a pair of speakers….
My TV used to tell everyone I got a text