VOTE: Do you hear Yanny or Laurel? We explain the odd auditory illusion

Remember in 2015 when The Dress broke the internet? Well 2018 just found the audio equivalent. Take a listen to this:

Did you hear Yanny, or did you hear Laurel? If you heard Yanny, you probably cannot fathom how someone else heard Laurel and vice versa.

In the comment section of where the post first appeared on Reddit, someone explained that the difference in audio perception has to do with bass frequencies. Lars Riecke, an assistant professor of audition and cognitive neuroscience at Maastricht University explained the phenomenon in an interview with The Verge. The older you get, the larger the chance you lose hearing in your higher frequencies. That may be why younger people around you may hear “Yanny”, while others hear “Laurel.” That, or some people have impeccable hearing.

You can test the theory yourself by playing with the frequencies, like this reader:

Either way, it’s pretty crazy that the person sitting beside you might be hearing something completely different than you hear!

What do you hear? Vote in the poll above and let us know what you think of this odd trend in the comments below.