Vuvuzela Meet Devivizelator

[The Seeker]

[size=14pt]World Cup Craziness: Devivizelator Squelches the Vuvuzela[/size]

Stuart Fox – Fri Jun 25, 9:50 am ET

Despite what it may sound like, teams in the 2010 World Cup have not been competing inside a giant bee hive. That buzzing comes from a South African horn called the vuvuzela, and its constant drone in the background of every broadcast has polarized soccer fans around the globe. Now, whether you want more vuvuzela or less, there are new computer programs to help.

For those who can't stand the noise, the Devuvuzelator will filter the buzzing sound out of any streaming audio or video broadcast. Developed by the Stardock Corporation, the Devuvuzelator isolates eliminates the most common frequency produced by the vuvuzela, 230Hz, or B-flat below middle C. Luckily, the play by play commentary remains louder than the horn, allowing the Devuvuzelator to remove the sound without destroying the listening experience entirely. [Read "How Do Vuvuzela Horns Cause Hearing Damage?"]

The Devuvuzelator has a number of different settings, so the user can optimize the balance between suppressing the buzzing and distorting the broadcast.

However, if you're a soccer fan who has a fever, and the only cure is more vuvuzela, then Vuvuzela Time will add the humming tones of the plastic horn to any website. When used on an ESPN3 or Univision broadcast of an actual World Cup match, Vuvuzela Time doubles the level of vuvu-tainment.

YouTube has also answered the demand for more vuvuzela, adding a button to their interface that plays dulcet vuvuzela notes over any YouTube video.

But which one reigns supreme?

TechNewsDaily performed a head-to-head matchup and found that the Vuvuzela Time and the YouTube vuvuzela button broke through the protection of the Devuvuzelator, which, at its highest setting, only reduced the vuvuvzela buzz to a hollow drone.

 

[CarlS]

I hate the constant drone.

 

[DaveB]

This might sound implausible but after a period of time you don't notice them much! OK, I don't mean a stadium full of them- obviously then it's noisy. I mean generally around the shopping centres and in the street and such. We've had them here for years.

It's the solo, lone vuvuzela that's the worst! Especially in an enclosed space such as a concrete underground carpark. It's the sound of excrutiating pain, like a cow giving birth to twins.

At the same time h: !

DaveB.

 

[CarlS]

There is no way I could attend those games in the stadium - even if I were paid to do so. That noise is awful.

 

[Gromit]

I don't like them but they sound worse in a broadcast or from outside the stadium than they do from inside the stadium. We went to the Super 14 rugby final at Orlando Stadium (in Soweto) and the vuvu's sounded really bad from outside but once we were inside, they weren't that bad. That said, I'd still rather not hear them at all.