Cheap portable sound spectrum analyzer?

[Hobie-wan]

Ok, this sounds like a weird request, but let me explain. I have good hearing, and can hear some dog whistles. There's been a high pitched whine in my apartment for months now and it is driving me bonkers. High pitched sounds are very directional and I should be able to locate it, but with my office in the 'dining room' area, there's too much stuff bouncing the sound around and I can't find it to fix or eliminate it.

Does anyone know of a cheap hand held device with a plugin mic that will give a sound spectrum display and be sensitive over the normal 20K hertz typical human limit? I'm hoping if I have something with mic I can wave around and a display showing when I'm pointed at it I can follow the bounces and locate the source.

I do not have an iphone or android so an app for one of those doesn't do me any good. I wouldn't expect the mics to pick up 20K hertz and higher sounds anyway.

[o.pwuaioc]

Cruel trick. Could be a neighbor?

[Hobie-wan]

No. I don't hear it in the bedroom, so not from that neighbor's side. I got along fine with the neighbor on the other side though she moved out recently.

[CRTGAMER]

Maybe a heater fan resonating from another unit?

[Hobie-wan]

Even though it is 40 outside, I haven't turned the heater on. The noise is there even when the PCs are off. I know my router makes noises I can hear, but it isn't that and I added a curtain over the cubby where that lives.

[CRTGAMER]

Even though it is 40 outside, I haven't turned the heater on. The noise is there even when the PCs are off. I know my router makes noises I can hear, but it isn't that and I added a curtain over the cubby where that lives.

I was thinking thru the walls or floor from another tenant. If the sound started when it got cold possibly a portable heater fan in an adjacent unit?

[Ziggy]

Hobie, I feel your pain. I can hear a lot of "whine" noises when others can't, and they drive me crazy! The slightest, most faint persistent whine will drive me up the wall. Good luck in your hunt! I hope you get that bastard!

edit: Might not help, but maybe you can just get a decent mic and use software on your PC? I use some old audio software, it has some analyzers but I don't think you can use them in real time. However, you can see the db level in real time when recording. So maybe you can use that to try and zero in on the location of the sound?

[Hatta]

Obviously you haven't been to enough loud rock concerts.

[Hobie-wan]

Yeah, I could walk by a door to a computer lab and tell if someone left a CRT on easily.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Weird!

My wife's laptop charger makes a high pitched whine (according to her, I can't hear it!). Drives her crazy, she can't be in the same room while the laptop's plugged in. Do you have anything like that?

I used to work in a middle school where a bunch of students were using really high-pitched ringtones their teachers couldn't hear. Pretty devious.

Anyway, good luck and I hope you find the noise.