I know that there’s only so much to be done with Present Mic, since he’s technically only a secondary character, but as a former singer, I can’t help but feel like we’re being drastically undersold on the potential destructiveness of the Loudest Man on Earth. The majority of what he’s been doing so far is just being So Loud that it hurts and incapacitates everyone around who could be a possible threat. But extremely high volume is not just uncomfortable and dangerous to the human ear, it’s a form of a pressure wave, and it can literally be used to destroy physical objects, if the resonant frequency can be matched. (The old opera singer breaking a glass trick, which has been proven to be possible on an ep of Mythbusters). Low frequency sounds can reportedly have psychological affects on people, causing feelings of discomfort or fear, or can even affect the rate of inhalation of breath at the proper volume. Sound waves that experience the right interference from a properly inverted phase can be essentially “negated” a-la noise cancellation. And anyone familiar with supersonic flight is already aware of the idea of a sonic shockwave.
In short, what I’m saying is that for a series that’s about educating young superheroes to find innovative applications of their own powers for use in their career, we’ve seen remarkably little of what this dude might be capable of.
All good points but you’ve barely tapped the surface:
This is the loudest sound caught on tape up to date. The loudest sound ever recorded was the krakatoa
“The sound made by the Krakatoa volcanic eruption in 1883 was so loud it ruptured eardrums of people 40 miles away, travelled around the world four times, and was clearly heard 3,000 miles away.”
“On Reddit, a user details how loud a Saturn V rocket is and what the effects would be at different distances. At very close range, the sound from the Saturn V measures an incredible 220 db, loud enough to melt concrete just from the sound.”
“At 500 meters, 155 db you would experience painful, violent shaking in your entire body, you would feel compressed, as though deep underwater. Your vision would blur, breathing would be very difficult, your eardrums are obviously a lost cause, even with advanced active noise cancelling protection you could experience permanent damage.”
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