In a sounds-like search, you provide a sound that is an example of what you are looking for, and FindSounds searches for sounds that are similar to your example.
The example may be any audio file appearing in a list of hits. Click on beside the audio file and FindSounds will retrieve up to 200 audio files that sound most like the example, with the best matches appearing first. You will see a score next to each hit (for example, 85%) that indicates how similar the hit is to the example.
Using FindSounds Palette, you may also record an example sound or select an example from any of your existing sounds, and then launch a sounds-like search to find similar sounds on the Web and in your own sound collection. Click here for more information.
Searching for sounds that are similar to an example is a new way to explore sound collections, in which audio files are searched based on how they sound, not based on how they are labelled. Many sounds are difficult or impossible to describe in words. In fact, about 40% of the sounds indexed by FindSounds.com lack a descriptive label and cannot be retrieved by a text search. Only a sounds-like search can find them.
Estimates of the similarity of sounds are computed based on characteristics of the digital audio recordings using the Comparisonics sound-matching technology. These estimates are not influenced by text labels. However, you can limit the display of similar sounds to show only those with a particular label. After a sounds-like search on FindSounds.com, you will see the option below; enter the desired label in the text box and click on the Go button.