Sounds?

Does a transporter make a sound or is it a special effect? How hard would it be to hear?

I'm not sure I understand your question. I hear a sound when the transporter is used on the show, and in reality it's just a special effect. But since we, the audience, hear a sound, I guess it's safe to assume the characters also would hear a sound. In the game world, I've always assumed the transporters made a sound loud enough for those in the room or near it to hear.

Well, all forms of the transporter have emitted a whine of some kind as part of the special effect. I've always considered the soft whine a telltale sound that indicated an incoming transport, audible to anyone around.

While there have been occasions where the audience is being shown an effect (usually visual) that the characters don't see, I've always considered the transporters to actually make the sound we hear.

Well the virewer in the form of the camera hears the transporter making a sound, and it's a 'sound effect' which goes with that event.

As to how hard it would be to hear it would depend. in the same room, definatelly - the bring glow is a giveaway too!!! In an adjacent room, possible, down the hall, nope.

Howeve that said the transporter is fairly obvious to sensors, and leaves a 'footprint' where it's been used, so you'd know if it was happening on your ship as it would go up like a flare on your sensor consoles.

If you don't want someone to hear it, put a dampening field around it. Or do a trick like Arctus baran - pretend to hit someone with a phaser, which is just an ion charge gun, which has the tripple benefit of a) making it look like the party is dead b)covering the transporter 'footprint' with your energy dishcarge c) hiding the transporter signature too...

I seem to remember in 'Devil's due - that the crew weren't able to tell it was a transporter, probably because it had a dampening field. Give your Starship and edge, call it 'Stealth Transporter' and now no one can see or hear your transporter beam (though of course a person has just shown up out of nowhere - so you'd have to be careful!