Systems and methods for identifying a perceived sound event are provided. In one exemplary embodiment, the system includes an audio signal receiver, a processor, and an analyzer. The system deconstructs a received audio signal into a plurality of audio chunks, for which one or more sound identification characteristics are determined. One ore more distances of a distance vector are then calculated based on one or more of the sound identification characteristics. The distance vector can be a sound gene that serves as an identifier for the sound event. The distance vector for a received audio signal is compared to distance vectors of predefined sound events to identify the source of the received audio signal. A variety of other systems and methods related to sound identification are also provided.