Hearing range test
Press Play and move up or down the frequency scale. Start with the volume low and raise it slowly. This is a quick check of your equipment and a curiosity about your range; it is not a medical hearing test.
Runs in your browser: nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
How to use it
- Set the system volume low and the Volume slider to its default of 10 %.
- Press Play tone, then slowly raise the volume until the 1 kHz tone is comfortable.
- Use the slider, the Quick steps or Lower and Higher to move through the range. The tone changes smoothly while playing.
- Note the highest and lowest steps you can hear, then press Stop.
How it works
One sine-wave oscillator is created when you press Play and removed on Stop. The slider is logarithmic: position p from 0 to 1000 gives 20 Hz × 1000^(p/1000), so each octave gets the same space. The volume is squared and capped at a gain of 0.5, so the first half of the slider is very quiet. The sound stops if you switch to another tab.
Worked example
Slider position 500 is the middle of the scale: 20 × 1000^0.5 = about 632 Hz. Position 1000 gives 20 × 1000 = 20 000 Hz.
Tips
- Compare left and right headphone sides by listening to each step with one ear at a time.
- If a step is audible on one device but not on another, the difference is usually the speaker.
- Stop immediately if a tone is painful.
Frequently asked questions
Is this a hearing test?
No. It plays pure tones so you can hear where your equipment and your hearing stop responding, but it is not calibrated and cannot measure hearing loss. For a real assessment see a doctor or audiologist.
What range should I expect to hear?
The commonly quoted range of human hearing is 20 Hz to 20 kHz, but it is a rule of thumb for young listeners. The upper limit usually falls with age, and many adults stop hearing the highest steps. Laptop and phone speakers often cannot play below about 100 Hz at all.
Why can I hear nothing at the lowest steps?
Small speakers and earbuds cannot move enough air at 20–50 Hz, so the tone is silent or you only hear distortion. That is a limit of the equipment, not necessarily of your ears.
Is the sound uploaded or does the tool use the microphone?
No. The tone is generated in your browser with the Web Audio API. The microphone is never used.