Free tool
Sound Test for Speakers and Headphones
Left and right channels, a bass-to-treble sweep, test tones and a headphone phase check. Nothing plays until you press a button.
- Runs in your browser
- Nothing uploaded
- No signup
Left and right
Start with the volume low, especially in headphones — high tones can be piercing.
Sound works? When a recording is hard to follow, read it as text instead.Audio to text →
Frequency sweep, 20 Hz to 20 kHz
A tone glides from the lowest bass to the highest treble in 24 seconds. Press the button when you start hearing it, and again when it disappears.
Test tones
A steady tone in both channels. Small speakers often cannot play 100 Hz at all; 15 kHz is hard to hear for many adults.
Phase check for headphones
In phase, the noise should sound centred inside your head. Out of phase, it should sound spread out and hard to place. If it is the other way round, one side is wired backwards.
Hear nothing?
- Check the volume of the device and of this tab, and that the tab is not muted.
- Sound goes to the output your system uses right now — check which one is selected (speakers, headphones, Bluetooth, monitor).
- On iPhone and iPad, the silent switch or silent mode also mutes sound from web pages.
How it works
Sound Test for Speakers and Headphones in three steps
Set a low volume
Start around 30%, especially in headphones. Raise it only if you hear nothing.
Press Left, Both, Right
Each side should play only on its own side. Then try the phase check.
Run the sweep
Mark where you start and stop hearing the tone, from 20 Hz to 20 kHz.
What each test checks
Press Left and the sound must come only from the left speaker or earcup; if it comes from the right, the channels are swapped. The other tests check range and wiring. Each one targets one fault:
| Test | What you should hear | If you hear something else |
|---|---|---|
| Left / Right | Three short bursts of noise, three times, from one side only | Wrong side: channels swapped in the cable, the adapter or the system balance setting. Both sides: the output is mono. |
| Both | The same bursts from both sides at equal loudness | One side quieter: check the balance setting, then the cable or earcup |
| In phase / Out of phase | In phase: centred inside your head. Out of phase: spread out, hard to place | The other way round: one side is wired with reversed polarity |
| Sweep 20 Hz – 20 kHz | A tone that rises from deep bass to the highest treble in 24 seconds | Gaps, buzzing or rattling at some pitch point to a damaged driver or a loose part |
| Tones: 100 Hz, 1 kHz, 10 kHz, 15 kHz | A steady tone; 1 kHz should be clear on anything | No 100 Hz on small speakers is normal; no 1 kHz is a fault |
How the sounds are made
Every sound is generated in your browser with the Web Audio API — no files are downloaded. Left and right are sent through a channel merger, so the left test feeds the left channel and nothing else: no panning, no bleed. The bursts are pink noise, which is easier to place than a pure tone. The phase test plays the same noise in both channels and, for "out of phase", flips the sign of the right channel. The sweep is a sine wave rising exponentially from 20 Hz to 20 kHz over 24 seconds, so every octave gets the same time; the readout shows the frequency playing at that moment.
The volume slider sets the gain to the square of its position, which follows hearing more closely than a straight line: the default 30% is a gain of 0.09, about 21 dB below full scale. Tones stop by themselves after 15 seconds and the phase noise after 8. Your browser runs audio at 44.1 or 48 kHz, so 20 kHz is below the highest frequency it can produce.
Honest limits
- Your hearing sets the top of the sweep, not only the speakers. Sensitivity to high frequencies falls with age, so where the sweep fades for you says as much about your ears as about the headphones.
- Laptop and phone speakers cut the lows. Not hearing 100 Hz or the start of the sweep on them is expected.
- The volume matters. At a low setting the extremes of the sweep fade sooner; raise the volume a little and repeat, but carefully — high tones are piercing in headphones.
- Sound goes to the output your system uses. To test other headphones or a monitor, switch the output in your system settings first.
- On iPhone and iPad, silent mode also mutes sound from web pages.
Answers
Speaker and headphone test — frequently asked questions
How do I test left and right on headphones?
Press Left: three bursts of noise should come only from the left earcup. Press Right for the other side and Both for the centre. If the sides are swapped, check how the headphones are worn, the adapter, and the balance setting in your system sound settings.
What does the phase test show?
With both sides wired the same way, the in-phase noise sounds centred inside your head and the out-of-phase noise sounds wide and hard to place. If it is the other way round, one side has reversed polarity — a wiring fault in the cable, the plug or the earcup.
Why can't I hear the end of the sweep?
High frequencies are the first to fade with age and are the hardest for small speakers to play. Where the tone disappears depends on your ears, the speakers and the volume together, so treat the number as a comparison between your own devices, not a hearing test.
Why can't I hear 100 Hz on my laptop?
Small laptop and phone speakers cannot move enough air for deep bass, so 100 Hz is very quiet or silent on them. Try headphones: if you hear it there, the laptop speakers are simply too small, not broken.
Is this a hearing test?
No. The levels are not calibrated, and your speakers and the volume change what you hear. If you notice hearing changes, see a hearing professional.
Which speaker or headphones does it test?
Whatever output your system is using right now. Switch to the headphones, Bluetooth speaker or monitor you want to test in the system sound settings, then press the buttons again.
I hear nothing at all. What should I check?
The volume of the device and of the browser tab, whether the tab is muted, which output device is selected, and on iPhone or iPad the silent switch or silent mode, which also mutes web pages.
Mic works? Put it to use
Record a call, a lecture or a voice note in the SozAI app and get the text with speaker labels and a summary.
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