How to test your speakers or headphones
- Set the volume slider low to begin with. It starts at 20%.
- Press Left. You should hear a short chime only from the left speaker or the left ear.
- Press Right, then Both. The chime should move to the right, then sit in the middle.
- Try the frequency sweep and the bass tones to check how well your speakers cover low and high sounds.
No sound plays until you press a button. All sounds are made live in your browser, so there is nothing to download.
Left and right check
If the left chime comes from the right side, your channels are swapped. With headphones, check the L and R markings. With desktop speakers, check which cable goes into which speaker. If you hear the chime from both sides when you press Left, the device may be set to mono, or your system may have a mono audio option turned on in its accessibility settings.
With the Both button the sound should seem to come from straight in front of you. If it leans to one side, one speaker may be louder, or a balance setting may be off center.
Frequency sweep
The sweep plays a smooth tone that rises from 20 Hz (a very deep hum) to 20 kHz (a very high whine) over 20 seconds. The current frequency is shown as it plays. 20 Hz to 20 kHz is the classic range of human hearing, but most people do not hear all of it.
- At the start you may hear nothing at all. Many speakers only begin to play somewhere between 50 and 150 Hz.
- In the middle the tone should be clear and steady. Rattles or buzzing at a certain point can mean a loose part or a damaged speaker.
- Near the top the tone fades away. Where it disappears depends on your speakers and on your ears. The ability to hear very high tones naturally declines with age.
Volume warning: start the sweep quietly. High tones can be unpleasant, and you may not notice how loud a tone you can barely hear actually is. Press Stop at any time.
Bass test
The bass buttons play steady low tones from 30 to 100 Hz for three seconds each. Speakers with good bass reproduce all of them. Laptop and phone speakers often play only the higher ones. A subwoofer should make the lowest tones felt as much as heard.
Listen for distortion. A clean bass tone is a smooth hum. Buzzing, rattling or a crackle means the volume is too high for that speaker or something is loose. Turn the volume down before trying again.
No sound at all?
- Check that the tab is not muted and the system volume is up.
- Make sure the right output is selected in your sound settings, especially if you use Bluetooth headphones or a monitor with speakers.
- On phones, the silent switch or mode may mute web sounds. Turn it off and try again.
- Reconnect Bluetooth devices, then reload the page.
Setting up for calls? Test your microphone and your webcam as well.
Questions
Why is left and right swapped?
Headphones may be on the wrong ears (look for the L and R marks), the speaker cables may be swapped, or a sound setting may swap the channels. Check the cables and your system sound settings.
I cannot hear the highest part of the sweep. Is something broken?
Probably not. Hearing at the very top of the range fades with age, and many small speakers and laptops cannot play very high or very low tones well. Most adults stop hearing the sweep somewhere before 20 kHz.
Why can I not hear the 30 Hz tone?
Small speakers, laptops and phones usually cannot produce very low bass. Headphones and speakers with a subwoofer do much better. Try the higher bass tones first.
Is the sound safe for my speakers?
At sensible volume, yes. Keep the volume low for the sweep and the bass tones, because pure tones at high volume can be harsh on small speakers and on your ears.