Is this a hearing test?

No. It plays sounds through equipment nobody has calibrated, so it cannot say anything about your hearing. For questions about your hearing, ask an audiologist.

Why can't I hear the lowest tones on my laptop?

Small speakers cannot move enough air to produce very low notes, and ears are also less sensitive down there. Hearing nothing below some point in the sweep is normal on a laptop or phone. Do not turn up the volume to reach them, because the next tones will be much louder.

How is this different from a sound test video on YouTube?

A video plays a recorded file that has been through lossy compression, and you get whatever order it was made in. Here the browser makes each sound on the spot, you pick the test, and the sweep shows the current Hz. For a quick check either works.

Does the speaker test work on a phone?

Yes, in a current mobile browser. A phone with one speaker will play Left and Right from the same place, so the channel test only means something on phones with two speakers or with headphones plugged in.

Can test tones damage my speakers?

At a comfortable volume, a short test is ordinary use. Very loud steady tones can stress small speakers. Keep the level comfortable, and press Stop if you hear rattling or distortion.

Sound Test

Press a button and hear something: a chime on the left, the right or both, a sweep from 20 Hz to 20 kHz with the frequency on screen, single tones and pink noise. It is a quick check by ear. A browser cannot measure your speakers or your hearing.

Turn your device volume down before the first press, then raise it slowly. Keep it at a comfortable level.

Test volume: 25%

Left, right, both

Press a side to hear a short chime there. While another test plays below, these buttons move that test to the side you pick.

Frequency sweep

One tone gliding from low to high. Watch the number and note where the sound fades in or drops out.

Do not turn up the volume to reach the lowest tones. A tone around 1,000 to 5,000 Hz at the same setting will sound far louder.

Single test tones

A steady tone until you stop it. The highest ones can be hard or impossible to hear, and that alone does not mean a fault.

Pink noise

A steady rush of sound across the whole range. Useful for hearing whether two sides sound alike.

Moving sound

Noise travels from the left, across the middle, to the right and back. It should move smoothly, with no jump or hole in the center.

Nothing is playing.

All sounds are made in your browser. This page uses no microphone and records nothing.

How to run the audio test

Nothing to install. Your device needs to be on the output you want to check.

1
Turn down, then press Left and Right
Lower your device volume first. Press Left, Right and Both. The chime should come from the side you pressed, which answers the first question: is anything working at all?
2
Run a sweep
The full sweep takes 20 seconds and shows the current Hz. Note where the sound fades in at the bottom and where it disappears at the top. Crackle or rattle at one spot is worth noting too.
3
Try a single tone or pink noise
Hold one tone to look into something you heard in the sweep, or play pink noise and move it between sides to compare them. Stop is always on screen.

On headphones, the Headphone Test goes further into bass and the stereo image. To check which side is which, use the Left Right Audio Test. For any frequency you choose, use the Tone Generator.

What each test tells you

Every test here answers a yes or no question by ear. None of them gives a measurement.

Test	Good for	It cannot tell you
Left, right, both	Whether each channel plays, and on which side	Whether the two sides are equally good
Frequency sweep	Finding where sound starts, stops, rattles or buzzes	The frequency response of your speakers
Single tones	Holding one pitch to inspect a rattle or a dead spot	How loud the speaker really is in decibels
Pink noise	Comparing two sides, or two speakers, on the same sound	How your room or speakers measure
Moving sound	Hearing whether sound crosses smoothly between the sides	Whether a recording's stereo mix is good

What a browser speaker test can and cannot do

This page sends a known sound to your system. Before it reaches you, it passes through the operating system, any sound effects, the amplifier, the speaker and the room. That makes it good for catching faults and poor for measuring anything. Measuring a speaker takes a calibrated microphone and a controlled setup, which no web page has.

Laptop and phone speakers do not reproduce very low tones. Consumer subwoofers cover roughly 20 to 200 Hz, usually with drivers 8 to 21 inches across, because low notes need a large cone or long travel to move enough air. A laptop speaker is a tiny fraction of that size, so silence at the bottom of the sweep is expected and is not a fault. The cutoff varies by model, so this page does not give you a number.

The top of the sweep has a different limit. The commonly stated range of human hearing is 20 to 20,000 Hz, people vary, and the upper limit usually falls with age. If the sound fades out near the top, that alone says nothing certain about your speakers. It is also not a hearing test: for questions about your hearing, ask an audiologist.

The sweep plays at one level, yet it will not sound even. Ears are most sensitive between about 2,000 and 5,000 Hz, and much less so at the bottom, so the middle of the sweep sounds far louder than the start. This is why turning up the volume to chase the lowest tones is a bad idea.

No sound at all? Check in this order

The output device
On Windows 11, select the Speakers icon on the taskbar and pick the output, or go to Start, Settings, Sound. Sound often goes to a monitor, a dock or a Bluetooth device you forgot about.
The tab and the browser
A browser tab can be muted on its own. If a video on another site plays but this page stays silent, try another browser.
The phone
Raise the media volume while the sound is playing, and check that Bluetooth is not still connected to earbuds in a bag or a speaker in another room.
The speaker itself
Check power, the volume knob, the input selected on the speaker and both ends of the cable. If nothing plays sound on this device anywhere, the problem is not this page.

When a quick sound test helps

New speakers or a new monitor
Check that both sides play before you tidy the cables away. A monitor connected over HDMI may take over the sound without telling you.
After an update
If the sound changes after a driver or system update, a few seconds of chime and sweep show whether the output still works on both sides.
Before a presentation or call
Check the room's speakers before people arrive, with the volume low, using a sound you can stop at once.
A Bluetooth speaker
Many small portable speakers have one driver, or two set very close together. Left and right may sound nearly the same, and that is how they are built.

From checking sound to checking recordings

Clear playback makes it easier to check a recording by ear. ParrotNotes records your meetings and interviews, then transcribes and summarizes them.

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Sound test questions

Sources

Sound Test

Left, right, both

Frequency sweep

Single test tones

Pink noise

Moving sound

How to run the audio test

Turn down, then press Left and Right

Run a sweep

Try a single tone or pink noise

What each test tells you

What a browser speaker test can and cannot do

No sound at all? Check in this order

The output device

The tab and the browser

The phone

The speaker itself

When a quick sound test helps

New speakers or a new monitor

After an update

Before a presentation or call

A Bluetooth speaker