Sound test: check your speakers and headphones online

The bars show the signal this page hands to your browser. If they move, the tone exists and the page is working, so the problem is further along: your output choice, your volume, your cable or your speakers.

If you press a test and the bars stay still, the browser isn't processing audio. Reload the page, or try another browser. The bars can't show what your speakers really play, so moving bars with no sound never means your speakers are fine.

Run Left and Right one after the other, then compare them:

• Each side plays only where it should — your stereo is working.
• The sides are swapped — check the L and R marks on your headphones, or the cables to your speakers.
• One side is silent — check the cable, the balance setting and your device's mono audio setting.
• One side is quieter — check the balance slider, then look for a dirty headphone mesh or a loose plug.
• Both sides play the same sound — mono audio may be on, or the output may be a single speaker.

The sweep rises smoothly from 20 Hz to 20 kHz in 20 seconds, spending the same time on each octave. Press Stop when you can't hear it any more, and the tool keeps the frequency on screen.

The commonly stated human range is 20 Hz to 20 kHz, and it usually narrows with age, starting at the top ^[2]. So a low top figure can come from your speakers, your ears or your volume, and this test can't say which. Listen for buzzing or rattling on the way up: it often points to a loose part in the speaker or something vibrating nearby.

Volume plays a 1 kHz tone in five steps of 10 dB, from -40 dB to 0 dB. Those figures are relative to the test volume slider. They aren't the level in your room, which depends on your device and speakers.

Count how many steps you can hear. If the first steps vanish, background noise or a low device volume is covering them. If the last step sounds rough or buzzy, your speakers may be distorting, so turn your device down.

Start low and only turn up until you can hear the tone clearly. WHO advises keeping personal audio at or below 60% of maximum volume, and taking regular breaks ^[3]. High tones can be unpleasant at a level where you barely notice bass, so take care with the end of the sweep on headphones.

At 100%, the tool's top level is half of the digital maximum, and each test ends on its own. Your device volume still sets how loud that is.

Each tone comes from an oscillator in your browser's Web Audio API ^[4]. A stereo panner sends it left or right ^[5]. No sound file is loaded, nothing is recorded and no audio is uploaded.

We checked the output on 4 November 2026 in Edge on one Windows desktop at 48 kHz. With the tones rendered to a buffer, the opposite channel was exactly silent in the Left and Right tests, the beeps measured 440 Hz and the volume steps measured 10 dB apart. That checks what the page produces. We haven't measured real speakers, phones or other browsers.