soundcheckSpeaker & Earphone Test

Check whether your speakers, earphones, or headphones are actually producing sound — right in your browser. No install, free.

The core tests (①–③) on this page never ask for any permission — not microphone, not camera, nothing.
It's the simplest kind of page: press a button and it plays a test sound. Nothing more. Use it with peace of mind.
(The test sound is generated inside your own device. No information ever leaves this page.)
🔉 Before you start: turn your volume down a bit.
If you're wearing earphones or headphones, take them off first or lower your device volume. Every test sound plays at a modest volume for a short time and stops automatically.

① Left/Right (L/R) Check

Checks whether your earphones' left and right channels are swapped, or whether one side isn't playing at all. The side that's playing lights up blue below.

Left (L)
Right (R)
What did you hear?
· Pressed "left only" but heard it on the right → your earphones' L/R is swapped (check the L/R markings).
· Nothing from one side → possible loose connection or a break in the cable, or the OS balance setting is off-center. Re-seat the plug, then see the checklist below.
· Nothing from either side → check your volume and mute settings, then see the checklist.

② Volume Test

Raises the volume step by step from quiet to loud, so you can see how loud it needs to be before you hear it. Always start from the left (quietest) and work your way up.

What did you hear?
· Only audible at a high % → your device volume may be low, or a per-app volume mixer is turned down.
· Not audible even at 100% → sound is likely going to a different device (e.g. Bluetooth). See item ① in the checklist.

③ Frequency Test (low to high)

Checks which pitches, from low to high, your speaker or earphone can actually reproduce.

Not hearing the high tones (12kHz, 15kHz, etc.) does not mean anything is broken.
Hearing loses sensitivity to high frequencies as we age — this is completely normal (the "mosquito tone" effect). Most adults can't hear 15kHz, and that's perfectly ordinary. Neither your speaker nor your ears are necessarily at fault.

Also, small speakers and the built-in speakers on laptops and phones physically can't reproduce much bass (around 60Hz). Not hearing 60Hz, or hearing it only faintly, is normal — not a malfunction.

🦟 Want to try finer mosquito-tone steps, or measure your speaker's frequency response with a microphone? Check out the bonus lab.

④ Speaker Frequency Capability Check (measured via mic, optional)

Sections ①–③ relied on your own ears — here you can optionally use your microphone to mechanically (via frequency analysis) check exactly which frequencies actually come out. The rest of the site works fine without using this. Press each frequency button one at a time, or use "Test all" to measure them all at once.

🎧 Testing earphones: earphone sound doesn't reach the mic easily, so hold the earphone right up against the microphone (on a laptop it's usually near the top of the keyboard; on a phone, near the bottom). Speakers work fine as-is.
Only this section uses your microphone. Nothing is ever sent anywhere. The mic is released as soon as the check finishes. Your voice is never played back through the speaker, so there's no risk of feedback howling.
How it works: pressing the button asks for microphone permission. Once you allow it, a list of frequency buttons appears. Press any frequency you're curious about, and it plays that tone and measures whether the mic picked it up.
🎤 Want to check whether your microphone reaches the other side? Try our sister site micsound — Mic Test.

How to Use

  1. Turn your device volume down, then press "Play left only" in section ①.
  2. If you hear a tone, that speaker (or earphone) is alive. If not, slowly raise the volume.
  3. Check left, right, and both, then use ② and ③ to check volume and pitch as well.
  4. Every sound stops automatically after 1–2 seconds (about 8 seconds for the continuous sweep). You can stop it any time by pressing the same button again or "Stop sound."

This page has no way to mechanically detect, from the computer or phone's side, whether sound actually came out. You are the judge — your ears are the test. Follow the "What did you hear?" guidance under each test.

Checklist: No Sound at All

If you can't hear the test sound at all, don't assume your speaker or earphones are broken — work through this list from the top. A setting is very often the real cause.

  1. ① Output device — Check that sound isn't being sent to a different device.
    • Windows: Click the speaker icon in the taskbar, then the volume-bar arrow (or ">") to open the list of outputs and pick the speaker or earphone you want.
    • Mac: Go to "System Settings → Sound → Output" and choose your output device (or hold Option while clicking the menu-bar volume icon to switch quickly).
    • Phone: If a Bluetooth device is connected, sound goes there. Check the output in Control Center (iPhone) or the notification panel (Android).
  2. ② Mute and volume — Check the device's own volume, any hardware mute key (a speaker icon with a slash), and per-app volume (e.g. Windows' "Volume mixer"). Some earphone cables or headsets also have their own volume dial or mute switch.
  3. ③ Bluetooth connection — Bluetooth earphones are frequently connected to a different device (like a phone) instead of the one you're using. Temporarily turn off Bluetooth on the device you're not using, or re-pair. A dead battery or forgetting to power the earphones on is also common.
  4. ④ Re-seat the plug — For wired earphones or speakers, unplug and firmly re-insert the plug all the way in. A half-inserted plug can cause "only one side plays" or crackling noise. Front-panel jacks on desktop PCs are sometimes not wired — try the back panel too. For USB speakers, try a different USB port.
  5. ⑤ Check for a muted browser tab — If the tab shows a speaker icon with a slash through it, right-click (or long-press) the tab and choose "Unmute tab."

Still no sound after all of this? Try a different pair of earphones or speakers on the same device. If the other one works, the original device is likely faulty; if neither works, the issue is on the device side (settings, port, or driver).

Common Sound Problems and Fixes

Only one side (left or right) plays

  • First use section ① above to identify which side is silent.
  • For wired earphones, a half-inserted plug is by far the most common cause. Push it in firmly, all the way, and gently twist the base to check whether sound cuts out (if it does, the cable is likely fraying).
  • Check whether the OS's left/right balance setting is off-center (Windows: Settings → System → Sound → output device properties; Mac: System Settings → Sound → Output balance; iPhone: Settings → Accessibility → Audio/Visual).
  • Fully wireless earphones can have one earbud lose its battery or connection independently. Put both back in the case and reconnect.

No sound, or cutting out, from Bluetooth earphones

  • Even if it shows as "connected," the output device may still be set to the built-in speaker. Reselect the earphones from the output list.
  • If paired with multiple devices, sound goes to whichever connected first — turn off Bluetooth on the device you're not using.
  • If nothing else works, the most reliable fix is to remove the pairing and pair again from scratch.
  • Crackling or dropouts are often caused by radio interference (microwaves, crowded areas) or distance — not necessarily a fault.

Only the other person's voice is missing in a video call (Zoom, Teams, etc.)

  • If you can hear the test sound on this page, your speaker is fine — the cause is almost certainly an app-level setting.
  • Check the app's audio settings to confirm the speaker (output device) is set to the one you want to use. Leaving it on "default device" can silently route sound elsewhere.
  • If the app has a "test speaker" button, use it. Often the simple explanation is that the other person is muted.

Sound is quiet or muffled

  • Check both the device volume and the per-app volume (mixer) — raising only one can still leave it quiet.
  • Bluetooth earphones sound muffled by design while the microphone is also active during a call — this isn't a malfunction.
  • Earwax or dust in the earphone mesh can muffle sound. Gently clean it with a dry brush.

Crackling or static noise

  • For wired connections, start by re-seating the plug — dirt or a poor contact at the plug or jack is the usual cause.
  • If the noise changes when you move the cable, that's a sign the cable is starting to fray.
  • A faint hiss from a PC's headphone jack can sometimes just be that device's normal behavior — try USB or Bluetooth to see whether it disappears, which helps narrow down the cause.

No sound after connecting an external monitor or TV via HDMI

  • Connecting an external display over HDMI or USB-C often automatically switches the audio output to that display. Reopen the output-device list from checklist item ① above and select your computer's own speakers or earphones again.
  • Windows: click the speaker icon in the taskbar, then the ">" next to the volume bar to open the output list, or go to Settings → System → Sound and pick the output device there. If a display name (e.g. "〇〇 (NVIDIA High Definition Audio)") is selected, that's the cause.
  • Mac: go to System Settings → Sound → Output. Holding Option while clicking the volume icon in the menu bar gives you a quick switcher. If the external display supports AirPlay, output may have been routed there by accident too.
  • Many monitors have no built-in speakers at all, or only very quiet ones. If the output is still set to the monitor, it can feel like "no sound" when really the sound is just going somewhere silent.
  • Unplugging and replugging the cable can reset the output setting again, so it's worth checking the output device each time you reconnect — this is especially common with docking stations or USB hubs driving multiple displays and speakers.

Sound works here, but not in one specific app or game

  • If test sounds on this page play fine but one particular app stays silent, that app likely has its own output-device setting that doesn't match your system default.
  • Windows: go to Settings → System → Sound → "Advanced" (app volume and device preferences) to set each app's output device individually. Right-clicking the taskbar speaker icon and choosing "Open Volume mixer" gets you to the same screen.
  • Mac: macOS has no built-in way to route different apps to different outputs — the whole system shares one output device. If only one app is silent, the cause is more likely a mute button or audio setting inside that app itself, not the output device.
  • Games and streaming software sometimes lock onto whichever device was active when they launched. If you plugged in earphones afterward, restarting the app can fix it.
  • If it's just one browser tab that's silent, also check checklist item ⑤ (a muted tab).

Sound suddenly stopped working after a Windows update

  • Audio breaking right after an update is a classic sign that the audio driver got temporarily confused by the update. Try restarting your device first — that alone fixes it surprisingly often.
  • If that doesn't help, open Device Manager → "Sound, video and game controllers," right-click the device and choose "Disable device," then right-click again and choose "Enable device."
  • If it's still not working, try "Update driver" from the same menu, or look up your PC model plus "audio driver" on the manufacturer's support site and reinstall the dedicated driver.
  • A similar thing can happen on Mac right after a macOS update. Try restarting first; if that doesn't help, reselect the output device under System Settings → Sound. If it's still broken, an NVRAM/SMC reset (see Apple's support instructions) often resolves it.

FAQ

Q. Does using this page record or send anything?
A. No. This page never asks for microphone or any other permission — it only generates a test sound inside your device and plays it. No information is ever sent from this page.
Q. I can't hear 15kHz. Are my earphones broken?
A. Not necessarily. It's normal for high-frequency hearing to decline with age, and most adults can't hear 15kHz — that's entirely ordinary. If you can hear the mid tones (440Hz, 1kHz), your earphones are producing sound just fine.
Q. I can barely hear 60Hz (deep bass).
A. Small speakers and the built-in speakers of laptops and phones physically can't reproduce much bass. This, too, is normal and not a malfunction.
Q. Does this work on a phone?
A. Yes — it's handy for checking earphone left/right, for example. Note that on iPhone, if the physical mute switch is on (silent mode), browser sound may not play either.
Q. No sound plays at all. Is this page broken?
A. Test sounds play at a modest volume. First raise your device volume, then work through the checklist above (output device, mute, Bluetooth, muted tab).
Q. My computer stopped playing sound after I connected an external monitor over HDMI.
A. It's usually not a fault — the audio output has simply switched to the monitor automatically. Reopen the output-device list and select your computer's own speakers or earphones again (see "Common Sound Problems and Fixes" above).
Q. Sound suddenly stopped working after a Windows update.
A. It's common for an update to temporarily confuse the audio driver. Try restarting first; if that doesn't help, disable and re-enable the audio device in Device Manager.