Tool — Hearing Test

Online Hearing Test

A free pure-tone hearing screening for both ears: soft beeps at 6 frequencies, an automatic threshold search, and your personal audiogram chart. Educational screening — not a medical diagnosis.

Start hearing test ↓ How it works

Before you start — 30 seconds of setup

Go somewhere quiet — a silent room, doors closed.
Use headphones or earbuds (both ears, same pair). Speakers will not work.
Set your device volume to about 50% — do not touch it again mid-test.
Allow 2 minutes (quick) or 5 minutes (full) without interruptions.
iPhone/iPad: flip the silent switch OFF — it mutes web test tones.

Audio engine: not started

Sound is generated on-device with the Web Audio API — nothing is recorded or uploaded. Stop immediately if any tone feels uncomfortable.

Your screening audiogram

Higher is better — lines near the top mean you hear soft sounds. Scores are relative 0–100 settings (lower = softer heard), not clinical dB HL.

Hearing thresholds per ear and frequency
Frequency	Right ear	Left ear

Screening only — not a diagnosis. Headphones and browsers are uncalibrated, so this test detects patterns (differences between ears and frequencies), not clinical hearing loss. Only a professional pure-tone audiometry can diagnose. If you notice difficulty hearing, ringing, or a blocked feeling, see an audiologist or ENT physician.

Hearing range explorer — 20 Hz to 20 kHz

How much of the human hearing range can you actually hear? Tap any frequency for a 1-second tone in both ears, or run the full sweep from deep bass to high treble. Loudness follows your device volume, with a small boost at the extremes where ears are naturally less sensitive.

— Hz

Idle — pick a frequency or run the sweep

Honest expectations: almost no adult hears the full 20–20,000 Hz — hearing 30 Hz–16 kHz is typical, and sensitivity above ~14 kHz fades with age. Phone speakers will not reproduce the extremes; use headphones. Stop on any discomfort.

How the Test Works

The test plays pure tones — single-frequency beeps, the same kind of signal an audiologist uses — starting at the familiar 1000 Hz, then 2000, 4000 and 8000 Hz upward, finishing with 500 and 250 Hz (full mode). Each ear is tested separately, left first, with the tone looping continuously in that ear while you find your threshold with the method of adjustment: tap − Softer until the tone disappears completely, then + Louder until it just barely returns — and hit Record. That just-barely level, on a 0–100 scale, is your threshold for that frequency.

Figure 1 — The down-then-up procedure: from the clearly audible start (60), − steps until the tone vanishes, + steps until it just returns — that level is recorded as your threshold.

Why this method? Because every tone starts loud and loops, silence is always meaningful: if you hear nothing even at 100, that is a genuine result, not a setup mystery. And because you set the pace, there is no timer pressure and no guessing — the test only records a level you found by going softer past it and coming back up. Device volume does the absolute loudness; the 0–100 slider only maps your personal just-barely point.

Two design details keep the result honest: silent catch trials are mixed in — pressing "I heard it" when nothing played flags guessing — and each tone starts after a random delay so you cannot anticipate it. Every tone lasts about 1.5 seconds with soft fade edges (no clicks), peaks at a capped moderate level, and plays through left/right stereo panning so each ear is tested in isolation.

Test frequencies and what each one reveals
Tone	Covers	Why it matters
250 Hz *	Bass rumble, vowel fullness	First corrupted by room noise — indicative only
500 Hz *	Vowel power, appliance hum	Foundation of speech loudness
1000 Hz	Speech clarity anchor	Calibration reference; most reliable point
2000 Hz	Consonant cues (d, t)	Core speech intelligibility band
4000 Hz	High consonants (s, sh), birdsong	The classic "noise notch" — first to fall with loud exposure
8000 Hz	Treble brilliance	Naturally declines with age; sharp drops merit a check

* Full mode only — quick mode covers the three speech frequencies (1, 2, 4 kHz) where most everyday hearing lives.

Reading Your Results

Your audiogram plots your just-barely level (0–100) against frequency. Lines near the top mean you hear soft sounds; lines sagging downward mean louder settings were needed. Because levels are relative, read patterns, not numbers:

Both lines high and close together — no concerning pattern in this screening. Recheck yearly, or sooner after very loud exposures (see the 3 dB rule for safe budgets).
One ear clearly worse (gap of ~20 points or more) — asymmetry is the single most important screening flag. Book a professional audiometry even if you feel fine.
Treble end sagging (4–8 kHz worse than 1–2 kHz) — the classic noise-exposure shape. Check your headphone habits against safe headphone volumes and your environment against safe exposure limits.
Everything low (both ears need loud tones) — often means a noisy room, changed volume, or blocked earbuds rather than hearing. Retest in silence; if it persists, see a professional.

If results swing between attempts, suspect the setup before your ears: volume changed, background noise, poorly seated earbuds, earwax, or a cold. Repeat under identical conditions — agreement within ~10 dB means the picture is trustworthy.

What to Do Next

A flagged screening is a reason to book a professional pure-tone audiometry, not a reason to worry. Here is what actually happens: you sit in a quiet booth wearing calibrated headphones, press a button each time you hear a beep, and the audiologist maps both ears — plus a bone-conduction vibrator behind the ear that separates outer/middle-ear issues from inner-ear ones. It takes about 20–30 minutes, is completely painless, and ends with a proper dB HL audiogram you can keep. Bring your noise and work history, current medications, and any previous hearing tests.

Seek prompt medical care — do not wait for a routine appointment — for sudden hearing loss in one ear (especially with ringing or dizziness), severe ear pain, discharge or bleeding, or hearing loss after a blast, blow, or diving injury. Sudden sensorineural loss is time-critical: treatment works best within days.

While waiting for an appointment: protect what you have — musician's plugs or earmuffs for loud tasks, the 60-60 headphone rule, and the exposure calculator for dose awareness. Do not repeat this screening at high volume trying to "pass" it; once a month at most is plenty for tracking.

Limits & Disclaimer

This tool screens — it does not diagnose. It cannot measure clinical dB HL, test bone conduction, fit hearing aids, assess children, or detect medical causes (infections, otosclerosis, acoustic neuroma). Persistent difficulty hearing, tinnitus beyond 24 hours, sudden one-sided loss, dizziness, or ear pain need prompt medical assessment.

Uncalibrated hardware: headphone sensitivity varies wildly (±10–20 dB), so absolute thresholds are estimates. Only patterns and ear-to-ear symmetry are interpretable.
Low frequencies (250 Hz) are fragile: room rumble and headphone bass limits corrupt them first — treat that point as indicative only.
Keep it safe: tones are capped at a moderate peak and each lasts ~1.5 s, but stop immediately on discomfort. Never use the test with children as a game.
Educational information, not medical or legal advice. For hearing concerns consult an audiologist or ENT physician.

References: WHO hearing loss topics (who.int), NIOSH noise and hearing loss prevention (cdc.gov/niosh/noise), OSHA noise (osha.gov/noise).

FAQ — Online Hearing Test

Is this online hearing test accurate?

As a screening, yes — for patterns. The threshold search, random timing and catch trials follow the same principles as clinical audiometry, but uncalibrated headphones mean absolute levels are approximate. Trust ear-to-ear symmetry and frequency shape, not exact numbers, and confirm anything suspicious with a professional test.

What do my results mean?

Your audiogram shows the lowest slider setting where you could just barely hear each tone, per ear — a relative 0–100 score, not clinical decibels. High, close-together lines mean no concerning pattern; a gap of about 20 points or more between ears, or treble clearly worse than speech frequencies, deserves a professional audiometry appointment.

Why does the test start at 1000 Hz?

1000 Hz sits in the middle of speech, so almost everyone recognises it instantly — it makes the most reliable reference and the easiest first tone. Clinics start there too. We then move upward to 8 kHz and finish with the low tones, which keeps the flow consistent and reduces listening fatigue.

Can this test diagnose hearing loss?

No. Diagnosis needs calibrated equipment, bone-conduction testing and a clinician — none of which a browser can provide. This test tells you whether a professional appointment is worth booking, and gives you a baseline to compare future checks against.

Why does it test each ear separately?

Because asymmetry is the most actionable screening finding. Many people adapt to one weaker ear without noticing; a consistent gap between ears at the same frequency is a standard referral criterion for audiologists, even when both ears seem "fine" day to day.

My results change between attempts — why?

Usually the setup changed: device volume, background noise, earbud seal, earwax, or even time of day and attention. Retest in the same quiet room at the same volume — agreement within about 10 points means the result is trustworthy. Persistent large swings or one-sided differences warrant a professional test.

Related Resources

Protect What You Just Tested

Dose calculators, safe-volume guides and the exposure rules behind them.

Online Hearing Test

Before you start — 30 seconds of setup

Step 1 — Set a comfortable volume

Left ear complete!

Your screening audiogram

Hearing range explorer — 20 Hz to 20 kHz

How the Test Works

Reading Your Results

What to Do Next

Limits & Disclaimer

FAQ — Online Hearing Test

Protect What You Just Tested

Exposure Calculator

Safe Headphone Volumes

The 3 dB Rule

Safe Exposure Limits

Fast vs Slow vs Leq

All Tools