The short version
- Put on headphones, turn the volume low, press Start. Say yes or no to each set of beeps. It takes about a minute.
- Healthy young ears hear up to about 20,000 Hz (20 kHz). Most adults top out somewhere between 14 and 17 kHz, and that is completely normal.
- The top end drops with age for everyone. It’s called presbycusis, and it starts in your twenties. Rude, but true.
- Your gear matters. Many laptop and phone speakers can’t play above about 16 kHz, so use decent wired headphones for a fair result.
- There’s a silent trial hidden in every run, so the test can tell if you’re just hitting “yes”.
- This is a fun check, not a medical test. If you’re worried about your hearing, see an audiologist.
How to take the hearing test
- Plug in headphones (wired is best) and find a quiet room. The fridge counts as noise.
- Turn your device volume down, press “Volume check”, and raise it until the 1 kHz tone is clear but comfortable. Then don’t touch it again.
- Choose an ear. Both is the classic test. Left and Right show whether one ear hears more than the other.
- Press Start. Each step plays three short beeps. Press Yes if you heard them, Nope if you didn’t. Use “Play it again” if you’re unsure.
- Get your result: the highest frequency you heard and a rough “ear age”. Copy it and challenge someone younger. Or older, if you need a win.
Never turn it up to “find” a tone. If a frequency is silent, raising the volume a lot won’t make it a fair test, and loud high tones can hurt your ears and damage tweeters. Keep the volume where the check tone was comfortable. If anything sounds painful or your ears ring, stop.
What your result means: hearing range by age
The highest pitch most people can hear drops gradually with age. These are rough guides from typical high-frequency hearing, not a diagnosis. Plenty of people hear more or less than their age suggests, and the equipment you use moves the number too.
| Highest tone | Typical “ear age” | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 19–20 kHz | Under 20 | The full textbook range. Enjoy it while it lasts |
| 17–18 kHz | Under 25–30 | Young ears; the 17.4 kHz “mosquito tone” is still audible |
| 15–16 kHz | About 30–40 | Healthy and very common for adults |
| 12–14 kHz | About 45–50 | Normal for middle age; music still sounds full |
| 8–10 kHz | About 60+ | Common later in life; worth a proper check if speech sounds muffled |
Here’s the reassuring bit: almost all the information in speech and music is below about 8 kHz. Losing the very top end mostly means cymbals and “s” sounds get a little softer. It doesn’t mean music stops sounding good.
What is the mosquito tone?
The mosquito tone is a high-pitched sound around 17.4 kHz that most teenagers can hear and most adults can’t. It has been used as a “teen deterrent” outside shops, and, more usefully, as a ringtone that teachers can’t hear. If you get to 17.5 kHz on this test, you are officially in the mosquito club. If you can’t, welcome to the grown-ups’ table. We have biscuits.
The bass check: how low can your speakers go?
Switch to Bass check and the test walks down from 120 Hz to 20 Hz. Your ears are rarely the limit down there: speakers are. Phone and laptop speakers usually stop producing anything useful around 100–150 Hz, decent headphones reach 20–30 Hz, and a subwoofer will happily shake the room at 25 Hz. It’s a quick way to find out whether the bass in your mix is actually there, or just in your imagination. For a smooth sweep, try the tone generator.
How accurate is an online hearing test?
It’s a good rough guide to your upper limit, and nothing more. A real audiogram is done in a sound-proofed booth with calibrated headphones, at many frequencies and many volumes. This test can’t know how loud your headphones actually are, so it only finds the highest tone you can hear at one comfortable level. Things that skew the result:
- Your speakers or headphones. Lots of small speakers roll off above 15–16 kHz. Bluetooth codecs can trim the top too.
- Volume. Too quiet and you’ll miss tones you can hear; too loud is unsafe and unfair.
- Background noise. Fans, traffic and fridges hide quiet sounds.
- Earwax and colds. Glamorous, but real.
The test fades every beep in and out smoothly. A sudden start makes a click, and a click contains every frequency, so you’d “hear” a 20 kHz tone that your ears can’t actually detect. That’s also why it hides a silent trial in each run.
When to see a professional. If you hear ringing that doesn’t go away (tinnitus), if one ear is clearly worse than the other, or if conversations feel muffled, book a hearing test with an audiologist or your doctor. It’s quick, painless, and usually free or cheap.
How to protect your hearing
- Follow the 60/60 rule: headphones at no more than 60% volume for no more than 60 minutes at a time.
- Wear earplugs at gigs and festivals. Musician earplugs turn everything down evenly, so it still sounds good.
- Give your ears quiet time after loud events. Ringing ears are asking for a break.
- Mix at a sensible level. Your mixes get better too, because loud music fools you into thinking it sounds great.
For music makers: why this matters
If your hearing tops out at 15 kHz, you won’t notice harsh sizzle above that in a mix, but younger listeners will. When you finish a Suno song, check the very top end in a spectrum view or ask someone with younger ears to listen. Then check the loudness with the LUFS meter so it isn’t blasting anyone’s ears either.
Why I built this
I'm a guitarist: a Cort, a lot of enthusiasm, roughly twelve notes. After building the tone generator, I played the 17.4 kHz preset to my family. The youngest flinched. I heard nothing. That was a moment.
So I made a proper step-by-step version, with smooth fades so clicks don’t cheat, a shareable result for family rivalries, and a silent honesty check, because someone in my house kept pressing “yes” to everything. You know who you are.
How it works, and what it does with your data
The beeps are pure sine tones made by your browser’s Web Audio API, each faded in and out over 60 milliseconds with a smooth curve. Left and right tests send the tone to one channel only. Nothing is recorded, the microphone isn’t used, and there’s no account. Your best result is saved in your browser’s local storage, on your device only.
Hearing test FAQ
How high can a human hear?
Healthy young ears hear up to about 20,000 Hz (20 kHz). Most adults hear up to somewhere between 14 and 17 kHz, and the upper limit drops gradually with age.
What is a normal hearing range for my age?
Roughly: under 20, up to 19–20 kHz; under 30, up to about 17 kHz; around 40, up to about 15 kHz; around 50, up to about 12 kHz; and around 60, up to about 10 kHz. Individual results vary a lot.
Is this an accurate hearing test?
It is a fun, rough check of the highest tone you can hear at one comfortable volume. It is not a medical hearing test. A real audiogram uses calibrated equipment in a quiet booth and checks many frequencies at many volumes.
Why can’t I hear the high tones?
It is usually age, which is normal, or your equipment: many laptop, phone and Bluetooth speakers cannot play above about 15–16 kHz. Try wired headphones in a quiet room with the volume at a comfortable level.
What is the mosquito tone?
A high-pitched tone around 17.4 kHz that most teenagers can hear and most adults cannot. It is sometimes used as a teen deterrent, and as a ringtone teachers can’t hear.
Should I use headphones or speakers?
Wired headphones give the fairest result, because they play high frequencies well and you can test each ear separately. Speakers work for the both-ears test if they are good quality.
Is the hearing test safe?
Yes, if you keep the volume low. Set it with the 1 kHz volume check so the tone is clear but comfortable, then leave it there. Never turn it up a lot to try to hear a tone, and stop if anything hurts or your ears ring.
What is the silent trial?
Each run hides one trial that plays nothing. If you say you heard it, the test lets you know, so you can tell whether you are really hearing the tones or just guessing yes.
Does this record my voice or use my microphone?
No. The test only plays tones. It never uses the microphone, nothing is uploaded, and your best score stays in your browser’s local storage.
Ears warmed up? Make a song
The free Paddy Prompt Studio builds Suno style prompts and Vidmuse video scripts. Pick a genre, mood and vocal and it writes the style line for you.
Open the Prompt Studio →