What frequencies can you hear?
Play tones from 50Hz to 20kHz and find the highest one you can hear. Here’s what the result means, what it doesn’t and why your speakers matter as much as your ears.
Most people have heard that young people can hear high pitched tones that adults can’t. It’s true and you can check roughly where your own upper limit sits in a couple of minutes with nothing more than headphones.
Before you start, one important point: this measures what you can hear through your current speakers. It isn’t a medical test and the result depends as much on the speakers as on your ears.
How to run the check
- Use wired headphones if you can. Laptop speakers and most Bluetooth earbuds roll off the highest frequencies, which hides your real limit.
- Find a quiet room.
- Open the speaker test and set the volume low.
- Scroll to the hearing range section. Play each step from 50Hz upward and mark the ones you can hear.
- Raise the volume only a little as you go higher. Stop when you no longer hear a tone.
The test reports the highest step you marked and the age range that limit is typical of.
What the numbers mean
Human hearing is usually given as 20Hz to 20kHz. That full range belongs to young children. Almost everyone loses some of the top end with age.
| Highest tone heard | Typical of |
|---|---|
| 17kHz and above | Teens and twenties |
| 15kHz to 16kHz | Twenties and thirties |
| 12kHz to 14kHz | Forties and fifties |
| 10kHz to 11kHz | Over about fifty |
These are rough guides with a lot of overlap between people. Noise exposure from loud music, concerts or work can lower the limit earlier than age alone would.
The upper limit also matters less than it sounds. Speech sits mostly between 250Hz and 4kHz. Someone who can’t hear above 12kHz usually follows conversation without any trouble.
Why your speakers change the result
The tone has to come out of your speakers before your ears can hear it.
- Laptop speakers are tiny and often produce little above 15kHz or below 200Hz.
- Bluetooth audio may use a codec that cuts the very highest frequencies.
- Cheap earbuds vary widely and some drop off sharply at the top.
- Good wired headphones usually reach 20kHz.
If you can hear 17kHz on headphones but only 14kHz on your laptop, the laptop speakers are the limit. That’s also a quick way to compare two pairs of headphones.
Checking each ear separately
The hearing range steps play in both ears at once. To compare ears, play a high tone you can just about hear using the single tone control and listen with one earcup lifted, then the other. Use the left and right buttons in the speaker test to confirm the channels are wired the right way round first.
A clear difference between ears is worth mentioning to a doctor. So is ringing, muffled hearing or any change that came on suddenly.
Low frequencies
The lowest steps are more about your speakers than your ears. Very few small speakers reproduce 50Hz properly. If the low tones sound like buzzing or rattling rather than a smooth hum, something is vibrating loose. The crackling speakers guide covers that.
Safe listening
High frequency tones can seem silent and then suddenly be loud as the volume rises. Keep the volume moderate, raise it in small steps and stop if anything is uncomfortable. Don’t use high volume to try to hear a tone above your limit. Your ears won’t adapt and you risk discomfort for no useful result.
Common questions
Is this a hearing test?
No. It shows the highest tone you can hear through your current speakers or headphones at the volume you chose. A real hearing test uses calibrated equipment in a quiet room and checks many frequencies at known levels in each ear. If you’re worried about your hearing, see an audiologist or your doctor.
Why can’t I hear anything above 15kHz?
Two common reasons. The upper limit of hearing drops with age for nearly everyone, so a limit around 15kHz is typical by the twenties and thirties. Many laptop speakers and cheap earbuds also reproduce very little above 15kHz, so the limit may be your speakers rather than your ears.
Why does a high tone sound quieter than a low one?
Human hearing isn’t equally sensitive across frequencies. We’re most sensitive between about 2kHz and 5kHz and much less sensitive at the very low and very high ends. The test adjusts the volume across frequencies to make the steps easier to compare, but it can’t correct for your particular speakers.
Is it safe to play high frequency tones?
At a comfortable volume, yes. Start quiet and raise the volume slowly. Don’t turn the volume up a long way to chase a tone you can’t hear, since that tone may suddenly become audible at an uncomfortable level. Turn it down immediately if a tone causes discomfort.