Microphone test

Microphone Test

QUICK ANSWER

Speak into your mic and watch the live audio level meter respond in real time. Record a short sample, play it back, download it, then switch microphones and record a second sample for an A/B comparison. Works for the built-in laptop mic, USB condenser mics, AirPods and Bluetooth headsets, gaming headsets, lavaliers — anything macOS, Windows, or Linux exposes to the browser. The audio never leaves your device.

  • Runs in your browser
  • Record, replay, and download samples
  • Compare two microphones
  • Shows sample rate and processing specs
  • Nothing uploaded
  • No signup

Allow microphone access to start the test. Nothing is recorded or sent to any server.

Mic level0%

Grant mic access above to start the test.

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How it works

  1. 1

    Allow microphone access when the browser asks

    On the first visit your browser shows a one-time permission prompt. Click Allow. The page opens a getUserMedia stream — the same WebRTC API Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Slack Huddles use — pipes it into a Web Audio AnalyserNode, and reads the amplitude 60 times a second to drive the meter. Nothing is uploaded, and optional sample recordings stay in your browser.

  2. 2

    Speak and watch the level meter respond

    Say a few sentences at your normal call volume. The bar should track your voice immediately — a clear jump above the idle baseline when you speak, falling back when you stop. If the bar moves, the mic is working at the OS, browser, and hardware layer and will work in every modern conferencing app.

  3. 3

    Switch input devices to test each one

    Use the device dropdown to pick a different microphone — the built-in mic, a USB headset, an XLR mic on an audio interface, AirPods or another Bluetooth headset. The meter updates instantly. This is the fastest way to confirm which physical mic the OS is actually routing to your browser.

  4. 4

    Record sample A and sample B

    Record the same sentence on one microphone, switch devices, then record it again. Play the samples alternately to hear room noise, gain, clipping, Bluetooth compression, and plosive handling in a way a level meter alone cannot show.

Granting microphone permission, per OS

On Windows 11 and 10, browser-level permission is not enough — the OS also has a global toggle at Settings → Privacy & security → Microphone. Confirm "Microphone access" is on, "Let apps access your microphone" is on, and your browser is listed and enabled below. On macOS Sonoma, Ventura, and Sequoia, the equivalent lives at System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone; your browser must be checked. On Ubuntu with PipeWire or PulseAudio, permissions are app-level only — the browser handles them, so the in-page Allow click is normally sufficient. If the in-browser bar still does not move, the test you need is the speaker test — if speakers work but the mic does not, the failure is in the input path, not the audio stack as a whole.

Want to record once your mic is confirmed?

With the mic confirmed, capture a screen recording with narration using Clipy: free, no watermark, instant shareable link. If you just need a voice-only recording, the voice recorder records straight to MP3 in the browser. To verify both audio and video together before a meeting, use the webcam and mic test for a combined camera + audio check, or jump to the webcam test for camera-only, or one of the platform-specific testers above.

Why test before calls, podcasts, and recordings

The single most common reason a call starts with five awkward seconds of "can you hear me?" is the OS routing audio to the wrong input — a Bluetooth headset that was paired yesterday, the laptop's built-in mic instead of the USB one, a webcam mic instead of your headset. Sixty seconds of testing here eliminates that whole category of problem before your team sees it happen. The same applies to podcast takes and screen recordings: by the time you have noticed the wrong mic was picked up, the take is unusable. The pre-call check costs nothing and saves the recording.

How the test actually works

When you click Allow, the browser opens a MediaStream from your selected input. The stream is piped into a Web Audio AnalyserNode, which samples the time-domain buffer 60 times per second and converts the peak amplitude to a 0–100 scale. The bar-graph meter is a real representation of the audio signal — not an animation, not a placeholder. If it does not move, no audio is reaching the browser, which narrows the root cause to permissions, device selection, or an OS-level mute. When you record sample A or sample B, the browser's MediaRecorder captures that same local MediaStream into an in-memory blob so you can play it back or download it. No sample is sent to Clipy's servers. The page also reads browser-reported track settings such as sample rate, channel count, latency, echo cancellation, noise suppression, and auto gain when the browser exposes them.

What a "good" microphone level looks like

At a comfortable speaking volume from 20–40 cm away, the meter should sit in roughly the 40–70% range, with peaks pushing toward 80% on louder syllables. Constantly hitting 100% means the input is clipping and your voice will sound distorted — turn down the input volume in Windows Sound settings or macOS System Settings. Sitting under 20% even when you speak loudly means the input volume is too low — raise the input slider, move closer to the mic, or check the gain knob on a USB or XLR mic. A bar that barely moves but is not at zero usually means the wrong input device is selected.

Common questions

Why is my mic too quiet even though the bar is moving?

Two stacked levels need to be raised: the OS input gain, and (on hardware mics) the physical gain knob on the device. Windows: Settings > System > Sound > Input > select your mic > raise the input volume slider. macOS: System Settings > Sound > Input > select your mic > raise the input volume slider. USB and XLR mics also usually have a physical gain knob on the body or on the audio interface — turn it up. Move closer to the mic too: doubling the distance roughly halves the level.

The browser is asking for microphone permission — why?

getUserMedia is gated behind an explicit user permission grant by every major browser, by design. Without that prompt, any web page could silently record you. The Allow click only grants permission to this page (or this site) and only for this session; you can revoke it at any time from the browser's site settings. Nothing is recorded or uploaded on this page — the audio is analyzed locally and discarded.

I clicked Allow but the bar still does not move. What is wrong?

Four common causes, in order of frequency. (1) The wrong input device is selected — use the device dropdown to pick the right one. (2) The OS itself has muted the input — Windows Settings > System > Sound > Input or macOS System Settings > Sound > Input, and confirm the input volume slider is up. (3) A physical mute switch on the headset cable or earcup is engaged — check the cable and the device body. (4) Another app holds an exclusive lock on the mic (Skype, OBS, an older Zoom desktop client) — quit it and reload this page.

Why does Chrome ask again even though I already allowed it once?

Either the previous Allow was "this time only" (Chrome offers that on some installs), or the browser was reset, or the site URL changed. To grant permanently: click the lock icon in the address bar > Microphone > Allow. To audit and clean up: chrome://settings/content/microphone — the Allowed and Blocked lists are visible there.

Can I test AirPods, a Bluetooth headset, or a USB mic?

Yes — anything the OS exposes as an input device will appear in the dropdown. AirPods, Bose, Sony, Jabra, Logitech, and similar Bluetooth headsets all work. USB condenser mics (Blue Yeti, HyperX QuadCast, Rode NT-USB, etc.) appear once plugged in. XLR mics on an audio interface (Focusrite Scarlett, Audient, MOTU) show up as the interface, not the mic directly.

Does my mic work here mean my mic will work in Zoom and Google Meet?

Yes. This tool uses the same getUserMedia WebRTC API that Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack Huddles, and Discord rely on. If audio registers on the level meter here, the OS is routing your mic correctly to the browser and it will work in every WebRTC-based app — assuming no other app is holding an exclusive capture on the device.

Does this microphone test record or upload my voice?

The live meter does not record anything. If you click Record on sample A or sample B, the browser creates a local audio blob so you can play it back or download it. That blob never uploads to Clipy, there is no transcription, and there is no server-side processing. You can verify this in your browser's Network tab.

Does the microphone test work on iPhone and iPad?

Yes, in Safari 14.1 and later on iOS and iPadOS. Tap the lock or AA icon in the Safari address bar and select Website Settings to grant microphone permission if the prompt does not appear automatically. Bluetooth mics paired in iOS Settings appear automatically; switching between earpiece mic, AirPods, and external mics happens at the iOS level, not in the browser dropdown.

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