Speaker test

Speaker Test

QUICK ANSWER

Play a clean test tone through both channels, isolate the left or right speaker, sweep through frequencies, and pick a specific output device — all in your browser. Catch a dead channel, swapped L/R wires, a balance slider gone off-centre, or a blown driver in under a minute. Use it before a headphones-sensitive call, after buying new earbuds, or to settle the "is it my speakers or the call audio?" question. Nothing is uploaded; the tones are synthesised locally.

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  • Works offline

Speaker / headphone test

Plays a short tone through your selected output. Nothing is recorded.

Left
L
Idle
Right
R
Idle
50%

Start around 30%. The tone is intentionally quieter than a typical music track to protect headphone users.

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How it works

  1. 1

    Set the slider to about 30%, then play Both channels

    Start quiet — a pure sine tone is more fatiguing than music, and headphones at high volume can damage hearing faster than you expect. Press Both channels: you should hear a steady 440 Hz tone equally in left and right. If you hear nothing at all, the OS output device is almost certainly wrong — jump to the troubleshooting FAQ below.

  2. 2

    Run Left only, then Right only

    Each button plays the tone exclusively in one channel. If only one button produces sound, the dead side is the driver, cable, or connector. If both work individually but Both channels is one-sided, your OS balance slider has slipped off centre — fix it in Windows Sound > Volume mixer > Properties > Levels > Balance, or macOS System Settings > Sound > Output.

  3. 3

    Use the output picker for a specific device

    On Chromium browsers (Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera) the dropdown lets you route the tone to one specific device — built-in speakers, USB headphones, a Bluetooth headset — without changing the OS default. Useful when several outputs are connected at once. Safari and Firefox don't expose setSinkId yet, so on those browsers the tone plays through whichever output your OS has set as default.

Common stereo failure modes, and what they sound like

One channel silent: Left or Right plays nothing — almost always a cable or connector failure on cheap or worn headphones; try a different cable first, then a different source device. Channels reversed: Left only plays in your right ear and vice versa — the L and R cables are swapped at the connector, or your DAW or audio interface has its outputs swapped, or your speakers are physically placed on the wrong sides. Both work individually but Both is one-sided: the OS balance slider has slipped off centre — fix it in Windows Sound > device > Properties > Levels > Balance, or macOS System Settings > Sound > Output. Sweep rattles or buzzes: pure sine tones expose driver damage that music masks, so a rattle in the sweep is mechanical and the headphones need service.

Record once your audio path is confirmed

With output confirmed, capture a screen recording with narration using Clipy: free, no watermark, instant shareable link. To round out the pre-call check, run the microphone test and the webcam test — or use the all-in-one webcam and mic test — or jump straight to the platform-specific testers above for Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams.

Why test before headphones-sensitive calls and after new earbuds

The most common cause of joining a call and immediately saying "I can't hear you" is the OS routing audio to the wrong output — a Bluetooth headset paired yesterday, an HDMI monitor speaker, an external USB DAC that just woke up. Sixty seconds of testing here eliminates that whole category of problem before your team sees it happen. The stereo channel check matters most after buying new headphones or earbuds. Cheap cables fail asymmetrically, drivers ship damaged from the factory, and Amazon-warehouse returns occasionally include a bad pair re-sealed and re-shipped. Run Left only and Right only inside the return window — finding the failure on day 0 is cheap; finding it after the return window costs you a replacement.

How the test actually works

The tool uses the Web Audio API to synthesise a pure sine wave with an OscillatorNode, shape its loudness with a GainNode, and route it through a StereoPannerNode for L/R isolation. Both channels plays a centred 440 Hz tone (concert A, the standard reference pitch). The Left and Right tests pan that same tone fully to one side. The sweep is an exponential frequency ramp from roughly 200 Hz up to 2 kHz, which covers most of the vocal range and reveals driver damage that music masks. When you use the output picker on a Chromium browser, the audio flows through an HTMLAudioElement whose setSinkId() method targets the device you picked. On Safari and Firefox the picker is hidden because those browsers haven't shipped setSinkId yet.

What "good" output sounds like

Both channels: a steady, smooth tone in the centre of your head (with headphones) or evenly across both speakers, no flutter, no buzz. Left only: tone purely in the left side, complete silence on the right. Right only: the inverse. Frequency sweep: a smooth, continuous rise with no clicks, drop-outs, or rattle. A buzz midway through the sweep almost always means a damaged voice coil or a loose driver housing — common on cheap earbuds and on laptop speakers after a couple of years of dust. Mono playback when both speakers should be active means a balance-slider problem at the OS level, not a hardware fault.

Common questions

I hear nothing at all. What is the most likely cause?

In order of frequency: (1) the OS has the wrong output device selected — open Sound settings and confirm the device you expect is set as default; (2) the browser tab is muted — right-click the tab in Chrome or Edge and check Unmute site; (3) volume is at zero somewhere (OS master, per-app, or the slider on this page); (4) the audio device is paired but disconnected (common with Bluetooth — re-pair); (5) another app holds an exclusive audio session — quit DAWs, Spotify desktop, video editors, then try again.

I can hear the tone in one ear only. Are my headphones broken?

Run Left only and Right only separately. If only one button produces sound, the dead side is the driver, cable, or connector — replace or service the headphones (if still in warranty, return now). If both Left and Right tests work individually but Both channels sounds one-sided, your OS balance slider has slipped off-centre. Windows: Settings > System > Sound > select your device > Properties > Levels > Balance, set both to 100. macOS: System Settings > Sound > Output, drag the balance slider to the middle.

Why does the test tone sound quieter than my music?

We intentionally cap the tone gain to about 40% of full amplitude even at 100% on the slider — a pure 440 Hz sine wave at full amplitude through closed headphones is uncomfortable and risks hearing damage if your system volume is high. If you want it louder, raise your OS volume; the in-page slider only attenuates within a safer ceiling.

Can I choose which speaker the tone plays through?

Yes, on Chromium browsers — Chrome 49+, Edge, Brave, Opera. They support HTMLAudioElement.setSinkId, which lets the page route audio to a specific output device. Safari and Firefox don't expose that API yet, so on those browsers the test plays through whatever is set as your system default output. Switch the default in your OS sound settings to test a different device.

Bluetooth earbuds sound terrible during the test — like an old phone call. Why?

That's the HFP/HSP profile kicking in. Bluetooth audio has two profiles: A2DP for high-quality stereo playback, and HFP/HSP for headset use with a microphone. When any page or app requests mic access in parallel, the OS often downgrades the connection to HFP to share the bandwidth — which sounds tinny and mono. This tool only outputs audio, so it should stay on A2DP. If you're stuck on HFP, disconnect the earbuds, close any other tab or app holding mic access (Zoom, Meet, a previous mic test), and reconnect.

I can hear the tone here but my video call has no audio. Why?

A working speaker test confirms your hardware and OS output routing are fine. If a specific app (Zoom, Meet, Teams) has no audio, the problem is app-side: the app may have a different speaker selected in its own audio settings, or its tab was muted, or it requested exclusive output and lost the device. Open the app's audio settings and re-select the same device that worked here.

Does this speaker test record any audio from my device?

No. The tool only plays a test tone out of your speakers — it does not request microphone access (except optionally when you click "show device names" to reveal output device labels, which briefly opens and immediately closes a mic stream), does not open a recorder, and does not upload anything. You can verify in your browser's Network tab: no requests go out while the tone plays.

Will the speaker test work on iPhone or iPad?

Yes, in Safari 14.1 and later on iOS and iPadOS. The output device picker is not supported by Safari, so the tone plays through whichever output iOS is currently using (built-in speaker, the connected headphones, AirPods). To test a different output, switch it in Control Centre or in Settings > Bluetooth.

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