Speaker test online. Left, then right.
Check that sound plays, and that it plays on both sides, before a call or a lecture. A short tone plays on the left and then the right.
One check
- Speakers
One check after another, with your progress along the top and a plain verdict on each. Nothing you show the camera or say into the microphone leaves this page.
In short
Speaker test: the answer first
A speaker test plays a 440 Hz tone on the left and a 660 Hz tone on the right, then a slow sweep from low to high, and you say what you heard. The page cannot hear your speakers, so your answers are the result.
Reading your result
- Both sides heard
- Two different pitches make the sides easy to tell apart. Only one side usually means a plug not pushed fully in or a balance slider off centre.
- Silence at the low end of the sweep
- Small laptop speakers often cannot play the lowest notes. That is normal, not a fault.
- A rattle or buzz part way
- A buzz at one point of the sweep is the speaker or something near it resonating. Note where it happened and listen for it again with the volume lower.
What it measures
Measured here, not assumed.
- Left channel
- A 440 Hz tone for under a second, sent to the left only.
- Right channel
- A 660 Hz tone, sent to the right only. A different pitch makes the two easy to tell apart.
- Your answer
- The page cannot hear your speakers, so it asks whether you heard both. That answer is the result.
- A slow sweep
- A sine from 50 Hz to 16 kHz on a logarithmic curve over twenty seconds. You say whether it was clean, rattled or buzzed at some point, or went silent for a stretch. Small laptop speakers are often silent at the very low end; that is normal.
- The microphone's reading, if you allow it
- The microphone can listen to the sweep and show where its level fell well below the rest. That is the laptop microphone's own reading, with its own response in it, not a calibrated measurement of the speaker.
If it fails
The usual failures, and what fixes each.
- Nothing was heard
- Turn the volume up and check the system is not muted. In the system's sound settings, choose the right output device: many laptops list a monitor or a headset as well as their speakers.
- Only one side
- A headphone plug not pushed in fully is the usual cause. On a desktop, check the balance slider in the sound settings, and the cable between speakers.
- Sound comes from the wrong device
- Unplug headphones if you want the speakers, or select the headset as the output. Bluetooth headsets sometimes connect for calls only, with a separate profile for music.
Where a browser stops
What it cannot tell you.
- Whether the sound is actually coming out. No browser can listen to a speaker; only you can.
- Which device the system is sending sound to. The page plays to whatever the system has chosen; a monitor, a headset or a TV can be the surprise answer.
- A measured frequency response. The sweep is judged by your ears, and the microphone reading is uncalibrated.
Privacy
Nothing leaves this page.
The camera and microphone are read on this page and stopped as soon as they have been measured. The clip you can play back lives in the browser's memory and is discarded when you leave. The location check discards the position. The internet test sends random bytes to this site and nothing else. The result is stored nowhere unless you ask for it by email, and then only the fact that an email was sent is kept.
Questions
Speaker test, answered
- How do I test my speakers online?
- Run the test above and turn your volume up. A tone plays on the left, then the right. Say whether you heard both. If not, the fixes above cover mute, the wrong output device and a half-plugged headphone cable.
- Why do I hear the tone on one side only?
- A headphone plug not pushed in fully, a balance slider moved to one side, or a damaged cable or earpiece. Try another pair of headphones to tell the computer from the headset.
- Why is there no sound at all?
- Usually the system is sending sound to another device, such as a monitor with no speakers or a headset that is not on. Choose the output device in the sound settings and check the volume and mute there too.
- Can the microphone measure my speakers?
- It can listen to the sweep and show where its level fell, if you allow it. That reading includes the microphone's own response, so it is a hint, not a calibrated measurement.
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