Headphone Test

What is this tool?

The Headphone Test covers the same ground as the speaker tools but is arranged around ears rather than channels. Its engine adds dedicated bass, midrange and treble diagnostic tones plus clarity and buzz checks, and a fifteen-step full test.

Headphones make some faults easier to find and others harder. Separation is near-perfect, so a channel problem is unmistakable — but each ear only hears one driver, so a level imbalance between them is easy to miss unless you compare directly. The alternating modes exist for that.

Seventeen frequency presets run from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. On headphones this range is genuinely usable, unlike on laptop speakers, which is why the bass and treble checks are more meaningful here.

How to use it

1. Check you are wearing them the right way roundFind the L and R markings before you start. Testing a correct pair worn backwards produces a confusing result that looks like reversed wiring.
2. Start at 10% volumeHeadphones sit directly against your ears and a sustained sine tone is much harsher than music at the same nominal level. The page has a section called “Safe Headphone Testing Volume”; start low and raise it only if you genuinely cannot hear the tone.
3. Test each ear, then the in-head centreTEST LEFT and TEST RIGHT confirm both drivers. PLAY CENTER (IN-HEAD PHANTOM IMAGE) should place the sound in the middle of your head — that is what a matched, in-phase pair produces.
4. Compare the ears with the alternating modesALTERNATING (1.0s) and FAST (0.5s) switch ears repeatedly. This is the only reliable way to catch a small level difference; playing each side once and remembering the loudness does not work.
5. Run the bass and treble checksThe dedicated bass tones show how low your headphones usefully extend — most reach 20–30 Hz where you feel more than hear. The treble tones go to 20 kHz, which most adults cannot hear at all; that is your hearing, not the headphones.
6. Sweep, then listen for anything mechanicalA continuous sweep exposes buzzing, rattling and any dropout. On earbuds, a rattle at low frequencies often means debris in the nozzle or a loose housing rather than a failed driver.

What the results mean

Both ears work and the centre is in-head

A matched, in-phase pair. On headphones the phantom centre feels like it is inside your skull rather than in front of you, and that is the correct outcome.

One ear silent

On wired headphones, suspect the cable near the plug or the plug itself — flex it while a tone plays. On true wireless earbuds, re-pair and check both buds are charged. On a headset with an inline control, check that too.

One ear quieter

Confirm it with the fast alternating mode and on a second device. If the imbalance follows the headphones, it is the headphones. Also check your operating system's balance slider and any accessibility audio setting, which can be set unintentionally.

Weak bass

On in-ear models this is usually seal rather than the driver. A poor seal loses low frequencies dramatically. Try a different tip size and retest — the improvement is often startling.

No treble above 15 kHz

Almost certainly your hearing rather than the headphones. High-frequency hearing declines with age, and many adults cannot hear above 15–16 kHz. The page's FAQ covers this.

Buzzing or rattling on one side

A mechanical problem in that driver or housing. Worth documenting, and usually a warranty matter rather than something a setting can fix.

What it can detect

• A silent or intermittent driver
• A level imbalance between ears
• Reversed left and right, in the cable or in how they are worn
• Poor low-frequency extension caused by a bad in-ear seal
• Buzzing, rattling and distortion at specific frequencies

Limits worth knowing

A browser can only report what the platform gives it. These are the honest boundaries of this page, so a result is never read as more than it is.

• The page carries a “Browser Headphone Test Limitations” section, and its FAQ asks whether it can measure headphone frequency response, volume in dB, THD or sensitivity. It cannot measure any of them. Those require a measurement rig — an artificial ear or coupler and a calibrated microphone.
• No microphone is used here, so nothing that reaches your ears is measured. Everything reported is your listening result against a signal whose digital value is known.
• Bluetooth headphones add delay and their own processing, and the browser cannot see either. The page has a FAQ entry on Bluetooth delay, and the Bluetooth Audio Test covers what can honestly be checked.
• Hearing ability varies enormously, especially at high frequencies. An inaudible 18 kHz tone says more about the listener than the headphones.

Tips

• Test in a quiet room. Background noise masks low-level detail and makes the noise-floor and clarity checks unreliable.
• For in-ear models, run the bass check with two different tip sizes. Seal affects measured bass more than almost any other variable.
• Take the headphones off between long tones. Sustained pure tones are fatiguing, and tired ears give worse results.

Troubleshooting

Related documentation

• AudioLeft Right Audio TestThe quickest way to prove which side is which, with a blind identification game.
• AudioStereo TestChannel isolation, balance, separation and phase checks for any stereo setup.
• AudioAudio Bass Test20 Hz to 250 Hz tones for sub-bass reach, rattle hunting and distortion checks.
• AudioAudio Frequency TestA 20 Hz to 20 kHz tone generator with sweeps, steppers and A/B comparison.
• AudioBluetooth Audio TestCheck a paired Bluetooth output by ear: stereo, dropouts, bass, treble and a reaction-time delay check.