Headphone Bass Test

Press Play for a quiet 60 Hz tone in both ears, then step each ear down to 20 Hz.

Headphone Bass Test: 60 Hz sine tone

Start with your device volume low.

Sine wave · both channels

Hz

  • Period 16.7 ms
  • Wavelength 5.72 m (18.8 ft)
  • 49 cents below B1

Ready. It starts quiet and fades in over half a second.

 

A steady tone can harm ears and speakers before it sounds loud. Hear nothing? Do not turn it up to find the tone: small speakers cannot play very low tones, and many adults cannot hear very high ones.

Percent of this tool's loudest. Your device volume does the rest.

More options
Slide or jump the frequency
Waveform
Channel

Bass tones for each ear

Next step Check left and right with counted beepsHear a tone that seems to rise forever

How it works

This headphone bass test plays one steady low tone in both ears, then one ear at a time, as a bass test for headphones should. Step each side from 125 Hz down to 20 Hz, then check seal, loose parts and balance.

Read the full guide

How to test bass on headphones

Press Play: 60 Hz fades in at 10 percent volume, in both ears. Press Left earpiece at 60 Hz, then Right earpiece at 60 Hz, to hear one side at a time. Then work down the rows at one volume setting, half the slider or under, and note the lowest tone that still hums cleanly on both sides. The page measures nothing; the result is what you hear.

Three checks only headphones need

Seal check with both ears, 50 Hz is played while you press a cup or reseat a tip. Balance check, 80 Hz in the middle shows a pair that leans to one side.

  • Under 60 Hz the tool says small speakers cannot play this low. Never turn it up to find a tone.
  • Channel sets the side by hand: Left, Both or Right, at any frequency you type.

Questions and answers

Does it work as an earphone bass test?

Yes. In-ear phones use the same rows. For the seal check, reseat the ear tip instead of pressing a cup: an in-ear piece seals against the ear canal, and that seal is a major part of how well it works.

Is there a headphone rattle test here?

Yes: Loose-part buzz check, 30 Hz. A sine wave is a plain hum, so a tick, buzz or rattle on top of it comes from the headphone. The check works at a low volume.

Why do the rows play in one ear?

Because the test is one side at a time, so a fault on one side is not hidden by the other. Play opens on both ears; press a left-ear or right-ear row, or Left or Right under Channel, to split them.

Is this a hearing test?

No. It is a test signal for headphones, not a hearing test or a treatment. A tone you cannot hear may be the headphone, the fit or the ear, and the page cannot tell which.

All 15 tones

How low each ear goes 12

  • Left earpiece at 125 Hz, the easy step Start here. The hum should sit wholly in the left ear, with silence in the right. If it is in both ears, the device is mixing its two channels into one.
  • Right earpiece at 125 Hz The same tone on the other side. If this row is in the left ear and the row above was in the right, the headphones are on backwards or the two channels are swapped.
  • Left earpiece at 80 Hz, a clean hum A sine wave has no harmonics, so what a sound driver gives is a smooth, steady hum. Any rasp or flutter on top of it is made by the headphone.
  • Right earpiece at 80 Hz Listen for the same loudness as the left ear at the same volume setting. A gap that shows here but not at 125 Hz, and that changes ears when you swap the earpieces over, points at the weaker earpiece and not at the ear.
  • Left earpiece at 60 Hz Closed-back headphones usually produce stronger low frequencies than open-back ones, so an open pair may already sound thinner here.
Show all 15 tones (10 more)

How low each ear goes, continued

  • Right earpiece at 60 Hz Swap between this row and the left one a few times. The hum should jump from ear to ear without changing its strength or its character.
  • Left earpiece at 40 Hz, beyond small speakers The tool now notes that small speakers cannot play this low. Headphones sit against the ear, and high-quality ones stay even down to 20 Hz, so many pairs still hum here.
  • Right earpiece at 40 Hz If this is fainter than the 60 Hz row at the same setting, that is the headphone's reach showing. Do not turn it up to find it.
  • Left earpiece at 30 Hz, one wave every 33 ms On a pair that reaches this low the hum is still even. On one that does not, it thins out or disappears. Either answer is a result.
  • Right earpiece at 30 Hz If one ear still hums where the other has gone quiet, the two sides stop at different depths. Note the row where they part.
  • Left earpiece at 20 Hz, the last step The lowest tone the tool plays and the low limit usually given for hearing. Claimed ranges that reach far lower are usually overstatements. Silence here is common.
  • Right earpiece at 20 Hz If neither ear gives anything, the lowest row that hummed in both ears is this pair's bass limit by ear.

Fit and faults 3

  • Seal check with both ears, 50 Hz Press a cup gently to your head and let go, or reseat an ear tip, while this plays. If the hum swells when you press, the fit changes what you hear at this frequency: reseat the cup or tip and listen again.
  • Loose-part buzz check, 30 Hz A pure tone is a plain hum. A tick, buzz or rattle riding on it comes from the headphone itself, such as a loose part or a cable tapping a cup. The check works at a low volume.
  • Balance check, 80 Hz in the middle Both ears at once. A matched pair puts the hum in the middle of your head. If it leans to one side, swap the cups over: a lean that moves with the cups is the headphone.

How this list was compiled: Presets written for this page. Each one is a steady sine tone at a set frequency in the left ear, the right ear or both, made in the visitor's browser by this page's own tone generator. Checked on 2026-10-02 against Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headphones (closed-back, sealed styles usually produce stronger low frequencies than open-back ones; high-quality headphones can be flat down to 20 Hz; marketed ranges that reach far below 20 Hz are usually overstatements, and the response under 20 Hz is typically very small; in-ear headphones sit in the ear canal); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-ear_monitor (an in-ear piece seals against the sides of the ear canal, and the seal is a major part of how well it works); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sine_wave (a sine wave is a single frequency with no harmonics); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearing_range (the range of human hearing is usually put at 20 to 20,000 Hz). Wikipedia's text is under CC BY-SA 4.0; the facts were checked there and the wording is this site's own. A one-sided tone is sent to that channel alone, with silence in the other (read from this site's own tone generator code on 2026-10-02). Computed, not looked up: the period of a 30 Hz tone, one second divided by 30, about 33 milliseconds. The page names no maker or model and measures nothing. Licence: own work

More tests

Show 5 more

Browse Screen and Sound