Headset Test

Put the headset on, press Start recording and talk: you hear your microphone played back in both ears.

Press Start recording, then talk. You hear it back after.

Your browser will ask for the microphone. The recording stays in this tab.

Sample

Your microphone works, at a good level for speech.

Peak
−9.4 dBFS
Resting level
−52.3 dBFS
Sample rate
48,000 Hz
Length
6.2 s

now loudestNot too loud

15.0 s of recording time left

More options

Next step Next: left and right ear pieces by beep countRead set lines to hear pops, hiss and boom

How it works

This headset test records a few seconds on the headset's microphone and plays them back through its ear pieces, so one take checks both halves. It works as a headset mic test, or a headphones microphone test, on a PC, laptop or phone.

Read the full guide

How to test a headset microphone

1. Put the headset on and press Start recording. Allow the microphone. 2. Talk for a few seconds. The level bar should move with your voice. 3. Press Stop recording. The take plays by itself: your voice should sit in the middle, equally loud in both ears. 4. Read the microphone name under the result. It should be the headset's, not the laptop's.

When another microphone answers

If the name is not your headset's, pick the headset under Microphone in More options and record again. A headset plug can play sound from a socket that never connects its microphone: see A headset plug in a headphone-only socket.

  • Tap the headset's microphone during a take. No thump on playback means another microphone recorded you.
  • For left and right by name, the speaker and headphone test plays one beep on the left, two on the right.

Questions and answers

How do I test a headset mic on a PC?

Plug the headset in, press Start recording and talk. If the take is silent or names another microphone, choose the headset as the input device in the system's sound settings. With pink and green sockets, a one-plug headset needs a splitter adapter.

How do I test if a headphone mic is working?

Record one take with the headphones on. A moving level bar, your voice on playback and the headphones' name under the result mean the headphone mic works. A flat bar means it is muted or not the microphone in use.

Is this a headset speaker test too?

Yes, in the same take. The recording plays through both ear pieces, so a voice in one ear only is a fault on the way out. This headset tester plays no separate left and right tones.

Why does a wireless headset sound like a phone call here?

While its microphone is open, a Bluetooth headset uses its hands-free link: one mono channel made for speech. A sample rate of 16,000 Hz on this headset microphone test is the sign of it. The stereo link returns when the microphone is let go.

Is my voice recorded or sent anywhere?

The take stays in this tab's memory so that it can be played back to you. This page's own code does not upload or keep it, and it is discarded when you record again, hide the tab or close the page.

All 19 rows

Plug and connection 5

  • A headset on a USB plug A USB headset turns digital sound into analogue and back inside the headset or its control unit, so the computer's own sound sockets take no part. It is listed as a microphone of its own, by name, once you have allowed the microphone.
  • A headset plug in a headphone-only socket The ear pieces can still play while the microphone stays dead, because its contact touches nothing. The take you hear back was then made by another microphone, such as the laptop's own. Tap the headset's microphone during a take: no thump on playback means it was not the one recording.
  • Hollow music on one device only The four-contact plug is wired in two ways, with the microphone and ground contacts swapped. On a socket of the other wiring the ear pieces lose their ground and a singer in the middle of a song fades away; holding the headset's button down may bring the sound back. An adapter between the two wirings is the usual cure.
Show all 19 rows (16 more)

Plug and connection, continued

  • One plug with three dark bands A headset plug that carries stereo sound and a microphone has four metal contacts, set apart by three bands. A headphone-only plug has three contacts and two bands. Many laptops have one combined socket made for the four-contact plug, often marked with a headset icon.
  • Two sockets on the computer, pink and green A desktop computer often has separate sockets, pink for a microphone and lime green for headphones or speakers. A headset with two plugs fits them as it is. A headset with one plug needs an adapter that splits it into a microphone plug and a headphone plug.

What the browser reports 5

  • 1 channel from a headset with two ear pieces A headset has two ear pieces and one microphone, so its take is mono. The browser plays a mono take through the left and the right side equally: your voice should sit in the middle of your head, as loud in one ear as in the other.
  • 8,000 Hz from a wireless headset The telephone rate: nothing above 4,000 Hz is recorded, enough to follow speech and little more. Wideband speech is an optional part of the hands-free link, and a link without it carries a narrower band. Nothing is broken, and a wired or USB headset avoids that link altogether.
  • 16,000 Hz from a wireless headset Wideband speech, an option the hands-free link gained in version 1.6 of its profile. The take carries sound up to 8,000 Hz: clear for speech and dull for music. The headset is working as designed, and a wired or USB headset records a fuller voice.
  • 48,000 Hz from the headset's microphone A standard rate of digital audio, which carries sound up to 24,000 Hz. If a wireless headset shows it, read the microphone name under the result: the computer's own microphone may be the one that recorded.
  • The microphone name under the result After you allow the microphone, the result names the device that made the take. A browser opens the system's default microphone, listed first, which is often the one built into a laptop or webcam. If the name is not your headset's, pick the headset under Microphone in More options and record again.

What you hear back 6

  • A faint voice with the microphone at your mouth A headset's microphone sits beside your mouth, so a faint take points to another microphone recording you from across the desk, or to an input volume set low. Read the microphone name under the result, then raise the input volume in the system's sound settings.
  • A good peak and your voice in both ears If you also heard the take in both ear pieces, this is the pass: the microphone recorded at a level with headroom to spare. One thing is left to confirm, that the name under the result is the headset's and not the laptop's.
  • Cut-off peaks from a boom at your lips A microphone this close takes the full force of your voice. If the lamp turned to Too loud: cut off, the tops of the wave were lost and no setting brings them back afterwards. Lower the input volume in the system's sound settings and record again.
  • Music turns thin the moment a take starts Bluetooth sends music to a headset over a one-way stereo link, which has no path back for a microphone. When the microphone opens, the headset moves to its hands-free link, a single mono channel made for speech, and everything you hear drops to call quality until the microphone is let go.
  • No sound of your own voice while you record That is how this page works: it records first and plays the take afterwards, never both at once. Hearing your own voice in the ear piece as you speak is called sidetone. Telephones add it on purpose, so that a caller can tell the line is live.
  • Your voice in one ear piece only The take is mono and goes to both sides equally, so one silent ear is a fault on the way out, not in the microphone. Check that the plug is connected correctly, then run the speaker and headphone test, which tells left from right by the number of beeps.

Nothing heard 3

  • A flat meter with the headset on Every sample was zero. Look first for a mute button on the cable or on an ear cup: a muted headset is still listed and sends silence. Then check that the input volume in the system's sound settings is not at zero.
  • No microphone found with the headset connected The browser sees no sound input at all. Check that a wireless headset is paired and connected and that a wired one is in the right socket. Then choose it as the input: on Windows 11 under Start, Settings, System, Sound, Input; on a Mac under System Settings, Sound, Input.
  • The wave moved but the ear pieces stayed silent The headset's microphone worked, because the wave is drawn from the recorded sound. The fault is on the way back. A system chooses its input and its output separately, so the take may be playing through the laptop's speakers or a screen: choose the headset as the output too.

How this list was compiled: Rows and wording written for this page. Arithmetic is computed: the highest frequency a rate can carry is half the rate. The four-contact plug for stereo sound and a microphone, a headset plug in a headphone-only socket, the headset icon on laptop sockets and the two wirings of the plug (known as CTIA and OMTP) with what a mismatch sounds like are from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_connector_(audio); the single combined socket on laptops from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_card; the pink and lime green sockets from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_System_Design_Guide; adapters that split one plug into a microphone plug and a headphone plug, and adapters between the two wirings, from https://www.cablechick.com.au/blog/understanding-trrs-and-audio-jacks/. Headsets with two plugs and USB headsets that convert the sound themselves are from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_headset. The one-way stereo profile, the mono hands-free profile and its optional 16 kHz wideband speech from version 1.6 are from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Bluetooth_profiles; wideband and telephone speech bands from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wideband_audio; sidetone from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidetone; that the sound of a wireless headset is reduced while its microphone is in use, and comes back afterwards, from https://support.apple.com/en-us/102217. What a browser reports about a microphone, with 48,000 as a standard digital audio rate, is from https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/MediaTrackSettings; 8,000 Hz as the telephone rate from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampling_(signal_processing); the default microphone listed first and names shown after permission from https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/MediaDevices/enumerateDevices; mono sound played through both sides from https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Web_Audio_API/Basic_concepts_behind_Web_Audio_API; what clipping loses from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipping_(audio). The headset mute button, pairing, and choosing an input device on Windows 11 are from https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/fix-microphone-problems-5f230348-106d-bfa4-1db5-336f35576011; choosing an input device and the input volume on a Mac from https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/change-the-sound-input-settings-mchlp2567/mac. All sources read 2026-10-09. Licence: own work

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