How to check your hearing range
- Put on headphones if you have them and set a comfortable, fairly low volume.
- Choose Highest pitch or Lowest pitch and press Start. The tone glides slowly up (or down).
- Press the button, or Space, the moment you can no longer hear it. You get the frequency, how it compares and a ballpark hearing age.
How the test works
The tone is a pure sine wave that glides smoothly and evenly through the octaves. For the high range it starts at 2,000 Hz and rises for 50 seconds; for the low range it starts at 400 Hz and falls to 20 Hz over 30 seconds. Press the button when the sound disappears, and the frequency at that moment is shown and saved.
Your ears don’t hear all pitches equally loudly, so a tone may seem to fade before it actually stops. That’s normal. Repeat the sweep a couple of times; your results should land close together.
What your result means
| Highest pitch you hear | Result | Typical of |
|---|---|---|
| 19,500 Hz and up | Exceptional hearing | Children and young teens |
| 17,000 to 19,500 Hz | Excellent hearing | People under about 25 |
| 15,000 to 17,000 Hz | Very good hearing | People under about 40 |
| 12,000 to 15,000 Hz | Average adult hearing | People around 40 to 50 |
| 10,000 to 12,000 Hz | Below average | People around 50 to 60 |
| 8,000 to 10,000 Hz | Reduced high range | People over about 60 |
The “mosquito” tone some shops once used to deter teenagers sits around 17,400 Hz, which is why many adults can’t hear it. For a single fixed pitch, use the tone generator.