Sound Test
Is your sound working? Play a short chime to test your speakers, check the left and right channels, and hear whether your laptop, TV or phone speakers can play bass. If you hear nothing, work through the checklist below.
Start with your device volume low and turn it up slowly. This slider only scales the test sound; your system volume still applies on top.
Small laptop and phone speakers usually play nothing (or a faint buzz) at 60 Hz. That is normal. If 1 kHz is silent, something is wrong.
No sound? Troubleshooting checklist
Tick each item as you check it, then press Play test sound again.
0/6On iPhone and iPad, the silent switch can mute sound from web pages even when videos and music apps still play. Flip it off before you decide your speaker is broken.
How this sound test works
The page generates a short four-note chime in your browser with the Web Audio API. Nothing is downloaded and nothing is recorded. Play it once on both sides to confirm you have sound at all, then use Left and Right to confirm each speaker works on its own. The diagram lights up the side that should be playing, so if the light and the sound disagree, your channels are swapped or one speaker is dead.
Crackling or distorted sound
If the chime crackles, first lower the volume. Small speakers distort when pushed past what they can handle, and that clears up at a lower level. If it still buzzes at low volume, and only on one side, the driver (the speaker cone) is probably damaged. Crackling that comes and goes when you move a cable or plug points to a loose connection or a worn jack. Crackles that happen on every device and every output at once are usually a driver or software problem, not hardware.
Why laptop speakers have no bass
Low bass needs a large cone moving a lot of air. Laptop, phone and thin TV speakers are tiny, so most stop working somewhere between 150 and 300 Hz. Hearing nothing at 60 Hz on a laptop is normal and does not mean anything is broken. Many laptops fake extra bass with processing that boosts harmonics, which is why the box can claim "rich bass" while the 60 Hz tone stays silent. A decent bookshelf speaker should play 60 Hz clearly. For a full sweep, try the frequency response test.
Checking stereo
Many phones and small speakers are mono, or they mix both channels together, so Left and Right sound the same from one spot. That is a design choice, not a fault. On a laptop or a pair of PC speakers, Left should come only from the left. If both sides always play, check that a mono audio accessibility setting is off and that the balance slider is centred. For earbuds and headphones, use the more detailed headphone test.
Related tools
- Headphone Test for left/right, polarity and bass checks on headphones.
- Frequency Response Test to find how low and high your speakers really go.
- Tone Generator to play any frequency for as long as you like.
- Decibel Meter to measure how loud your speakers get.
Frequently asked questions
Which speaker plays?
Left plays the chime on the left channel only. Right plays it on the right channel only. Both, and Play test sound, play the chime on both channels with no pan. The pictures follow that: Left lights the left picture, Right lights the right picture, and Both lights both. The 60 Hz, 250 Hz, 1 kHz, 4 kHz and 10 kHz buttons play on both channels, so both pictures light. The page only sends the signal. It does not listen, so it cannot tell which physical speaker made the sound. A mono phone or a mono audio setting can still play both channels from one place.
How do I stop the sound?
Press Stop while a chime or tone is playing. That clears the repeat timer and cuts the sound. Left, Right, Both, Play test sound and the frequency buttons also cut whatever is playing, then start the new one. Leaving the page cuts the sound and closes the audio context. With Loop on, the same chime or tone repeats after a short pause until you press Stop or start a different sound.
Why does nothing play until I click?
Nothing plays when the page loads. Browsers block audio until a click, so the first Play test sound, Left, Right, Both or frequency click creates the audio context and resumes it if it is not already running. If that click is silent, check a muted tab, system volume, the selected output, Bluetooth, the browser mixer and HDMI.
What does the volume slider do? Is 0% silent?
Test volume scales only this page. At 0% the gain is zero and the tone is silent. The slider does not change system or phone volume, which still applies when the slider is above zero.
Do the frequency labels match the tone?
Yes. 60 Hz plays 60 Hz, 250 Hz plays 250 Hz, 1 kHz plays 1000 Hz, 4 kHz plays 4000 Hz and 10 kHz plays 10000 Hz. Each is a sine for one second on both channels. 4 kHz and 10 kHz are a bit quieter than the lower tones so they do not sound much louder, but the frequency is still the one on the button. The chime is a separate four-note sound, not one of these tones.
Can this tell me if a speaker is broken?
No. It generates tones in the browser and does not use the microphone. It does not measure decibels, distortion or a frequency response. If Left is silent and Both is not, you are not hearing the left channel, which you judge by ear. Hearing little or nothing at 60 Hz from a small phone or laptop speaker is common. If 1 kHz is silent, use the checklist before you assume the speaker is dead.