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Tools / Headphone test

Headphone and speaker test

Check that left is left and right is right, then that you hear your microphone only once.

Free, no account, nothing uploaded: the tones are made in your browser. Updated October 17, 2026.

1 Left, right and both

Start low and raise it slowly. The sweep reaches frequencies you may not hear until they are loud.

Press a button: three short tones play in that ear only.

Heard it on the wrong side? The headphones may be on backwards, or the channels are swapped in your system or audio interface. One side quieter? Check the balance setting on your computer.

2 Sound sweep

20 Hz200 Hz2 kHz20 kHz

A tone rises from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz over 20 seconds.

Listen for rattles, buzzing or a side cutting out. Where the sound starts and stops depends on your headphones, your ears and the volume, so this is a listening check, not a measurement.

3 Do you hear yourself twice?

Microphone
Direct monitoringThrough this page
Headphones

This plays your microphone back through the page, a moment late. Speakers would feed it back into the microphone, so headphones only.

Speak normally. If you hear your voice twice, once straight away and once a moment later, something else is also sending your microphone to your headphones: the microphone’s or interface’s own monitoring, or monitoring in an app such as Wave Link or OBS. Two paths arriving a few milliseconds apart sound like an echo, and it is not a fault in your gear. Keep one of them.

No sound in your headphones? Pick your computer or app

The steps for the system you are on open first. Each app has its own output setting, so a call or OBS can play to a different device from the rest of the computer.

On Windows 11 or 10

  1. Open Start, then Settings, System, Sound. Under Output, choose your headphones, and make sure the volume is not muted and the slider is up.
  2. If the sound is distorted or missing, Microsoft also suggests turning Audio enhancements off for that device, under its Advanced settings.
  3. A Bluetooth headset can appear twice, once as stereo headphones and once as a hands-free headset: choose the stereo one for listening.

On a Mac

  1. Choose the Apple menu, then System Settings, Sound, Output, and select your headphones.
  2. For headphones in the Mac’s sound port, choose Headphones. If one ear is quieter, drag the Balance slider back to the middle.

On a Chromebook

  1. Select the time at the bottom right, then the arrow beside the volume slider, and choose your headphones under Output.
  2. Or open Settings, Device, Audio, Output.

On Linux

  1. Open Settings, Sound, and choose the headphones under Output; the test button plays each side.
  2. In pavucontrol, the Output Devices tab lists every output, and the Playback tab shows which device each app is playing to.

On a phone or tablet

  1. This test works in a phone or tablet browser too: plug in or connect the headphones first, then press Play left.
  2. Bluetooth earbuds can switch to a lower-quality headset mode when an app opens the microphone, so test them with the microphone off as well.

In OBS Studio

  1. Open Settings, Audio, Advanced and set Monitoring Device to your headphones.
  2. OBS plays a source to you only when its Audio Monitoring, in Advanced Audio Properties, is Monitor Only or Monitoring Enabled (Monitor and Output in older OBS versions). Monitoring your own microphone this way adds a delay, which is the echo step 3 checks.

In Discord

  1. Open User Settings, Voice & Video, and choose your headphones under Output Device, with Output Volume up.
  2. Discord plays to its own output device, so a call can sound in your speakers while the game plays in your headphones until both point at the same device.

In Zoom

  1. In the desktop app, select your profile picture, Settings, Audio. Choose the speaker and press Test speaker.
  2. Zoom’s speaker choice is separate from the computer’s, so check it after plugging in new headphones.

In Microsoft Teams

  1. Select Settings and more (…), Settings, Devices, and choose the Speaker under Audio settings.
  2. Make a test call on the same page plays a recording back through the speaker you chose.

In Google Meet

  1. In Meet, choose More options, Settings, Audio, pick the Speakers and press Test.
  2. Meet plays through the browser, so the browser tab must not be muted.

Menu paths checked October 9, 2026 to October 11, 2026 on each maker’s help pages.

Hearing yourself twice on stream

An echo of your own voice in your headphones comes from two monitoring paths playing at once: one straight from the microphone or interface, and one through software. The hardware path arrives first; the software path a few milliseconds later, and the gap is the echo. Turn one off. If your interface or microphone has direct monitoring, keep that and set the microphone’s Audio Monitoring in OBS to Monitor Off; in Wave Link, mute or remove the microphone from the mix going to your headphones.

The guide to monitoring without echo walks through each app, and the audio routing builder maps what your stream, your headphones and a guest should each hear.

Questions

How do I know my headphones are in the right way round?

Press Play left. If the tones come from your left ear, they are. The L and R marks are usually on the band or the ear cups.

I hear nothing at all. What now?

Start with the output: your computer may be sending sound to another device. Follow no sound in your headphones to choose the right one on Windows or Mac.

Why does a call play in different headphones from my game?

Windows keeps a second default for calls, the default communication device. Default device or communication device shows how to set one headset as both.

Why is the sound only in one ear?

Check the balance setting first, then push the plug fully in. If only one side works with every source, the headphones or their cable are the likely cause.

Can I test my headphones and microphone together?

Yes: step 3 plays your microphone through your headphones. For the level of your microphone, use the microphone test.

Which headphones are best for streaming?

Closed-back ones, wired into your microphone or interface: they keep the game out of your microphone and let you hear yourself with no delay. Headphones for streaming lists the models we cover, with each maker’s figures.

Is this headphone test private?

Yes. The tones are made in your browser, and your microphone is only played back to you. Nothing is recorded or uploaded.

Este teste em português: Teste de fone de ouvido

Esta prueba en español: Prueba de auriculares

本测试的中文版：耳机测试

Dieser Test auf Deutsch: Kopfhörertest

Questo test in italiano: Test cuffie

Sources