How high can you hear?
Play tones from 8 kHz upwards and find where they go silent. A quick check of your ears and your headphones.
Turn the volume down to about 20–30% before you press Play. Pure tones sound quieter than they are.
The app has a hearing check for each ear, eight pitches from 250 Hz to 16 kHz, with the result as a chart you can save as a PDF. Every feature is free.
How to use it
- Put on headphones and set the volume low, about a quarter of the way up
- Press Play at 8 kHz. You should hear a thin, high whistle
- Tap 12k, 14k, 15k and upwards, or drag the slider slowly to the right
- The last tone you can still hear is the top of your range on this device
Do not turn the volume up when a tone goes quiet. A high tone you cannot hear can still be loud, and raising the volume to find it is how people hurt their ears.
Hearing safety
A pure continuous tone puts all its energy on one frequency, and it feels quieter than it is. Start with the volume low and raise it slowly. Never play a test tone loud through headphones, and take extra care around 2 to 5 kHz, where the ear is most sensitive.
Questions & answers
What is the highest frequency people can hear?expand_more
Children often hear up to 20 kHz. The limit falls with age, to roughly 16 or 17 kHz in the twenties, about 15 kHz by the forties and 12 kHz or lower past sixty. Loud music and noisy work bring it down sooner.
Is this a real hearing test?expand_more
No. It shows roughly where high tones stop being audible on your device at your volume. A hearing test for hearing loss is done by an audiologist with calibrated equipment, and it focuses on the speech frequencies, not the top of the range.
Why can't I hear 16 kHz even though I am young?expand_more
Often it is the hardware. Phone and laptop speakers and cheap earbuds roll off before the ears do. Try good headphones before drawing any conclusion about your hearing.
Can I test one ear at a time?expand_more
Yes. Tap Left or Right in the row above the Play button and the tone plays on that side only. Use headphones for this, speakers reach both ears.