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Sweep a clean sine wave across the audible spectrum and find the highest frequency you can still hear. Use the slider, presets, or fine-adjust buttons to dial in a tone, then mark the highest pitch you heard. The result is matched against typical age-correlated cutoffs.
This tool plays pure sine waves that can sound piercing — start with low volume, never push past comfortable, and stop immediately if anything feels uncomfortable. High-frequency tones at high volume can cause temporary or permanent hearing damage. Use closed-back headphones for the most accurate result.
Common landmarks across the human hearing range.
Average upper-limit frequencies by age band. Real hearing varies a lot — these are reference points, not diagnoses.
| Age | Typical upper limit | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 20 kHz | Most teens still reach the full 20 kHz range. |
| 18–24 | 18 kHz | Common upper limit by the early twenties. |
| 25–34 | 16 kHz | Typical loss of 1-2 kHz from teens. |
| 35–44 | 15 kHz | Mosquito-tone range starts to fade. |
| 45–54 | 12 kHz | Many adults stop hearing past 12 kHz. |
| 55–64 | 10 kHz | Higher tones drop out without affecting speech. |
| 65+ | 8 kHz | Cutoff often well below the dialogue range. |
A hearing range test plays pure tones at increasing frequencies and asks you to mark the highest pitch you can still hear. Adults typically lose a chunk of their high-frequency hearing every decade — a phenomenon called presbycusis — but you don't notice it because human speech sits between roughly 250 Hz and 4 kHz, well below the cutoff for most people. This tool generates clean sine waves directly in your browser using the Web Audio API, so the only equipment you need is a pair of headphones and a quiet room. It is a casual screening tool, not a substitute for a clinical audiogram from an audiologist, which measures hearing thresholds in dB at specific frequencies in a soundproof booth.
Closed-back headphones give the most accurate result because they isolate you from background noise. Lower your system volume before pressing play.
Begin around 1 kHz so you have a comfortable reference, then sweep upward using the slider or presets. The pitch should rise as you move right.
As you climb past 12-15 kHz, the tone gets thinner and harder to hear. Stop at the point where the tone fades out completely or feels indistinguishable from silence.
Press "I can hear this" while the highest tone you can perceive is playing. The reference table below shows how that cutoff compares to typical age bands.
Human hearing range (young adults): 20 Hz – 20 kHz Speech-critical band: 250 Hz – 4 kHz Typical age-related cutoffs: Teens: ~20 kHz 20s: ~17–18 kHz 30s: ~15–16 kHz 40s: ~14 kHz 50s: ~12 kHz 60s: ~10 kHz 70s+: ~8 kHz Phantom-tone trick (mosquito ringtone): 17 kHz often inaudible to adults but heard by teens
The cochlea — the snail-shaped organ in your inner ear — uses thousands of tiny hair cells to transduce sound into nerve signals. The hair cells responsible for high frequencies sit closest to the entrance and take the most wear over a lifetime, which is why high-frequency hearing fades first. Once a hair cell dies it does not regrow, so age-related hearing loss is permanent. Loud noise exposure (concerts, headphones, machinery) accelerates the damage by stressing the same cells. The cutoff frequency you measure here is sensitive to your environment, your headphones' frequency response, and your computer's output stage — so treat the number as an estimate rather than an absolute.
| Highest frequency heard | Typical age estimate |
|---|---|
20 kHz | Under 18 Full youth-range hearing — most people lose this band by their twenties. |
17 kHz | 20s Mosquito-ringtone territory — common upper limit in young adults. |
14 kHz | 40s Speech is still crystal-clear, but high-frequency detail in music thins out. |
10 kHz | 60s Cymbals and sibilants soften, but conversation isn't affected. |
Play sine, square, sawtooth, or triangle waves at any frequency from 20 Hz to 20 kHz.
Verify left, right, and both channels are wired and balanced correctly.
Live input meter with peak, RMS, and clip detection — no recording.
Measure browser audio output delay using base/output latency and a tap-along test.
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