> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://soundforgepro.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Hearing Frequency Test: Check Your High and Low Range - URL: https://soundforgepro.com/hearing-frequency-test/ - Published: 2026-10-28T21:14:41.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-28T21:14:41.000Z - Description: Step through high, low and 17.4 kHz tones for each ear at a quiet, capped level, right in your browser. Below the tool: why headphones and settings change the result, what published audiometry shows by age, safe listening, and when to see a doctor or audiologist. - Author: Erick Finn - Tags: Audio Tools, Audio Fundamentals A hearing frequency test plays tones from very high to very low and notes the last one you can hear each way. People hear roughly 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz and the top falls with age, but headphones, speakers and settings cut tones too, so the result describes this device at this setting. The check below plays high, low and 17.4 kHz tones for each ear at a quiet, capped level. It isn't a hearing test or a diagnosis, so if you have hearing complaints, see a doctor or audiologist. Browser tool · hearing frequency range ## Check which tones you hear Tones are made on this device. No microphone, nothing saved or sent. Results stay in this tab until you close it. **Turn your device volume down before the first tone.** Tones start at tool level 3 of 10 (about -30 dBFS) and never get louder on their own. This is a range check for this device and setting, not a hearing test or a diagnosis. If you have hearing complaints, see a doctor or audiologist. Sudden hearing loss in one or both ears is urgent: get medical help right away. My volume is low, and I'll raise it slowly only if the 1 kHz tone is too soft. Step 1 · Quiet, comfortable level Play the 1 kHz reference and set the system volume so it's soft but clear. Then leave the volume alone for every check. Play 1 kHz reference Tool level 3 · -30 dBFS Step 2 · Ear LeftBothRight Step 3 · Check **20 to 8 kHz**High range**20 to 250 Hz**Low range**17.4 kHz**Mosquito tone Tone **Off** High range: 14 steps from 20 kHz down to 8 kHz. Level 3 (-30 dBFS)Output rate shows after the first tone Status**Locked** Tick the volume box above to turn the tones on. Start checkReplayStop I hear itI don't hear it Results on this device - Left earHigh: not runLow: not run17.4 kHz: not run - Both earsHigh: not runLow: not run17.4 kHz: not run - Right earHigh: not runLow: not run17.4 kHz: not run Each result is the highest or lowest step you heard through this output at this level. Earbuds, Bluetooth, small speakers and sound enhancements all change it, so it isn't a hearing threshold. Clear results Locked. Turn the volume down and tick the box to begin. Every tone is a sine at the same digital level: three 0.45 s beeps with soft fades. High steps fall from 20 kHz to 8 kHz, low steps rise from 20 Hz to 250 Hz. Steps above 95% of the output's Nyquist limit are skipped. Press Escape to stop. ## How to run the hearing frequency test 1. **Turn the volume down first.** Lower the system volume before anything plays, then tick the box under the warning. Every tone button stays locked until you do, and tones start at tool level 3 of 10, about -30 dBFS. 2. **Set a comfortable level.** Press Play 1 kHz reference and raise the system volume slowly until the beeps are soft but clear. Then leave the volume alone for every check, so the results stay comparable. 3. **Pick an ear.** Choose Left, Both or Right. Per-ear checks need stereo headphones worn the right way round; if the output reports a single channel, only Both runs. 4. **Run the high range.** Press Start check. Each step plays three short beeps, starting at 20 kHz and stepping down to 8 kHz over 14 steps. Answer I hear it or I don't hear it, and the check stops at the first step you hear. 5. **Run the low range.** Switch to Low range for 12 steps from 20 Hz up to 250 Hz. Use headphones or full-size speakers here, since small speakers can't play the lowest steps. 6. **Try the mosquito tone.** Pick Mosquito tone and press Play 17.4 kHz for a single step at the young-listener frequency of the Mosquito anti-loitering device's 2008 model. 7. **Read the results.** The grid keeps the highest and lowest step heard for each ear, plus the 17.4 kHz answer, with the tool level used. Clear results wipes them, and closing the tab does the same. You don't have to wait for all three beeps; answer as soon as you know. Replay repeats the current step, Stop ends the check, and Escape or switching to another tab silences the sound at once. A check that stops halfway saves nothing, so a stray click can't leave a half result in the grid. Count only a clear, steady tone. Near the top of a device's range, a click at the start of each beep, a buzz or a lower note can come through instead of the tone itself, and none of those count. The level slider and the ear buttons lock while a check runs, and the output sample rate appears under the readout after the first tone. Not sure which earcup is which? Run the [headphone test](https://soundforgepro.com/headphone-test/) first; for speakers, the [left and right speaker test](https://soundforgepro.com/left-right-speaker-test/) confirms the channels. ## Reading your results Each result is the highest or lowest step you heard through this output at this tool level. It's a step from a fixed list, not a threshold. An audiometer looks for the softest level you can hear at each frequency; this check plays every step at the same digital level and asks a yes or no question. A high result of 16 kHz means the 17 kHz step didn't come through clearly at that level, through those headphones, with that device's processing. It doesn't say whether 17 kHz is out of reach for your ears. The tool records the level with every result and shows it in the summary under the grid. Change the level between checks and the summary warns that the results mix levels, because a louder tone can reach a higher step. My rule is simple. Compare results only from the same device, the same system volume and the same tool level. A difference between ears needs one more check before it means anything. Turn the headphones around so the left cup sits on your right ear, then run the same range again. The [headphone test](https://soundforgepro.com/headphone-test/) uses the same move: when the quieter side moves with the earcup, the cause is in the headphone path. When the gap stays with one ear, or you notice it in daily life, book a hearing check with a doctor or audiologist. This tool can't tell you why the gap is there. For a sense of what lives at these frequencies in music and speech, the [audio frequency chart](https://soundforgepro.com/audio-frequency-chart/) maps instruments and voices across the range. To hold one frequency for as long as you like, for example the step just above your result, the [online tone generator](https://soundforgepro.com/online-tone-generator/) plays a single steady tone. ## What this check can and can't tell you A clinical hearing test measures something different. A pure-tone audiogram, as [ASHA's consumer guide to hearing tests](https://helpingyoucommunicate.org/article/types-of-hearing-tests?ref=soundforgepro.com) explains, is a graph of the softest sounds you can hear at each frequency, usually from 250 Hz to 8,000 Hz, with earphones delivering the tones to each ear separately. Those levels are measured in decibels hearing level, or dB HL. On the scale in [ASHA's chart of hearing loss degrees](https://helpingyoucommunicate.org/article/degree-of-hearing-loss?ref=soundforgepro.com), -10 to 15 dB HL counts as normal, and some professionals put the upper normal limit at 20 or 25. Tones above 8 kHz need their own method. The standard clinical test stops at 8,000 Hz while people can hear from 20 to 20,000 Hz, as [Luengrungrus and colleagues](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11674001/?ref=soundforgepro.com) point out, so researchers use extended high-frequency audiometry. In [Wang and colleagues' 2021 study](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8394048/?ref=soundforgepro.com), that meant tones from 9 kHz to 20 kHz on a calibrated GSI audiometer with Sennheiser HDA-200 high-frequency earphones. This tool has none of that. Its -30 dBFS start is a digital level relative to your device's full scale. The same setting can be faint on one pair of headphones and loud on another, and nothing here converts it to dB HL. So the result can't tell you whether your hearing is normal, how it compares with your age group, or whether it has changed. What it can show: - which high and low steps come through on this setup at a quiet level; - whether a second pair of headphones, a wired connection or a different output plays more of the range; - whether one earcup drops tones that the other plays; - what a 17.4 kHz tone sounds like, if your setup can play it. ## Why your device changes the result Every tone passes through the whole playback chain: the browser, the operating system, the output and whatever sits on or near your ears. Any part of that chain can drop a tone before your ears get the chance. ### Earbuds and fit For the low range, fit comes first. The [headphone test](https://soundforgepro.com/headphone-test/) lists seal and fit next to the playback chain, your hearing and the headphones themselves as reasons deep bass can sound quiet or go missing. I'd reseat the earbuds or try another tip size before reading much into a low result, because fit is the easiest of those causes to fix. ### Bluetooth headphones Bluetooth sends the sound through a codec, and the result depends on more than the headphones. [SoundGuys' guide to Bluetooth codecs](https://www.soundguys.com/understanding-bluetooth-codecs-15352/?ref=soundforgepro.com) notes that AAC performance differs depending on your source device, so the same headphones can behave differently on a phone and a laptop. For the high range I'd use wired headphones when you have them, since that takes the codec out of the result. ### Phone and laptop speakers Small speakers struggle at the bottom of the range. [AudioCheck's high-frequency hearing test page](https://www.audiocheck.net/audiotests%5Ffrequencycheckhigh.php?ref=soundforgepro.com) points out that, unlike low frequencies, high frequencies are easily reproduced through smaller and cheaper speakers. The site's [bass test](https://soundforgepro.com/bass-test/) notes that phones, laptop speakers and compact Bluetooth speakers usually run out of bass several steps earlier than full-size speakers, and that isn't a fault. A low result on a phone speaker describes the phone. With speakers, each ear also hears both channels, so run per-ear checks on headphones only. ### Sample rate and the Nyquist limit Digital audio can only carry tones below half its sample rate, the Nyquist frequency, as [MDN's guide to digital audio concepts](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Media/Guides/Formats/Audio%5Fconcepts?ref=soundforgepro.com) explains. The common 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz rates both put that limit slightly above 20 kHz, leaving 2.05 kHz and 4 kHz of transition band. By default the browser runs this tool at your output device's preferred sample rate, per [MDN's AudioContext reference](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/AudioContext/AudioContext?ref=soundforgepro.com), and rates typically fall between 8,000 Hz and 96,000 Hz. Cheap sound hardware can also misbehave near the limit, and AudioCheck warns that at worst, ghost frequencies appear in the audible range. So the tool skips any step above 95% of the Nyquist frequency. At 44.1 kHz the ceiling is 20.9 kHz and every step plays. At a 32 kHz output it falls to 15.2 kHz, the steps from 16 kHz up are skipped, and the mosquito tone won't play; the status line says so when it happens. A skipped step is a limit of the output, not of your ears. ### Sound enhancements Processing in the operating system can reshape a tone before it reaches you. [Microsoft's guide to fixing sound problems in Windows](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/fix-sound-or-audio-problems-in-windows-73025246-b61c-40fb-671a-2535c7cd56c8?ref=soundforgepro.com) says audio enhancements can cause issues. In Windows 11, go to Start > Settings > Sound, choose your output device, open Advanced settings and set Audio enhancements to Off; in Windows 10, the device's Enhancements tab has a Disable all enhancements option. On iPhone, Headphone Accommodations amplifies soft sounds and adjusts certain frequencies for your hearing needs, as [Apple's Headphone Accommodations guide](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211218?ref=soundforgepro.com) describes. Check Settings > Accessibility > Audio & Visual > Headphone Accommodations and turn it off for the check, along with any equalizer you've set up. I'd switch all of these off before a run, because they're built to change the very thing this check looks at. ## The mosquito tone at 17.4 kHz The mosquito tone comes from the Mosquito, an anti-loitering device that Howard Stapleton invented and patented in 2005, according to [Wikipedia's history of the device](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%5FMosquito?ref=soundforgepro.com). Its MK4 model had two settings: about 17.4 kHz, which can generally be heard only by young people, and 8 kHz, which most people can hear. The [current seller's product page](https://mosquitoloiteringsolutions.com/product/mosquito/?ref=soundforgepro.com) lists a 16.8 kHz "Teen" setting it describes as audible to under-25s only, plus 15, 13 and 8.2 kHz settings, the last labeled "All-Age", and a maximum output of about 104 dB. Those figures are the seller's own. The sound also turned into a ringtone. [NPR reported in May 2006](https://www.npr.org/2006/05/26/5434687/teens-turn-repeller-into-adult-proof-ringtone?ref=soundforgepro.com) that teenagers had turned it into a phone alert that most of their teachers couldn't hear, and Stapleton told NPR that only a few people over 30 can hear the Mosquito's sound. The ringtone became known as Teen Buzz. Published audiometry fits the general idea, without the hard cutoff. In Wang's study, 78.3% of ears aged 21 to 30 responded at 18 kHz, against 20.0% at 31 to 40\. The tool's 17.4 kHz step plays at the same soft level you set with the 1 kHz reference, while the seller rates the device at up to about 104 dB, so not hearing it here isn't an age verdict. It may be the level, the headphones, an enhancement or the output rate. ## How high-frequency hearing changes with age For many people, hearing loss comes on gradually with age, as the [NIDCD's page on age-related hearing loss](https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/age-related-hearing-loss?ref=soundforgepro.com) puts it. About one in three people in the U.S. between 65 and 74 has hearing loss, and nearly half of those older than 75 have difficulty hearing. [MedlinePlus](https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001045.htm?ref=soundforgepro.com) notes that this loss often happens slowly over time and lists more difficulty understanding people with higher-pitched voices among its symptoms. Research on extended high frequencies agrees on the direction. Wang's team found that thresholds above 8 kHz got worse with age and with rising frequency, while the upper frequency limit fell with age. A [study of 645 people aged 5 to 90 by Rodríguez Valiente and colleagues](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24749665/?ref=soundforgepro.com) reports the same rise with frequency and age. Hearing-age charts turn that trend into a single number, and the data doesn't support that precision. In the Luengrungrus study, the middle half of ears aged 18 to 30 sat anywhere from 0 to 35 dB HL at 16 kHz, and Wang's 21 to 30 group spread from 10 to 45 dB HL. That's a 35 dB spread inside one age group, measured on calibrated audiometers. A browser tone at an unknown loudness through unknown headphones adds more uncertainty on top, which is why this tool never gives you an age. ## Test results: high-frequency hearing by age Three published studies report extended high-frequency thresholds by age, all measured on clinical audiometers with Sennheiser HDA-200 or HDA300 earphones: [Wang and colleagues' 2021 study of 162 adults aged 21 to 70](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8394048/?ref=soundforgepro.com) in China, [Luengrungrus and colleagues' 2024 study of 134 adults aged 18 to 70](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11674001/?ref=soundforgepro.com) in Thailand, and [Anastasio and colleagues' 2012 study of 50 children aged 8 to 12](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4630943/?ref=soundforgepro.com) in Brazil. That's 346 people across 3 studies. Both adult studies recruited people whose standard hearing test came back normal, so the figures describe ears without known hearing loss. At 16 kHz, the median of the two adult studies rises from 17.5 dB HL under 30 (study medians 10 and 25, 110 ears) to 60 dB HL at 51 to 60 (study medians 55 and 65, 76 ears with a measured threshold). Higher numbers mean a louder tone was needed, and in the older groups many ears didn't respond at all, so the real shift is larger than the medians show. __Median hearing thresholds at 16 kHz in dB HL. The combined figure is the median of the two study medians, not pooled raw data. A threshold exists only for ears that responded, so from 31 to 70 the medians leave out ears that heard nothing at the equipment's maximum, and the last column counts ears with a measured threshold.__ | Age group | Wang 2021 | Luengrungrus 2024 | Combined median | Range of study medians | Ears with a threshold | | ------------------------ | ------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------- | ---------------------- | --------------------- | | Under 30 (21–30 / 18–30) | 25 (46 ears) | 10 (64 ears) | 17.5 | 10–25 | 110 | | 31–40 | 50 (32 of 50 ears responded) | 40 (72 ears) | 45 | 40–50 | 104 | | 41–50 | 55 (34 of 88 ears responded) | 60 (36 ears) | 57.5 | 55–60 | 70 | | 51–60 | 55 (24 of 78 ears responded) | 65 (52 ears) | 60 | 55–65 | 76 | | 61–70 | Not reported; 16.1% of ears responded | 70 (35 of 44 ears responded), near the 75 dB HL limit of the equipment | 70 (one study) | One study | 35 | Response rates show the same trend from another angle. Wang's team recorded how many ears responded at all at each frequency, and above 16 kHz the numbers drop fast after 30. __Share of ears that responded at each frequency in Wang 2021, with 46, 50, 88, 78 and 62 ears in the five age groups.__ | Frequency | 21–30 | 31–40 | 41–50 | 51–60 | 61–70 | | --------- | ------ | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | | 16 kHz | 100.0% | 64.0% | 38.6% | 30.8% | 16.1% | | 18 kHz | 78.3% | 20.0% | 2.3% | 2.6% | 0.0% | | 20 kHz | 52.2% | 8.0% | 2.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Children sit at the other end of the scale. Anastasio's 50 children aged 8 to 12 averaged -3.6 dB HL at 16 kHz, a mean rather than a median, from one study. The pattern is clear even with two adult studies: the combined median at 16 kHz climbs 42.5 dB between the under-30 and 51 to 60 groups, and that understates the change, because most ears aged 41 to 60 in Wang's study didn't respond at 16 kHz at all. The spread inside each group is just as clear: the middle half of the youngest adults spans 35 dB in both studies. My takeaway for a browser check: not hearing 18 kHz in your forties is the norm in this data, where 2.3% of ears aged 41 to 50 responded at all, so a missing top step says little on its own. If steps you heard before are gone on the same setup, or everyday listening feels harder, book a hearing check rather than rerunning the tool. ## Safe listening while you check Don't turn the volume up to chase the top steps. A result reached at a higher level isn't comparable with the others, and the next track or notification will play at that setting too. The [WHO's safe listening guidance](https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/deafness-and-hearing-loss-safe-listening?ref=soundforgepro.com) suggests keeping personal device volume below 60% of maximum and says you can safely listen to 80 dB for up to 40 hours a week. It also recommends well-fitted and noise-cancelling headphones. The [NIDCD's page on noise-induced hearing loss](https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/noise-induced-hearing-loss?ref=soundforgepro.com) draws two lines: sounds at or below 70 dBA are unlikely to cause hearing loss even after long exposure, while long or repeated exposure at or above 85 dBA can. This tool's level is digital, so it can't tell you dB at your ear. For a room or a speaker, the [decibel meter](https://soundforgepro.com/decibel-meter/) shows estimated dBA once you calibrate it against a real meter. Stop if a tone feels uncomfortable or your ears ring afterward. Ringing that doesn't go away needs a medical opinion, and the WHO says that in case of persistent tinnitus it's important to seek medical advice. ## When to see a doctor or audiologist If you have hearing complaints, see a doctor or audiologist, whatever this check shows. A browser tool can't replace a hearing test. Sudden hearing loss is urgent. The [NHS hearing loss page](https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hearing-loss/?ref=soundforgepro.com) says to ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 if you have sudden hearing loss in one or both ears, because it may need to be treated quickly. The [NIDCD's page on sudden deafness](https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/sudden-deafness?ref=soundforgepro.com) calls it a medical emergency and says to visit a doctor immediately. It frequently affects only one ear, and treatment delayed for more than two to four weeks is less likely to reverse or reduce permanent hearing loss. MedlinePlus advises contacting your provider right away for a sudden change in hearing, or for hearing loss that comes with other symptoms such as headache, vision changes or dizziness. For hearing that seems to be getting gradually worse, the NHS recommends seeing a GP. Don't use this tool to check a sudden change. The NIDCD describes one sign of sudden hearing loss as a loss of at least 30 decibels in three connected frequencies within 72 hours, and measuring that takes a threshold test on calibrated equipment. ## Verdict My verdict: use this check to learn what your setup can play, to compare headphones and outputs, and to hear what 17.4 kHz sounds like, with the volume low the whole time. Run every comparison at one level on one device, switch off enhancements first, and treat a missing top step as normal for most adults. For any hearing complaint, or any sudden change, the next step is a doctor or audiologist, not another run. ## Hearing frequency test FAQ ### What frequency range can humans hear? The textbook range is 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. Clinical hearing tests check only 250 to 8,000 Hz, and the top of the range falls with age: in one 2021 study, 52.2% of ears aged 21 to 30 responded at 20 kHz, and none aged 51 to 60 did. ### What frequencies should I hear at my age? There's no fixed number for an age. In one study, every ear under 30 responded at 16 kHz and 78.3% at 18 kHz, while at 41 to 50 only 38.6% responded at 16 kHz and 2.3% at 18 kHz. The middle half of one age group spans 35 dB in both adult studies, so a browser result can't place you in one. ### Why can't I hear the mosquito tone? 17.4 kHz sits near the top of human hearing, and in published audiometry far fewer adults over 30 respond at 16 to 18 kHz than younger adults. Your setup can also block it: earbuds, Bluetooth, sound enhancements or a low output rate can stop the tone before your ears do, and this page plays it quietly. Not hearing it here isn't a verdict on your hearing. ### Is an online hearing test accurate? Not as a hearing test. A clinical audiogram records the softest level you hear at each frequency, in dB HL, on calibrated equipment, while a browser plays tones at a digital level through whatever headphones you own. An online check is useful for comparing outputs and settings; for any hearing complaint, see a doctor or audiologist. ### Can headphones or Bluetooth change the result? Yes. Seal and fit affect deep bass, Bluetooth codec behavior depends on the source device, small speakers run out of bass early, and audio enhancements reshape the sound. Compare results only on the same device, at the same system volume and tool level. ### Can this test show hearing loss? No. It reports the highest and lowest steps you heard on this device at this level, which isn't a threshold or a diagnosis. If you notice hearing problems, see a doctor or audiologist, and treat sudden hearing loss in one or both ears as urgent. ### What does dB HL mean? It stands for decibels hearing level, the unit on an audiogram. On the classification in ASHA's consumer guide, -10 to 15 dB HL is normal, 16 to 25 slight and 26 to 40 mild, though some professionals put the upper normal limit at 20 or 25\. This tool's -30 dBFS is a digital signal level, a different scale.