This website offers you the easiest, fastest, but also one of the best hearing tests on the Internet. Bookmark this page and run this hearing test periodically to monitor your hearing!

Although these test files have been carefully designed, this website is not a substitute for a proper hearing test. You are encouraged to consult an audiologist as soon as you seriously feel concerned about a possible hearing loss. Beware, some of the audio tests tones can be damaging (excessively loud) if used improperly. You will be safe though by following the sound level calibration procedure and always starting by playing the quieter files first.

The next three sections take you through the actual hearing test. The rest of the page will give you information about hearing loss, audiograms, and how to get the most reliable results out of this page's hearing test.

1. Calibrate your sound levels

Calibration

File

Using headphones, listen to the calibration audio file. Then, without your headphones on, rub your hands together closely in front of your nose, quickly and firmly, and try producing the same sound.

If you have trouble hearing the sound of your hands rubbing, the test is already completed: you likely suffer from a severe hearing loss!

Adjust your computer's volume so that both levels match: the calibration file through your headphones, and your hands rubbing, without headphones. Once matched, do not change your levels anymore during the rest of the hearing test.

2. Listen to the individual test files

In a silent environment, starting from the top row, move down until you hear a tone. Do this for each column.

Always start with files on top of the table. The bottom files are for severe hearing losses, and will play very loudly for a normal hearing person!

Stop with the file whose tone becomes just audible - not the file above or below - before switching to the next column.

Test Both Ears Left Ear Only Right Ear Only

3. Review your personal audiogram

Your personal hearing thresholds should now appear on the audiogram below. Ideally, the markers should be located on the top of the graph, around the zero range.

Overlay Clear Markers Print - Save - Bookmark





This graph is similar to what your audiologist's system would produce during a hearing test, and plots the softest sounds you can hear across the different frequencies tested. Ideally, the six markers should be located on the top of the graph, around the zero range. The next section explains the audiogram in detail.

Click the 'Overlay' button to add information on top of your audiogram.

The first overlay outlines the area related to conversational speech. It is in the shape of a banana and is often referred to as the “speech banana.” Vowels are located on the left side of the banana (the green area), and consonants are to the right (the blue area). Remember, all the sounds located above your individual hearing thresholds will be inaudible to you. If your personal markers are located inside (or worse, below) the speech banana, it means that your hearing will be missing part of the conversation, requiring your brain to compensate for this deficiency, by guessing words, for example.



The second overlay depicts some familiar sounds of our everyday life, such as rustling leaves, birds chirping, water dripping and other common sounds.

If you have mastered this hearing test and want to achieve a higher precision, try the alternate test which adds in-between frequencies and hearing levels. To keep the sound table small, the alternate test has been split in two frequency ranges. Make your choice below, proceed to section 2, then check your audiogram again.

Alt Low [250-1500Hz] Alt High [1500-8000Hz] Back to Original Test

What is an audiogram?

The frequencies (or pitches) that have been used during your hearing test are shown on the horizontal axis (the vertical lines). These frequencies are low on the left side of the audiogram (250Hz), then gradually climb to higher frequencies on the right side (8000 Hz or 8kHz). Humans hear frequencies from 20 Hz up to 20,000 Hz, but an audiogram only shows a subset of our hearing range: it focuses on the frequencies that are the most important for a clear understanding of speech (the spoken words).

The volume (loudness) required to reach a person's hearing threshold is shown on the vertical axis (the horizontal lines). These are expressed in deciBels Hearing Level (dBHL). dBHL are not absolute loudness levels but represent a difference between your hearing and the average "normal" hearing. When scoring 0 dBHL, your hearing exactly matches the norm; higher values are signs of hearing loss. There are tolerances though: normal hearing is defined by thresholds lower than 15 dBHL at all frequencies, not strictly at 0 dBHL. The loudness scale goes from very soft sounds on top (-5 dBHL) to loud sounds at the bottom (80 dBHL).

As you perform this hearing test, markers will be set on the audiogram, and will correspond to your personal hearing thresholds. Once the test is completed, you can read the audiogram as follows: Every sound located above the markers will be inaudible to you. The Overlay button gives you an idea of what these sounds could be.

Keywords



Hearing, hearing loss, hearing test, audiometry, audiometric test, audiogram, audiometer, audiologist, hearing levels, hearing thresholds, pure tone audiometry, warble tones.