Headphone test.
Run six quick checks on any headphones or earbuds — channels, balance, frequency sweep, bass, stereo imaging, and driver buzz — and mark each one pass or fail for an instant scorecard. Everything is generated in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
Active check
Channels
Listen for: Left tone from the left ear, right from the right — not swapped.
Six checks, one verdict.
Pick a step on the right, press play, and listen for the one thing that step checks.
Before you test
- Wear them correctlyL and R are marked inside the cups or on the earbud stems. Half of all "channel faults" are just headphones worn the wrong way round.
- Seat earbuds fullyA bud that isn't sealed loses bass and shifts the balance. Get a proper seal before judging low-end or matching.
- Clean the meshEarwax and dust clog the driver mesh and quiet one side. A soft brush over the grille fixes more "dead" channels than you'd expect.
- Prefer a wired connectionBluetooth limits the frequency extremes and adds delay. If your headphones can plug in, test wired for the truest result.
How to run the headphone test
- 1Pick a check. Click a row in the six-check list (or press 1–6). The centre stage shows what that step tests and exactly what to listen for.
- 2Play and listen. Press Play or the Space bar. Focus on the single thing the step checks — a swapped channel, an uneven side, a rattle in the sweep, a buzzy 40 Hz.
- 3Mark it pass or fail. Tap each row's toggle to record the result. The scorecard tallies your passes and gives a verdict as you go.
- 4Chase any failure. A dead or weak side? Confirm with the left/right test. Weak low end? Dig deeper with the bass test. Want the highest note you can hear? Try the hearing test.
How the headphone test works
Each step isolates one property of the headphones. Channels and balance hard-pan a tone to one side so a swap or a level mismatch is obvious. The frequency sweep glides a single oscillator logarithmically from 20 Hz to 20 kHz — because pitch tracks the log of frequency, a log sweep spends equal time in each octave, making dropouts and resonant rattles easy to pin down. Every tone is synthesized live with the Web Audio API and routed through the exact output your music uses.
Bass extension and the driver rub-and-buzz test both sit in the low end, where small drivers struggle most: a healthy driver reproduces 40–60 Hz as a clean tone, while a damaged or debris-fouled one adds a buzzing, flapping edge. Stereo imaging sweeps the pan position with a slow low-frequency oscillator so the sound orbits your head — smooth motion means a well-matched pair and a continuous soundstage, while jumps or a hole in the middle reveal a channel imbalance. None of this is recorded or uploaded; it all runs on your device.
When to test headphones
Unboxing a new pair
Run all six before the return window closes — channel and balance defects are easiest to justify a refund for on day one.
Buying used
A quick battery on second-hand cans catches a blown driver or a scratchy channel before money changes hands.
One ear sounds off
Quiet or muffled on one side? The channel and balance checks separate a real fault from earwax or a bad seal.
Rattle at high volume
A buzz on loud bass could be the track, the driver, or debris. The sweep and driver checks tell you which.
Before critical listening
Mixing, mastering, or a long focus session — confirm the pair is matched and clean so you trust what you hear.
After a drop or spill
Physical shocks can partially unseat or damage a driver. The buzz test surfaces damage a casual listen misses.
What a failed check means
Match the step that failed to its likely cause and the fix:
Channels are swapped
Headphones worn backwards, or true-wireless buds that reconnected with the sides flipped.
→ Check the L/R marks and re-seat the cups. For buds, return both to the case and reconnect so they re-pair cleanly.
One side is quieter (balance fails)
A clogged driver mesh, a bad seal, a partly-inserted plug, or an aging driver losing output.
→ Clean the mesh, get a full seal, fully seat the plug, then retest — if it persists on another source, the driver is failing.
Dropouts or rattle in the sweep
A loose driver, a foreign particle, or a cracked enclosure buzzing at certain frequencies.
→ Note the frequency where it rattles, inspect and clean the driver, and if it's mechanical, consider warranty service.
40 Hz is buzzy, not tonal
Small drivers reaching their excursion limit, or a torn/dirty diaphragm distorting at high excursion.
→ Lower the level and retest; if it still buzzes softly, the driver is damaged and won't clean up.
Imaging jumps or has a hole
A channel-level mismatch, one dead spot in a driver, or (on Bluetooth) codec glitching.
→ Re-run balance, switch to wired to rule out the codec, and clean both drivers before blaming the hardware.
Everything is dull on Bluetooth
A hands-free (headset) profile has taken over for a mic, collapsing quality and bandwidth.
→ Close apps holding the microphone, reconnect in the stereo (A2DP) profile, and test again — ideally wired.
Headphone test glossary
- Driver
- The tiny speaker inside each earcup or bud. Its diaphragm moves air to make sound; damage or debris makes it buzz.
- Imaging
- How precisely you can place sounds left-to-right. Good imaging needs two closely matched drivers.
- Soundstage
- The perceived size and space of the sound around your head — width, depth, and where instruments sit.
- Codec
- The compression used over Bluetooth (SBC, AAC, aptX, LDAC). It sets the bandwidth and delay of wireless audio.
- Impedance
- A headphone's electrical resistance in ohms. High-impedance cans need more power to reach full volume.
- Sensitivity
- How loud a headphone gets per unit of power (dB/mW). Higher sensitivity means more volume from weak sources like phones.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if a headphone problem is the driver or my ears?
Swap sides. If you physically rotate the headphones 180° (right cup on your left ear) and the quiet or buzzy side moves with the hardware, it's the driver; if it stays with your ear, the issue may be your hearing or earwax. You can also compare against another pair on the same source. For a formal ear check, the hearing test screens each ear across the audiometric range.
Why does one earbud sound quieter even though it's clean?
The most common culprit is a poor seal — if a bud doesn't sit tightly, you lose bass and the side sounds thinner and quieter. Try a different ear-tip size. Beyond seal, a clogged mesh, a partially depleted battery on one bud, or a genuine driver imbalance can all cause it. Run the balance check on a wired source if possible to rule out Bluetooth as the cause before deciding the hardware is faulty.
Should I test headphones wired or over Bluetooth?
Wired, whenever the headphones support it. Bluetooth codecs limit the frequency extremes — the deepest bass and the highest treble are the first things they trim — and they add latency, so a "failed" sweep at the edges can be the wireless link rather than the driver. If the headphones are Bluetooth-only, test them anyway, but judge the extremes leniently and make sure they're connected in the high-quality stereo profile, not the hands-free one.
What does the driver rub-and-buzz test actually detect?
It plays a sustained low tone (60 Hz) that forces the diaphragm to move a lot. A healthy driver reproduces it as a clean, pure hum. If you hear an added crackle, flutter, or buzz riding on top, the voice coil is rubbing, the diaphragm is torn, or there's a hair or dust particle on it. Debris sometimes brushes off; mechanical damage doesn't, and usually means the driver needs replacing or a warranty claim.
Do headphones need "burn-in" before they sound their best?
For the vast majority of modern headphones, no — measurable changes from burn-in are tiny and mostly below what people can reliably hear. A brand-new pair should already pass the channel, balance, and sweep checks. If a new pair fails one of those, that's a manufacturing defect to return or exchange, not something that will "play itself in" over a few dozen hours.
When should I RMA a headphone versus just clean it?
Clean first: brush the mesh, remove ear-tips and clear wax, and reseat everything. Debris and seal issues cause a huge share of channel and buzz complaints and cost nothing to fix. If, after cleaning, a side stays dead or a driver still buzzes on a clean low tone across two sources, that's hardware — start a warranty (RMA) claim. Documenting the exact failing check and frequency speeds up any support conversation.
Is a small left/right level difference normal?
A tiny mismatch can exist within manufacturing tolerance, but you generally shouldn't be able to hear it — the balance check should sound even ear to ear. If one side is clearly louder, first suspect a clogged mesh or an uneven seal rather than the drivers. Persistent, obvious imbalance across sources and after cleaning is a defect worth returning, especially on a new or premium pair.
Can this test damage my headphones?
At sensible volumes, no. The tones are ordinary audio signals. The only real risk is running the low-frequency bass and driver tests at maximum volume for a long time, which forces small drivers past their limits. Start around half volume, raise it only as much as you need to judge each check, and you'll never stress the hardware.