How to Get Accurate Hearing Range Test Results: Why Phones and Earphones Change the Outcome
Hearing range tests and ear age checks can give results that differ by several kHz depending on the device and the room. “I can’t hear 18000Hz” or “I think I heard 20000Hz” may say more about your speaker or Bluetooth than about your ears. This article explains what throws results off and how to choose equipment, set the volume and answer so that you measure as accurately as possible.
Results often wobble because of things other than your ears
A hearing range test is a chain: a sound is generated, it reaches your ear, and you answer that you heard it. If the sound is lost or the answer slips at any point along the way, the result won’t match how well you actually hear.
| Stage | What can happen | Effect on the result |
|---|---|---|
| Generating the sound | Sounds above the sample-rate limit can’t be produced | Nothing above the limit can be measured |
| Sending it to the device | A Bluetooth codec cuts high frequencies | Upper limit comes out too low |
| Playing it | Small speakers struggle with high frequencies | Upper limit comes out too low |
| Playing it | A click when the tone starts | Upper limit comes out too high |
| Listening | Background noise, gaps around earphones | Upper limit comes out too low or varies |
| Answering | Expecting to hear it, delayed reactions | Upper limit comes out too high or shifts |
Some causes push the limit down and others push it up, so the further your result is from the typical range for your age, the more it’s worth testing again under different conditions. For typical ranges by age, see the ear age chart.
Choosing equipment: wired earphones or headphones are most reliable
| Device | Typical high-frequency output | Suitability for hearing range tests |
|---|---|---|
| Wired earphones or headphones | Most reach around 20 kHz | ◎ Best choice |
| Bluetooth earphones | Depending on the codec, frequencies above 16–18 kHz may be cut | △ The limit may come out low |
| Phone’s built-in speaker | Often produces almost nothing above 15–16 kHz | × Results come out low even for young people |
| Laptop’s built-in speakers | Varies a lot by model; many are weak at high frequencies | × Same as above |
| External speakers | Easier if there’s a tweeter (high-frequency driver) | ○ Watch out for room echo |
Bluetooth doesn’t send sound as it is. It applies compression (a codec) to reduce the amount of data first, and compression often removes the hard-to-hear high frequencies first, so extremely high pure tones like those in a hearing range test may not come through. If the earphones switch to call mode for the microphone, the sound quality drops even further (also covered in how to choose a headset).
Volume and surroundings: fix the volume and keep the room quiet
- Set the volume with an easy-to-hear tone such as 1,000Hz so it’s comfortably audible, and don’t change it during the test
- Don’t turn the volume up just because you can’t hear the high tones. It strains your ears and makes the device more likely to distort
- Test in a room with little constant noise from air conditioners, extractor fans or computer fans
- Push in-ear (canal) earphones firmly into your ears so there are no gaps
- Turn off your device’s equaliser, sound enhancement and noise cancelling
The Ear Age Test caps the output so that even with the slider at maximum it won’t go above a set volume. It also adds a 0.08-second fade at the start and end of each tone to prevent clicks. A click contains a wide range of frequencies, and the fade stops you from hearing the click and mistakenly thinking you heard the high tone.
How to answer: reduce false answers and reaction delay
If you expect the next tone to play, you can feel you heard it even when nothing played. And in a sweep, where the pitch changes continuously, there’s a slight delay between the sound disappearing and you pressing the button. The Ear Age Test lets you reduce both of these in the following ways.
- 1
Mix silent “catch” trials into the step test
Every so often a round plays no sound. The number of times you answered “heard” to silence is shown; if it’s high, you may be answering from expectation, tinnitus, or noise from the device.
- 2
Be wary of a ✓ above a ✗
If you missed a tone but then “heard” only a higher one, you may have heard noise. Trust the highest frequency you heard without a break.
- 3
Run the sweep both up and down
Going up (press when it disappears), your delay makes the result too high; going down (press when it appears), it comes out too low. Multiply the two values and take the square root (the geometric mean) and the delay largely cancels out.
- 4
Test 2–3 times on different days
Your condition, tiredness and the time of day can shift results slightly. Don’t draw conclusions from one result; compare using the same device at the same volume.
Turn it around: check how high your speakers can go
If you know your own ears can hear close to 20 kHz, you can use the same test to check your equipment. If you heard up to 18 kHz with wired earphones but the tone disappears at 16 kHz with Bluetooth earphones, the difference is what Bluetooth cuts.
“Play a frequency” lets you play any pitch from 20Hz to 22 kHz, so you can also check how low your speakers go with 50Hz or 100Hz. To check that the left and right channels are correct, see how to check if your earphones are swapped left and right, and for testing one ear at a time, see how to check your hearing one ear at a time.
FAQ
- Up to what age can people hear 18000Hz?
- As a rough guide, the teens to early twenties. But if your playback device can’t produce 18 kHz, even young people won’t hear it, so testing with wired earphones is recommended.
- I heard 20000Hz. Is that real?
- Some people in their early teens can hear it, but few adults can. You may have heard a click at the start of the tone or distortion from the device, so check again with the step test with silent catch trials mixed in.
- Can I do a hearing range test with my phone’s speaker?
- You can, but built-in speakers often produce almost nothing above 15–16 kHz, so results tend to come out lower than your real hearing. For an accurate measurement, use wired earphones or headphones.
- Why can’t I hear high tones through Bluetooth earphones?
- Bluetooth compresses sound before sending it, and depending on the codec, frequencies above 16–18 kHz may be cut. The sound may simply not be reaching you because of the connection, not your ears.
- Why do the up and down sweeps give different results?
- Because of the delay before you press the button. Going up, the delay makes the result higher; going down, lower. Measure both, multiply them and take the square root (the geometric mean), and the effect of the delay mostly disappears.
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