Free, nothing to install
Mic Test
This mic test shows your microphone live and tells you what to fix. Press Start mic test, allow the microphone and talk: the level, waveform, spectrum and spectrogram move as you speak. Then run the 15-second check for a score out of 100, with your level, the room’s noise, the range your microphone carries and any mains hum, each with one plain fix. Everything runs in your browser.
A good microphone
A full-range microphone a hand’s width away, in a quiet room.
The recording it heard
−18.3dBFS
peak −3.1 dBFS · 0 clips
What the check found
100
Excellent
- Level−18.3 dBFS100
- Clipping0 clips100
- Room noisevoice 53 dB above (−70.8 dBFS room)100
- Rangefull range, heard to 16.0 kHz100
- HumNone100
Your microphone is ready: good level, no clipping and a quiet room.
- no sign-up, nothing to install
- Free
- for the full check
- 15 seconds
- level, peak and clips
- Live dBFS
- out of 100, with fixes
- Score
- and delay in milliseconds
- Echo
- your test recording
- WAV or MP3
How do I test my mic online?
Open the mic test, press Start mic test and allow the microphone when the browser asks. Speak and watch the level bar: a working microphone moves it, and normal speech sits between about −30 and −12 dBFS. For a full answer, run the check: five seconds of quiet, then one sentence read aloud, and the mic test gives a score with what to change. Test echo plays a short sweep to measure the round trip and the echo.
Mic test online in three steps
The same on a laptop, a desktop with a USB microphone or a phone, in any current browser.
Start the mic test
Allow the microphone when the browser asks. The level and the live views start at once; pick another microphone from the list if you have more than one.
Stay quiet, then read
Run the check: five seconds of silence to measure the room, then read the sentence on screen at your usual distance.
Read the verdict
A score out of 100, each part with its number, and what to change first. Play the recording back or save it as WAV or MP3.
A microphone test that tells you what to fix
Most mic tests show a moving bar. This one measures what makes a voice sound good or bad, and says what to change.
See your microphone live
The level in dBFS as you speak, the peak, a held peak and a count of clips; the waveform; the spectrum on a log axis from 50 Hz to 20 kHz, where a voice spreads out instead of crowding one corner; and a scrolling spectrogram. Turn on Hear yourself to listen back with a short delay, on headphones.
A 15-second check with one fix per problem
Stay quiet for five seconds, then read a sentence. The mic test scores five parts (level, clipping, room noise, range and hum) and gives a total out of 100. The weakest part caps the total, so a single serious problem such as clipping always shows in the score. Each problem comes with the one change that fixes it, most important first.
Tells a headset in call mode from a real microphone
Wireless earbuds switch to their call mode when a site opens the microphone, and the voice then carries only phone-call range. The test reads where your speech stops from its own spectrum: about 4 kHz is a call, about 7 kHz a wideband call, more is full range. On our samples, 4.2 kHz against 16 kHz. It is a range, not a lab frequency response.
Mains hum, measured
A ground loop adds a steady hum from the power line. The mic test looks for it at 50 and 60 Hz and their second harmonic, then reports the frequency it actually measured, so you know it is the power line and not a fan. On our hum sample: 60.0 Hz.
Echo and delay in milliseconds
Test echo plays a half-second sweep through your speakers and finds it again in what the microphone hears. You get the round trip in milliseconds and how loud the echo comes back. Switch to Call sound and test again to see how much your browser’s echo cancellation removes; with headphones, nothing comes back.
What your browser really applied
The device report lists what the test asked for beside what the browser did: sample rate, channels, bits, latency, echo cancellation, noise suppression and automatic gain. Some browsers don’t let a page switch noise suppression or automatic gain on their own, and the report marks any setting the browser didn’t follow. Copy the report to send with a support question.
One fix for your exact error
When the microphone won’t open, the test reads why: blocked for this site, blocked by your system’s privacy settings, no microphone found, busy in another program, unplugged, or a page without a secure connection. You see the steps for that cause on your browser and system, not a list of everything.
Mic test samples: six situations, six verdicts
One sentence read by a library voice, changed to sound like six real situations (a good microphone, too far away, clipping, mains hum, a Bluetooth headset in call mode and a loud room), played into the browser’s microphone input and checked by this mic test. Each verdict is exactly what the test said.
Microphone test guide: get a clear voice on any device
How to test your mic on Windows
Plug the microphone in before you open the mic test, then open Settings, System, Sound and check that it is chosen under Input. Its volume there should sit around three quarters; the test will tell you if it needs to go up or down.
If the test says your system is blocking the browser, open Settings, Privacy & security, Microphone and turn on both Microphone access and Let desktop apps access your microphone. Restart the browser afterwards.
How to test your mic on a Mac
Open System Settings, Sound, Input and choose your microphone; the input level there moves when it hears you. Then run the microphone test in the browser.
If the browser can’t reach the microphone, open System Settings, Privacy & Security, Microphone and turn your browser on, then quit and reopen it.
Mic test on a phone
Open the page in your phone’s browser, press Start mic test and allow the microphone. Hold the phone as you would for a call, a little below your mouth.
Safari doesn’t let a page switch noise suppression and automatic gain on their own, so the device report is worth a look: it shows what the phone actually applied. With wireless earbuds connected, the phone may use their microphone in call mode, and the range reads about 4 kHz.
Reading the numbers: level, peaks and clipping
0 dBFS is full scale, the loudest a recording can hold; sound pushed past it is cut flat, which is clipping. The level is how loud the louder half of your speech is; the peak is the single loudest moment.
- 1Level between −32 and −10 dBFS: good for calls and recordings.
- 2Below −32: a little quiet; below −45: move closer or raise the input volume.
- 3Peaks above −1 dBFS, or any clip: lower the input volume. A clip is a moment cut flat at full scale, heard as crackle, and no editing brings it back.
Sit about a hand’s width to 20 cm from the microphone and slightly to the side, so the letters p and b don’t thump.
Room noise: how far your voice is above it
The check measures the room during the five quiet seconds, then compares your voice with it. The gap in dB decides the noise score.
- 140 dB or more: a quiet room, nothing to do.
- 230 to 40 dB: fine for calls and most recordings.
- 320 to 30 dB: some noise. Get closer to the microphone or find a quieter spot.
- 4Under 20 dB: the room competes with you. Close windows, turn off fans, or try Call sound, which removes some of it.
Bluetooth headsets and call mode
Wireless earbuds and headsets have two modes. Music is played in full quality, but as soon as a site uses their microphone they switch to call mode, which carries both ways at phone-call quality, around 4 kHz or, on newer ones, around 7 kHz.
For calls that is fine. For a podcast, a voiceover or a voice clone, use a wired or USB microphone, or the computer’s own, and run the mic test again to see the range open up.
Hum, rumble and hiss
Hum is a steady tone at the mains frequency, 50 Hz in most of the world and 60 Hz in North America and parts of South America and Asia, and its harmonics. It usually comes from a ground loop: try another USB port or cable, unplug a charger nearby, or add a ground loop isolator.
Rumble is low noise from traffic, air conditioning or a bumped desk; a microphone stand or a low-cut switch helps. Hiss is the sound of a quiet microphone turned up too far: move closer and turn the input down.
Raw or Call sound
Raw is what the microphone picks up, as a recording gets it. Call sound turns on the browser’s echo cancellation, noise suppression and automatic gain, as video calls send your voice.
Test your mic in both to see the difference: Call sound lowers a fan or the echo from your speakers, but it can also make a voice thinner. For recording music or a voice clone, Raw is the honest choice.
When to run a mic test
Any time your voice has to be heard clearly, a quick mic test first saves a retake.
Video calls and online meetings
Check your level and the room before you join, and test echo if you use speakers.
Podcasts and live streams
Make sure the range is full and nothing clips before you go live or record an episode.
Online classes
Teachers and students can test the microphone in fifteen seconds before the lesson starts.
Voice chat in games
Find out if your headset is in call mode and whether teammates will hear your fan or the room.
Before a voiceover or a voice clone
Get a clean, full-range take first, so the recording or the cloned voice sounds like you.
Music practice and instruments
Use Raw to see the whole spectrum of a voice or an instrument, with no processing in the way.
Mic test FAQ
More audio tools
Start the mic test
Allow the microphone and see it live in seconds. The full check takes 15 seconds and tells you what to fix.