Sound Test
Check that your speakers or headphones play sound — and that the left and right channels both work. Tap a channel to hear a tone from just that side, mark what you heard, and get a verdict.
Wearing headphones? Left is your left ear — if the sides feel swapped, the earbuds are on the wrong ears.
Each ear hears only its own side, so a dead channel is unmistakable on headphones.
Start quiet and raise the volume gradually — a sudden full-volume tone can damage small drivers.
Before blaming the hardware, reseat the plug and check your system’s balance slider — both fail more often than the speaker itself.
This test answers the two questions that matter: does any sound come out at all, and does each channel play on its own? The left and right buttons route a tone through a single channel, so a dead earbud, a half-inserted plug, or a balance slider pushed to one side shows up immediately — a quick check before a call, after plugging into a new machine, or when buying second-hand headphones. For the microphone half of a call setup, point the camera at yourself with the Webcam Test.
The tone is synthesized in your browser with the Web Audio API and routed through an equal-power stereo panner, so "Left" really is only the left channel and "Right" only the right — no audio file is fetched and nothing leaves your device. The sweep button pans the same tone from full left to full right; on working stereo gear you hear it travel across your head in one continuous arc. Listen for three things: that each side plays, that both are equally loud, and that the tone stays clean at higher volume instead of crackling.
No sound at all? Work down this list
Almost every "my speakers are broken" case is a routing problem, not a hardware one. Check the basics first: the plug fully seated, powered speakers switched on, the volume knob up. Then check where the sound is going — the OS sends audio to one output device at a time, so if it is routed to a disconnected HDMI TV or to Bluetooth earbuds sitting in their case, your speakers stay silent. Pick the right device in your sound settings, unmute the system and the browser tab (playing tabs show a speaker icon), and raise the volume here. If a Bluetooth headset connects but stays silent, toggle Bluetooth off and on — a half-paired connection is common.
Common speaker and headphone faults
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Silence on both sides | Wrong output device selected, system muted, or Bluetooth routed elsewhere | Pick the right device in sound settings; unmute and retest |
| One side silent | Half-inserted plug, broken cable strand, balance set off-center, or a dead driver | Reseat the plug, center the balance, test on another device |
| Left and right swapped | Earbuds worn on the wrong sides, or speaker cables crossed | Swap the earbuds or the speaker cables and rerun the test |
| Crackle or distortion | Torn or overdriven speaker cone, dirty jack, or a damaged cable | Lower the volume; clean the jack; replace the cable |
| One side quieter | Earwax or debris blocking an earbud grille, or channel balance | Clean the grille; check the OS balance slider |
| Constant hiss or hum | Electrical interference or a ground loop on analog speakers | Move cables away from power bricks; try another outlet |