Bass Test

How to use the bass test

Start with your volume low — low tones can be surprisingly loud on a subwoofer and can make speaker cones move a lot. Pick a preset or drag the slider to choose a frequency, then press Play tone. Raise the volume slowly until you can hear or feel the tone, and stop if anything rattles or sounds rough.

To find how low your system goes, press Sweep. The tone glides from 200 Hz down to 20 Hz. Tap I stopped hearing it when the bass fades away, and the page shows the frequency where that happened. It's a simple, practical bass tester: no microphone, no measurement gear, just your ears.

That number is based on your own listening, so treat it as a rough guide rather than a lab result. Volume, room, where you sit and your device all change it. For a fair comparison between two speakers or two pairs of headphones, keep the volume the same and sit in the same spot.

You can also send the tone to Left or Right only, which helps when you want to compare two speakers one at a time.

The presets cover the most useful bass test hz values: 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 80, 100 and 120 Hz. The page remembers the last frequency you used, so you can come back after moving a speaker and pick up where you left off.

What you should hear at each frequency

• 20–40 Hz (sub-bass): more felt than heard — a rumble in the floor or your chest. Only capable subwoofers and some headphones reproduce it well.
• 40–80 Hz (low bass): the weight of kick drums, bass guitar and film explosions. This is where most subwoofers do their main work.
• 80–200 Hz (upper bass): punch and warmth. Most bookshelf and desktop speakers start to work well somewhere in this range.

A healthy system sounds smooth as you move through these ranges. Some notes will always sound a little louder or quieter than others because of the room, but a tone that suddenly disappears, booms, or turns into a buzz is worth a closer look.

Subwoofer test: crossover and placement

A subwoofer test is mostly about how well the sub blends with your main speakers. Run a slow sweep and listen between about 60 and 120 Hz. The level should stay fairly even as the sound hands over from your main speakers to the subwoofer. A sudden dip suggests a gap; a sudden boom suggests the two are overlapping too much.

If you hear either, try adjusting the crossover setting on your subwoofer or receiver, then sweep again. Many systems also have a phase switch or dial on the subwoofer; try both positions and keep the one that sounds fuller around the crossover.

Finally, check the subwoofer's level against your main speakers. Play music you know well after the sweep: if bass notes seem to come from the subwoofer's corner rather than from between your speakers, the sub is probably set too loud or the crossover too high.

Placement matters just as much. Rooms have a big effect on bass, so moving a subwoofer even a short distance along the wall can change what you hear at your seat. Use the subwoofer test tones at 40, 50 and 60 Hz, move the sub, and listen again from your usual spot.

Rattles, buzzing and distortion

If you hear a rattle at one particular frequency, it's often something in the room vibrating along — a shelf, a picture frame, a window or a loose panel. Hold or move the object while the tone plays to find it.

If the tone itself sounds rough, fuzzy or "flappy", the speaker is probably being pushed too hard. Turn it down. Bass test hz settings below about 40 Hz are the most demanding, so be especially careful there with small speakers.

Why phones and laptops can't play deep bass

Small speakers can't move enough air for low notes. Phone and laptop speakers usually fade out somewhere around 100 Hz or higher, so silence at 50 Hz on a phone is normal and not a fault. You may still hear a faint, higher buzz, which is the speaker's own distortion rather than the real tone.

If you want to check bass on a phone, plug in headphones or connect a speaker and run the test again.

Bass on headphones and earbuds

Headphones can play very low notes because they sit so close to your ears, but only with a good seal. If bass sounds thin, try a different ear tip size, adjust the fit, or check that hair or glasses aren't breaking the seal on over-ear headphones. Noise cancellation and EQ settings can also change how much bass you hear.

Open-back headphones often sound lighter in the lowest bass than closed-back ones, which is part of their design rather than a fault. When you compare two pairs, use the same frequency and the same volume, and switch between them quickly so your memory of the sound stays fresh.

Need an exact frequency?

Use the Tone Generator to play any frequency from 1 to 20,000 Hz, or the Left Right Speaker Test to check that each speaker is on the correct side.