🎯 Test Your Microphone
Values are relative (dBFS), not calibrated sound pressure levels.
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🔍 What Does This Microphone Test Check?
This tool uses the Web Audio API (AudioContext + AnalyserNode) combined with getUserMedia to access your microphone and process its signal in real-time. It visualizes the time-domain waveform, displays a frequency spectrum, calculates a live RMS dBFS reading, and tracks your peak level — all without any data leaving your browser.
🔒 Is My Audio Private?
Yes, completely. Audio is analyzed in real-time only for visualization purposes. The optional recording feature stores audio locally in your browser memory only — nothing is ever uploaded to any server. When you download a recording, the file goes directly to your device. The AudioContext is properly closed when you stop the test, and all media tracks are released immediately. This tool requires HTTPS to ensure your session is encrypted. For video testing with the same privacy guarantee, see our camera test.
🔧 Microphone Not Working? How to Fix Common Issues
If your microphone is not working after clicking Start Mic, these are the most common causes and fixes:
Permission denied: Click the lock or camera icon in your browser address bar, find the Microphone setting, and change it to "Allow." Then reload the page and try again.
Mic in use by another app: Close Zoom, Discord, Teams, or any other app that may be using your microphone. Only one app can access the mic at a time on most systems.
Wrong input device selected: Open your operating system's sound settings and ensure the correct microphone is set as the default input device. On Windows, go to Settings → Sound → Input. On Mac, go to System Settings → Sound → Input.
Microphone muted or volume too low: Check that your microphone is not physically muted (some headsets have a mute button) and that the input volume is not set to zero in your OS settings.
Browser not supported or outdated: This free mic test works best in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari. Update your browser to the latest version if you experience issues.
🎧 How to Test Your Microphone for Discord, Zoom & Gaming
Wondering if your mic is ready for voice calls or gaming? This tool lets you test microphone online free before joining any call. Check your dBFS reading — for Discord and Zoom, you typically want your voice to peak between -20 and -6 dBFS. If your mic reads below -40 dBFS, it is too quiet and other participants may not hear you clearly.
For gaming headsets, use the frequency spectrum to verify that your mic picks up the voice range (roughly 80 Hz to 8 kHz). A healthy gaming mic should show strong mid-range bars when you speak. If only low-frequency bars light up, your mic may be positioned too far away or its gain may be set too low. Once your audio is confirmed, also run our keyboard test to verify your full gaming setup.
📈 How to Read the Meters Together
Each display answers a different question, so read them side by side.
- Waveform: the line moves up and down from a center line as your voice changes air pressure. Taller swings mean a louder signal. Squared-off peaks mean the signal is hitting its limit.
- Large dBFS number and RMS dB: an average of the signal over a short window, which is close to how loud your voice sounds overall.
- Peak dB: jumps up instantly on loud sounds and then falls back slowly, showing your loudest recent moments.
- LED meter: covers the range from -60 dBFS on the left to 0 dBFS on the right.
- Mic Health badge: reads "Perfect" when the average level sits between -20 and -6 dBFS, "Adjust Level" between -35 and -20, "Too Quiet" below that, and "Too Loud" or "Clipping!" when the level is above -6 dBFS or peaks reach the very top.
The Advanced Analysis row builds on these. Noise Floor estimates the background level while you are silent. It is calibrated during roughly the first second after you start the mic and then updated only in pauses, so stay quiet for a moment after clicking Start Mic. Dyn. Range is the gap between your recent peak and that noise floor; a bigger gap means your voice stands out more clearly from the room. Quality is a 0–100 guide that combines your average level, the dynamic range, any clipping, and how much energy falls in the main speech band (about 300 Hz to 4 kHz). Treat it as a quick summary, not a laboratory measurement.
🎛️ Browser Audio Processing and Why Levels Can Drift
When this tool opens your microphone, it asks the browser to turn on three common voice features: echo cancellation, noise suppression and automatic gain control (AGC). The Mic Info panel shows whether each one is actually On, Off or Not Supported on your device. Most voice-call apps use similar features, so this is close to what a call participant hears.
With AGC on, a quiet voice may gradually get boosted and a loud one pulled down, so the meter can creep up or settle after a few seconds. Noise suppression can hide steady background sounds such as a fan, which means the noise floor here may look better than the raw signal a recording program would receive. If you plan to record with software that captures the microphone directly, expect the unprocessed sound to be noisier and less even than it is in this test.
🎚️ Setting Your Input Gain Step by Step
Gain is the amount of amplification applied to the microphone signal before anything else happens to it. Setting it well (gain staging) gives a clean signal with headroom for loud moments.
- If your microphone or audio interface has a physical gain knob, start there, because that is the first stage the signal passes through. Set it around the middle.
- Start the mic here, sit in your normal position and speak at your usual volume. Adjust until the badge settles on "Perfect" most of the time.
- Now test your loudest realistic sound: laugh, call out or react the way you would during a game. Peak dB should stay below about -6 dBFS and the badge should not switch to "Clipping!". If it does, lower the gain a little.
- Only after that, fine-tune the input volume slider in your operating system. On Linux and ChromeOS the input level is also in the system sound or audio settings, usually next to the input device list.
This page does not include its own microphone picker; it uses the input your browser chooses, which is normally the system default. To test a different microphone, set it as the default input in your operating system or choose it in your browser's microphone settings for this site, then click Stop and Start Mic again. The Device Info panel shows the name of the device actually in use.
🎙️ How Different Microphone Types Show Up in the Test
| Microphone type | What you will usually see |
|---|---|
| Dynamic (handheld or broadcast style) | Lower levels unless you speak close to it; a low noise floor because it picks up less of the room. You may need more gain. |
| Condenser | Strong levels even from a distance, plus more room sound, keyboard noise and echo. A higher noise floor is normal. |
| USB microphone | Shows up as its own input device with a built-in converter; gain is set by a knob on the mic (if present) and the OS slider. |
| XLR microphone through an interface | The device name is the interface, not the mic. Gain comes from the interface's preamp knob. |
| Wired headset | The mic sits at a fixed distance from your mouth, so levels are usually steady. |
| Laptop or webcam built-in mic | Works but often has a higher noise floor and picks up fans, typing and room echo. |
| Bluetooth headset | Often narrower, thinner sound during calls; see the next section. |
🎧 Bluetooth Headset Microphone Limits
Many Bluetooth headphones switch to a hands-free or headset mode when their microphone is in use. That mode carries audio in both directions over limited bandwidth, so the mic often sounds muffled or "phone-like", and music or game audio in your ears can drop in quality at the same moment. In this test you may notice less energy toward the right of the frequency spectrum and a lower Quality score than a wired mic would give. If voice clarity matters, a wired, USB or dedicated wireless (non-Bluetooth) headset usually avoids this limit.
🔊 Spotting Noise, Hum, Clipping and Echo
| Problem | What it looks like here | Things to try |
|---|---|---|
| Background noise | Noise Floor stays high while you are silent; small dynamic range | Turn off fans, move away from the computer, speak closer to the mic, lower gain slightly |
| Electrical hum | A steady bar at the far left of the spectrum that never goes away, even in silence | Try another USB port or cable, unplug chargers nearby, keep cables away from power bricks |
| Clipping | Flattened waveform peaks, red LEDs, "Clipping!" badge and warning | Lower hardware gain first, then the OS slider; move back from the mic |
| Echo or roomy sound | Hard to see on the meters; obvious on playback | Use headphones instead of speakers, add soft furnishings, move the mic closer |
⏺️ Using Record & Playback to Judge Your Voice
The Record feature captures up to five minutes of audio and keeps it in your browser's memory. It is not uploaded anywhere. Playback happens on the page, and Download saves the file straight to your device in a format your browser supports (usually WebM, Ogg or M4A). Starting a new recording replaces the previous one, and the recording is lost when you reload or close the page unless you download it.
For a useful check:
- Record about five seconds of silence first, then a few sentences. The silent part reveals hiss, hum or fan noise.
- Include words with "p", "b" and "s" sounds. Pops on "p" and "b" suggest the mic is too close or needs a pop filter; harsh "s" sounds suggest moving it slightly off-axis.
- Make one change at a time (distance, angle, gain) and record again to compare.
Because echo cancellation, noise suppression and AGC are applied to the stream, the recording reflects that processed sound, which is a fair preview of a voice call but not of a raw studio recording.
✅ How to Check If Your Mic Is Working — Quick Guide
Follow these steps to check mic working status in under 60 seconds:
1. Click Start Mic and grant browser permission when prompted. 2. Speak normally — the waveform should animate and the dBFS meter should rise above -40 dBFS. 3. Watch the Mic Health badge: a Perfect badge confirms your microphone is working correctly. 4. If the waveform stays flat and the meter shows no activity, your mic is not being detected — see the troubleshooting steps above. 5. Use the Record & Playback feature to hear exactly how your mic sounds to others.
🎤 Related Microphone & Audio Resources
Use these tools and tips to check mic working status, test hardware performance, and fix common microphone issues — all directly in your browser with no downloads required.
🎤 Online Mic Test
General microphone test with waveform, dBFS & spectrum
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⌨️ Keyboard Test
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🛠️ Microphone Not Working? Common Fixes
If your microphone is not working, try these steps to resolve it quickly using this microphone test online:
Permission denied: Click the lock icon in your browser address bar, set Microphone to "Allow," then reload the page and run the mic test again.
Mic in use by another app: Close any application that may be accessing your microphone (voice chat apps, recording software, video call tools), then retest here to confirm the mic is free.
Fix microphone issues on Windows 11/10: Open Settings → System → Sound → Input, select your microphone, and click "Test your microphone." Ensure input volume is above 70% and no other app has exclusive control. Return here to verify the fix.
Wrong input device: In your OS sound settings, confirm the correct microphone is set as the default input device. Then use this tool to check mic working status before your next session.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
How does the microphone test work?
This tool uses getUserMedia to access your microphone and the Web Audio API (AudioContext + AnalyserNode) to process the signal. The waveform oscilloscope, dBFS meter, and frequency spectrum are rendered in real-time via the Canvas API — entirely locally in your browser.
What is dBFS and why does it matter?
dBFS (decibels relative to Full Scale) measures your audio level where 0 dBFS is the digital maximum. Normal speech typically sits between -20 and -12 dBFS. Values near 0 indicate clipping (too loud), while values below -40 dBFS suggest a weak or distant signal.
Is my audio recorded or sent anywhere?
No. The audio is only analyzed in real-time for visualization purposes. No audio data is ever recorded, stored, or uploaded to any server. All processing happens exclusively in your browser and the stream is cleanly released when you click Stop.
Why is my microphone not detected?
Common causes: (1) Permission was denied — click the lock icon in your browser address bar and allow microphone access. (2) Your mic may be in use by another application. (3) This page must be served over HTTPS. (4) No microphone is connected — check your system's audio input settings.
What should a healthy microphone reading look like?
When speaking normally, the waveform should move dynamically, dBFS should read between -30 and -10 dBFS, and the green/yellow zones of the sensitivity meter should activate. If nothing moves when you speak, your microphone may be muted, set to very low gain, or not correctly selected.
What does the frequency spectrum show?
The frequency spectrum shows the intensity of different frequency ranges in your audio signal. Left bars represent low bass frequencies; right bars represent treble. A healthy microphone shows clear, dynamic activity across the relevant frequency range when you speak or make sounds.
Why is my microphone not working in Chrome or on Windows?
In Chrome, microphone access requires HTTPS and an explicit permission grant. Click the lock icon in the address bar, set Microphone to "Allow," and reload the page. On Windows, also check Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone and make sure both "Microphone access" and access for your browser are enabled. If another app is using the mic, close it first.
Can I use this to test my mic for Discord or Zoom?
Yes. This free online mic test is a great way to verify your microphone before joining Discord, Zoom, Teams, or any video call. Speak naturally and aim for a dBFS reading between -20 and -6 dBFS — that range is ideal for clear voice communication. If your level is too low, increase your microphone gain in your OS sound settings before your next call.