Test 04
Speaker test
Check each channel on its own, find out whether your left and right are swapped, test polarity, and track down a buzz. No permissions, no download.
Turn your volume down before you start, then raise it. A test tone at high volume is louder than music at the same setting.
Stereo and cabinet checks
On speakers, the out-of-phase version loses bass because the two cones push against each other. On headphones the bass stays but the sound spreads out and feels like it is outside your head. If both versions sound identical, one speaker is already wired backwards.
A buzz that changes pitch with the slider is a loose panel, a screw, or something resting on the cabinet. A buzz that stays at the same pitch however you slide it is the driver itself, and that is damage.
Testing headphones before a call
A one-sided headphone is the failure people notice last and regret most. Test left and right separately rather than playing music, because most music is mixed near the centre and will sound almost normal through a single working earpiece. A tone panned hard to one side will not.
Left right speaker test: are your channels swapped?
Reversed channels are easy to live with and hard to notice. Everything still plays, nothing sounds broken, and film dialogue still comes from the middle — but every sound placed to one side arrives from the wrong direction. It happens when speaker cables get connected the wrong way round, when a surround receiver is set up in a hurry, or after a driver update reassigns outputs.
The wiring check above picks a side at random and does not tell you which, so you cannot guess it from habit. Answer with what you actually heard.
Speaker polarity test: what you are listening for
Polarity is about which way a speaker cone moves. Both speakers should push outward at the same moment. If one pair of wires is connected the wrong way round, that speaker pushes while the other pulls, and the two cancel each other in the bass.
On speakers, the wrong polarity sounds thin and hollow, with the low end noticeably weaker and the image smeared rather than centred. On headphones the bass survives, but the sound stops feeling like it comes from in front of you and starts feeling like it is spread around the outside of your head.
Press flip while the tone plays. The difference is much easier to catch at the moment it changes than by comparing two separate playbacks.
Chasing a rattle
Rattles only appear at the frequency that happens to resonate with whatever is loose, which is why they come and go with different music. Slide slowly through the low range and you will usually find the exact pitch that sets it off within a few seconds.
Then go looking. Press a hand flat on each panel of the cabinet while the tone plays: if the buzz stops, you have found it. Check the screws around the driver, the rear port, and anything resting on top of or beside the speaker. Picture frames and desk objects are guilty far more often than speakers are.
Common questions
How do I test my speakers?
Turn your volume down, then click Test left. Confirm whether you hear a tone from the left side only, then repeat for the right. The result line tells you whether both channels work.
Only one side plays sound. What is wrong?
Most often the balance slider in your system sound settings has drifted to one side, or a headphone plug is not pushed fully into the socket. Check both before assuming the hardware has failed.
How do I know if my left and right speakers are swapped?
Use the wiring check. It plays a tone on one side without telling you which, and you pick the side you heard. If your answer is the opposite side, your speaker cables or your left and right output settings are swapped.
What is a speaker polarity test?
It plays the same low tone through both speakers, then flips one of them upside down electrically. When polarity is wrong, the two cones push against each other and the bass cancels out, so the sound goes thin and hollow.
How do I know if a speaker is wired out of phase?
Run the polarity check and press flip while listening. You should hear a clear difference: full bass in one state, thin and hollow in the other. If both states sound the same, one of your speakers is already wired backwards and the test is simply correcting it.
Why does my speaker buzz at certain volumes?
A buzz that changes pitch as you move the rattle slider is something mechanical resonating, usually a loose panel, a screw, or an object sitting on the cabinet. A buzz that stays at the same pitch no matter what frequency you play is the driver itself, and that is damage.
What is the frequency sweep for?
It plays every pitch from 20 Hz to 20 kHz over ten seconds. Silence at the top or bottom shows the range your speakers cannot reproduce, and a rattle at one point marks a resonance worth chasing with the rattle slider.
Why can I not hear the highest part of the sweep?
Two reasons: small laptop and phone speakers physically cannot reproduce much above roughly 15 kHz, and the upper limit of human hearing falls naturally with age. Neither means your speakers are broken.
Does this need any permissions?
No. Playing sound needs nothing but a click. Only recording requires permission, and this page does not record anything or use your microphone.