We got a lot of positive feedback on our Can You Hear Like a Teenager? article, and it inspired us to take it just a little bit further.
Check your hearing with a list of tones that go from 8Hz all the way up to 22,000Hz. It’s fairly common for people who are over 25 years of age to not be able to hear above 15kHz and also experience some level of hearing loss or hearing damage such as tinnitus. This online test will help you find out where your high frequency hearing cuts off.
Musicians have a much higher risk of hearing loss that most people do, and many of us don’t really wear proper hearing protection. Even just listening to an iPod for an extended period of time can permanently damage your hearing. We also gradually lose our high-frequency hearing as we age.
Take our online hearing test: listen to each of these tones and let us know where your hearing cuts out. Make sure to turn the volume down on your headphones or speakers and gradually turn them up to a safe level.
8 kHz
10 kHz 12 kHz 14 kHz 15 kHz 16 kHz |
17 kHz
18 kHz 19 kHz 20 kHz 21 kHz 22 kHz |
Importance of Hearing Protection
If you’re around loud music a lot like I am, or if you are experiencing some hearing loss, I highly recommend getting a pair of hearing protection earplugs.
The Etymotic earlplugs don’t muffle the sound like conventional earplugs – they basically give you the same frequency response as without, but with a bit lower volume. If I wear them out to a club, they also help me carry on a conversation without yelling. Etymotic earbuds are also great in that they isolate your ear so you don’t have to turn up the volume as much on your MP3 player (ambient noise is one of the biggest reasons we turn up the volume). I love mine.
I am late 40s and heard all of them.
24 and can’t hear anything beyond 14KHz. at this rate i’ll be deaf in 20 years 😉
I’m 29 and was able to hear all of them once I cranked the volume up all the way. I will say that I could just barely hear 22 kHz and if the room I’m in wasn’t silent I probably wouldn’t have been able to.
I am 24, have beaten the tar out of my ears and I can hear all of it perfectly… and I’m a fan of Death/Black metal, Drum n’ Bass and I used to be a DJ. How did I escape hearing damage?
I also seem to have 20/15 vision according to a recent test. WTF?
~N
i’m 25 and the last one i can hear is 17. My girlfriends (24) last one is 14
I’m 67 and 12 is about it for me. I guess years of wives yelling at me has had a big effect.
I’m hoping it was my speakers, but I have a feeling it’s these old, damaged ears of mine..
I can hear 8, 10, and 12.
Oh, age 38.
hardcore shows.
Im 33 and worked in nightclubs for 10 years in my late teens/early 20s.
I could only hear 8kHz, anything above that was silent.
I’m guessing that’s bad…
52 and can only hear up to 12KHz. I guess it was all those concerts over the years but they sure were fun.
Well, at first I could only hear 16kHz, but when I turn my speakers to max volume I could hear 22kHz also,but then the sound was very low ,around 3-5dB.
But if you are young and can only hear 16-17kHz, try to max your volume
With the volume turned up I can hear every last one of these frequencies. Originally I wanted to say I could only hear to 19kHz but I know I’m not crazy cause the moderator says the tones should become quieter as my soundcard tries to generate them. An they certainly become quieter. Almost too quiet for 22kHz but I still hear its ring. I’m 26, an a musician. That variable seemed to be a key for this little unscientific experiment.
29 and can hear all the way up to 20 no problem. 21 and 22 I can feel a buzzing that really bothers me. I listen to music A LOT but I NEVER use earbuds, or anything that goes in the ear. Its only in my car or from speakers.
age:19
can hear 18 khz very loud and clear with my macbook pro being only on 2 notches volume.
can hear 19 khz if i turn my sound up fairly loud
past that, i can’t hear the sound but my computer makes a sound like its playing something when it starts / finishes. if you know what i mean.
might just be a bad sound card.
but yes, very unscientific becausse your sound card and volume of the speakers / computer probably distorts the exact frequency
I am twenty years old and the highest I can hear is 18khz. I’m disappointed!
You know, you ought to make sure that your headphones or speakers can reproduce the higher frequency sounds. Also, have no background noise makes it easier to hear the higher ones.
21 years old, 18.
I can hear all samples clearly, up to and including 22kHz.
In case it was just my speakers being odd, I tried it on my laptop, same results.
I’m 35.
I’m 24 and could hear up to and including 19 kHz
I am 19, I can barley hear 17
Age 22, hit 22k without much problem. I guess I am not listening to my music loud enough 😛 Where did you come up with those frequencies? Like did you use a stand alone frequency generator or like a computer program? Any suggestions for where to find higher once’s? I am really curious as to when I stop being able to hear anything.
Im 23 and barely hear 17
I can hear them all, but oddly enough 20hz is the most faint one for me.
I’m 25 and I can hear up to 21. I’ve been playing guitar since I was 12. And I’ve seen Mogwai.
I’m 21 and I have no problem hearing 22kHz. Weird. I thought the human range of hearing was only 2Hz to 20kHz.
Hah all the techno “raves” i went to really did jack my hearing. I turn 25 in less than a week and I cant hear a thing past 15k. Using mini-TOSLINK -> external DAC -> headphone amp -> headphones (tried with sennheiser hd555 & ultrasone hfi-780).
Wow 🙁
oh this is scary….I’m 32 and I can’t hear 15khz
Couldn’t make it passed 18 Khz, I’m 21. 🙁
Time to ditch the headphones..and introduce earplugs to my concert experiences.
I am 50 and can barely hear 14.
Woah. I just turned 20n and I can’t hear the 19khz one. Oh my.
And I’m 60% deaf in my right ear.
15 and 18 oh gawd.
I’m 23 and the last I can hear is 18khz
I’m 65 years old and 12,000 was the best I could do. Too much loud music over the years…..
From 8kHz up to 22kHz I can hear everything, 29 years old.
I guess Speed Metal is not as bad to your ears as some might think.
Age 21 and I can only hear up to 15 kHz. I don’t listen to music or attend concerts. I once banged a pencil against a ruler against my ears lots of times in 5th grade, and my ears were ringing for many minutes afterward. Perhaps this is why I can’t hear.
Right. I just turned 25. If I have the volume up on my head phones over 3/4 of the way I can hear all the frequencies. At the lowest possible volume I can’t hear beyond 15. So, answers?
I’m 27 and the highest one I can hear is 17khz.
I’m 20 and I can’t hear above 14.
Weird. I’ve got a dead zone at the 15khz range, but beyond that can hear up to 20. And I’m nearly 30.
I’m 18 and can hear up to 20kHz but not higher. I very rarely listen to music.
I can’t hear the 16khz one, i’m 29 and have a full head of hair, thank god 😉
I’m 15 and I hear all the way up to 22kHz. 🙂
I’m 18, and the lastone heard was 19 khz… 🙁
I’m 50 and can barely hear 14
I didn’t hear anything beyond 15. I’m 24.
I just turned 23. I can hear 17 kHz easily. I have to crank my speakers for 18 kHz but I can barely hear it. I can “feel” 19 kHz in my ears more than I can hear it, and I can’t hear 20 kHz.
I just turned 21 and the last one I can hear is the 21khz.
I am 35 and I heard 17 but not 18.
This may be even less scientific than you think. What’s the useful frequency range on your average computer sound card? I don’t know but I suspect that they’re not made to go all the way up to 22 kHz. And even if they are I doubt it would be a flat frequency response. That being said I could detect 17 kHz, really 18 kHz but I don’t think I would notice it if I didn’t know it was playing.
>> MODERATOR NOTE: yes, computer speakers often have a high frequency response of less that 22 Khz, but that just means that the volume is reduced by some amount at these frequencies. It still plays them, it might just be down by 3-6dB or so. You can test this by putting a mic in front of your computer speakers & recording the 22kHz tone… you’ll still see a tone that is definitely loud enough to hear (provided of course that your ears aren’t as dead as mine!)
I’m 17 and the last one I can hear is 18.
Is that bad?
I recently turned 21 and I can barely hear the 19Khz tone. Kind of sad, considering I do my best to take care of my ears.