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’m 43 and heard up to 18KHz.
19-22KHz i could feel ear pressure.
I heard them all. 🙂
37, fan of heavy metal, have played guitar and bass in a band, and can still hear 22kHz through a cheap pair of headphones.
I use plugs like the Etymotic 20dB ones at gigs and practice, though, ever since getting four days of tinnitus after an At the Gates pub gig in the late 90s.
Weird. I heard all of them up to 16. 16 I couldn’t really hear but it made me feel irritated…I could hear 17 and 18. And 19 Sounded just obnoxious to me. 20 and 21 sounded quiet but made me feel anxious. 22 sounded silent but still made me feel anxious.
im 21 and i can hear up to 21kHz, my 25 year old boyrfriend can only hear up to 16kHz
I’m eighteen and I can hear up to 18kHz
I’m 22, and I heard up to 16 kHz. Silent at 17.
26 and can hear to 18kHz.
i’m 14 & i can hear upto 17kHz good or bad?
I am 22, and can hear up to 16kHz.
I’m 58 and could only hear 10kHz. Ruined my day.
Im 12 and 17 Khz on low volume and the rest on high.
haha, im 25, i can hear 16kHz but i can only hear 17kHz out of my left ear!
eh, Whad ‘ya say. Huh.
53. lifelong musician, can hear up to 12!
I’m 21 and I can hear up to 18 kHz.
I’m almost 21 and I can just barely hear 19kHz with my volume maxed out on my regular speakers.
If I plug my in-ear earphones in, I can hear all of them.
Hello dudes! I´m seventeen, I am a drummer, almost my hole life. It´s very strange, because I can hear up to 19kHz and can´t hear 20kHz. I can still hear 21 and 22,but just a little sound. I thought that my ears where very much broken after all years.
This is so interesting! I had my hearing tested at 34 years old and the result was I had high freq hearing loss. 37 now – took the test here and I can only hear up to 12 kHz. Often people are calling me and I can’t hear them especially in an area with lots of noise or talking. I also have difficulty hearing/deciphering consonants. People often react with frustration. Its very embarrassing.
I’m 14 and I can hear 22Khz
I’m an 18 year old bass player and I can hear all(including 22), except 19, 20 and 21.
I’m 37 and I can hear all of them except for 19kHz for some reason
I’m 16 I can hear 16kHz and a little of 17kHz…. damn you heavy metal!
And I can hear 21, but none inbetween 21 and 16, and I can’t hear 22
16-17 heard 22 just, with my computer on as loud as it can go.
is that cheating?
Im 31 and can hear up to 18Khz
am 45 & i could here 22khz..
I’m 15 and can hear up to 22 kHz
I’m 14 and I can hear the 18. c: Is that good? o:
I am 18 and i can hear up to 17 kHz .
Uhm hoped a bit more :/
I am 46 and could hear up to 12! Is that bad?
I am 36 and can hear up to 17 khz. Although i can feel pressure all the way up to khz.
I’m 18 and can hear up to 21. Yay?
I’m 18, and I can hear to 17 kHz.
I’m 19, and I could only hear up to 16kHz (and I’d done hearing tests 4 or 5 years back that said my hearing was amazing, so I was sort of worried.) But then I put my laptop’s volume on full and I could hear all of them. They got quieter/harder to hear as I went on though.
Is there something wrong with the 22kHz? It seems a lot easier to hear than 21 or 22. I also found out that after listening to each a few times I could hear them better, as if my hearing was getting better with practice. I had to strain to hear 18kHz the first time, now it’s annoyingly loud.
14, and i can hear 20(:
I’m 17 and can hear 22 kHz
My wife and I (ages 33 and 34) could both hear 17 kHz but not 18 kHz, at least not at the relatively low volume of our monitor’s speaker. Our 4-year-old reported hearing 19 but not 20, and the somewhat less reliable 2½-year-old said she heard 18 but not 19.
I should also add that at work I could only hear up to 16 kHz, presumably because my Koss headphones attenuate signals above that frequency. I took a hearing test the other day, but unfortunately it only went up to 8 kHz. I’d love it if those tests really tested you in the high range and low amplitudes, sort of like how the eye charts have print too small for most people to read.
I listen to a lot of music every day and I can hear 21kHz.
I don’t think this is accurate because for whatever reason I can’t hear 18kHz but I can hear the other frequencies above that (besides 22kHz).
Im 25 and can hear up to 17Khz
Nice site. But it would be even nicer if you went a little lower. I just tested on an old vinyl test record of my father’s. I can hear 6 kHz, but not 7. Can’t hear anything on this page… I’m 59, but it’s genetic, not too much 60’s rock ‘n roll 🙂
I am 14 and I could hear up to 21kHz
my mum’s 36 and she could hear up to 16kHz
IM 12 I CAN HEAR 22 KHZ
I’m 14, and I can hear everything.
I’m 23, a bass player, and a motorcycle rider for the past 5 years. I can hear all the way up to 22 kHz when I use my in ear monitors, but I can’t hear past 18 or 19 with speakers (depends on the volume of the speakers.) I suspect that it’s more a function of the reproductive qualities of the listener’s speakers than it is their hearing.
I am 20, and can hear up to 22kHz.
I’m 23 and I can hear 17khz
I’m 15 and can hear up to 19khz. Everything after that was completely silent.
I’m 20 and can hear 16 khz
I am 36 still hear 21kHz. thought at first i was hearing an artifact of the recording or my headphones, but at 22kHz it was completly silent. I can actually hear those bug repeller things (very irritating), so could be real.
I’m 46 and I can hear the 16kHz, and I’m just using the laptop speaker. Perhaps I’ll try it with my Etymotic ER-4 earphones and see what I can pick up…
I’m 28 and can hear up to 16khz. Good or bad? lol