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 14 years old and I can only hear up to 17, and then nothing onwards. Is that a huge hearing problem?
I’m only 13 and I tend to put my earphones up a lot. I can hear up to 21 which is an achievement for me.
I’m almost seventeen, and I can hear up to 19. When it comes to 20, NADA.
Sadly Im only 31 (male) and cant even hear 8k.
Lots of conserts and headphone use all through my life has taken a very serious toll on my hearing.
I’m 15 years old, and I can hear up to 17kHz, but nothing after.
age 20 heard 20
im 16, and with in-ear buds i can just barely hear 20khz
I’m 21 years old and I could hear up to 20kHz but I could feel it up to 21 if that makes any sense. I’m a musician as well.
I’m 19, couldn’t hear at 18 khz
I am 29. w/ ear phones I can hear tham all. w/o earphones I can here up to 18.
I’m 18, a musician and I heard up to 18. Gave me quite a headache though! What a high pitch!
I’m 17 and I heard up to 17 !
I’m 14 and could hear up to 20. Does that mean I have good hearing? Or should I be able to hear all of them?
I’m 21, and I can hear 20kHz. Nothing after that, though.
It doesn’t make a d*** bit of difference what your high frequency limit is. Especially if one is a so called “Professional Musician”
What matters is how well you train yourself to LISTEN and knowing what to do with what you DO hear !!!
im 16 and i can oddly hear everything but 19 and 22 what a weird jump :S
I’m 23 and can hear up to 22Hz with headphones. Considering I’ve blasted my ears with gigs, loud music and home recording for a few years I’m quite pleased!
I’m almost 20 and I can’t hear 19 and above. =(.
21 years old and cut out at 20kHz
I’m 7 and I top at 22 kHz, is like bass for me…..
I’m 19 and I can hear 18khz and 19khz if I turn up the volume, but nothing after that. Also, this made my ears hurt haha
I’m almost 21. I could hear every tone but 20, oddly enough. 21 and 22 I had no problems with.
I’m 21, and I’ve been to a TON of concerts and I’m constantly around loud noises. I could hear up to 17, but from 18 to 20 I could feel the pressure of the noise, just not hear it. I guess I need to invest in earplugs for concerts. 🙁
Im 22 and I can hear only until 18 khz
that sucks
im 23 and i can hear up to 19. its like 20 doesnt make a sound so i think my hearing is fine even with me listening to my ipod daily for hrs on end during my train rides.
Plus i turned it all the way down to volume 1
I’m 16, almost 17, and I can hear all of those with headphones, up to 19 without.
I’m 11 and i can hear everything on there.
I’m 20 and I can hear up to 18kHz well
I took an actual hearing test at my doctors last year and the results showed that I can hear 18kHz in my right ear and 21kHz in my left. This makes me wonder if the hearing in my left ear has actually worsened 🙁
Well… glad to know my hearing’s not completely horrible, despite being an 18 year-old violinist. During concerts, though, I do use custom earplugs. I easily heard 17 kHz and barely heard 18 kHz. After that, nothing. I guess that’s not too bad!
I’m 16 and I can hear 18kHz but no further
Note: closed Sennheiser 265 headphones I heard 21khz where as open Sennheiser 430 headphones top was 14kHz. That says it all…..
55 | can hear up to 21kHz – rock blues guitarist | producer | engineer
Couldn’t hear anything at all.
30 year old female…can hear to 14 kHz. Never been to a concert, never listened to loud music. I do have a long history of severe ear infections.
I’m 31, I can hear through 18 kHz.
I’m 44, I’ve been playing in loud rock bands since 15 years old. My new band is louder than them all. I heard up to 17kHz, 18 just didn’t make it. I’m impressed 🙂
im44 and my brother is 47 bolth ben in VERRY LOUD BANDS ! AND WE BOLTH GOT 17khs
I am 19 and I can hear up to 20khz. I know my speakers cannot play above that range, too, but I’m pretty sure that even if they could, I won’t be able to hear it. And I second what Dr Franko said, make sure you have speakers/headphones that are capable of playing these frequencies.
(I have the JBL Creature speakers)
Im 28 years old and I have high quality speaker set and audio interface…
Most I can hear is 20khz… but if I turn up the volume I can hear a very tiny sound at 21khz
At 22 is like nothink is playing Q_Q
I got a headache thou o.o (lol)
I’m 59 and can hear 14k easily, 16k if I turn the volume up.
BTW (like awrex said) lots of inexpensive soundcards/speakers/headphones won’t reproduce high frequencies. If you’re under 20 and can’t hear this above 16k or so, try it with better equipment and/or have other people listen to yours to verify.
I’m 14, and I swear taht I could hear up to 18!
I’m 52 and a musician for over 40 years. My hearing cut out after 10 kHz. Dammit…
I am 49 and I top at 12 kHz
With earphones I can JUST make out 19kHz can’t hear anything from 20kHz onwards
I’m 23 years old
i can hear upto 17Khz
Nothing after that. I am 25.
Im 16 and i hear up to 19 khz. i have had several ear infections when i was little, so i guess that plays a big role.
I’m 18 and could definitely hear 8-19khz, not sure about 20 or 21 but could hear something at 22khz!? :S (also i have a career in music where i’m subjected to high volumes so i’m glad my ears aren’t doing too bad!).
I’m 36 and can hear up to 15, although I could “feel” the frequencies up to about 19, no so much hear as detect what felt like a change in air density. I’ve been a musician all my life and exposed to insanely loud noise. Now I use vastly uncomfortable earplugs that go deep into my ear canal…but at least I’m not deaf afterwards!
im 15 and got up to 17kHz
I’m 31, and have been clubbing hard since i was 20 and been a dj since i was 18. Constantly surrounded by LOUD music and sound (Good systems AND distorted ones)… did this in my environmental engineering class and couldn’t catch 15k, sad cuz i wanna start producing music.. tried it again in my home studio and was able to hear up to 16k on a better speaker setup… felt a lil better, esp considering my exposure and age
Point is IF YOU LOVE MUSIC, PROTECT YOUR EARS! It’s definitely loud music, but DISTORTION IS JUST AS BAD!