Bass & Subwoofer Test
Find out how low your headphones, speakers or subwoofer really go. Run a smooth 20 to 200 Hz bass sweep, play any test tone, check speaker polarity or hunt down rattles, then mark the exact point where your bass fades. No app and no sign-up.
- 100% free
- 20–200 Hz sweep
- Bass range finder
- Blown sub check
- 1Pick what you are testing: headphones, phone, speakers or sub
- 2Turn your volume down to about a third
- 3Press play and mark where the bass fades
Works in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari. All test sounds are generated on your device. Nothing is recorded or uploaded.
Press Bass faded here the moment the tone disappears. That frequency is the lowest your setup can play at this volume.
Sit between two speakers. In phase should sound fuller and centred. If Reversed sounds fuller, one speaker is wired plus to minus.
Press Start range finder, then answer for each band. You can also tap any band to replay it.
Pick what you are testing, keep the volume low, then press play.
Bass sounds muffled or buzzy on a phone? Try the dust cleaner or water removal tool.
What a bass and subwoofer test checks
A bass test plays low frequencies, usually between 20 Hz and 200 Hz, so you can hear exactly how deep your headphones, speakers or subwoofer can go and whether that bass is clean. It takes a minute or two, and it answers questions that music alone hides: does the sub actually play, where does the bass fade out, and is that buzz a damaged driver or just a loose panel?
Bass is the hardest part of the sound range to reproduce. Low notes need large drivers that move a lot of air, so small speakers simply stop playing below a certain point. That limit is called the low-frequency cutoff or roll-off, and it is different for every device. A phone speaker may fade at 200 Hz, a good pair of closed headphones can reach 20 Hz, and a healthy subwoofer is built to play the 20 to 80 Hz region that everything else struggles with.
How low it goes
Find the lowest frequency your setup can play with the sweep or the bass range finder.
Dead or weak subs
Confirm that the subwoofer plays at all, and that it is not much quieter than it should be.
Distortion
Hear crackling, farting or scraping sounds that point to a torn cone or a damaged voice coil.
Wiring and rattles
Catch speakers wired out of phase, and find the panel, shelf or trim piece that buzzes at one frequency.
The tool above combines the checks that usually live on separate sites. It has a smooth sweep with a live frequency readout, a steady tone generator from 10 to 250 Hz, a bass music track, a polarity check and a band-by-band range finder that gives you a clear result. When your computer is connected to a receiver over HDMI with 5.1 or 7.1 sound, it can also send bass to the subwoofer channel on its own.
How to use the bass and subwoofer test
Everything runs in your browser with the Web Audio API, so it works the same on a phone, a laptop or a home theater PC. Start quiet. Low bass can sound soft while still asking a lot of a small speaker.
Pick your device
Choose headphones, phone, speakers or subwoofer so your result is compared with the right expected range.
Set a low volume
Leave the slider near 30% and set your device volume to about a third. Raise both slowly.
Run the sweep
Press play and listen as the tone glides from 200 Hz down to 20 Hz.
Mark the fade
Press Bass faded here when the tone disappears, or use the range finder for a band-by-band result.
What each control does
| Control | What it does | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Testing on | Sets the device type so the verdict uses the right expected range | Always pick this first |
| Sweep | A smooth sine sweep from 200 to 20 Hz or 20 to 200 Hz over 10, 20 or 30 seconds | The fastest way to find where bass fades |
| Bass faded here | Records the exact frequency on screen and marks it on the range rail | Tap it the moment the sweep goes quiet |
| Tone | Plays a steady or pulsing sine wave at a preset or any frequency from 10 to 250 Hz | Rattle hunting, crossover checks and comparing levels |
| Bass music | A deep groove or a bass drop with 808 slides down to about 30 Hz | Judging punch and distortion with real-sounding bass |
| Polarity | Flips one speaker between in phase and reversed, automatically or by hand | Checking that two speakers are wired the same way |
| Bass range finder | Plays 12 standard bands from 250 Hz to 20 Hz and records Heard it or No sound | A clear, repeatable result you can compare later |
| Send bass to | All speakers, or the subwoofer (LFE) channel only when 5.1 or 7.1 output is available | Testing a home theater sub on its own |
Protect your speakers and your ears. Never start a bass test at full volume. Low tones can push small drivers past their limits before they sound loud. Stop right away if you hear rattling, crackling or a hard knocking sound, and keep sessions short. Tones in this tool stop by themselves after two minutes.
Bass frequencies explained: sub-bass vs bass
People hear roughly from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. The bottom of that range is split into two zones, and each one does a different job in music and movies.
Sub-bass
Felt as much as heard. Movie explosions, pipe organs, 808 kicks and the deepest synth notes live here. Mostly the job of a subwoofer or good headphones.
Bass
The punch of a kick drum, the body of a bass guitar and the warmth of male voices. Most speakers can play a good part of this zone.
Infrasonic
Below the normal hearing range. Large subs can still move air here, which you sense as pressure rather than a tone.
How low different devices usually go
| Device | Typical lowest useful bass | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| Phone speaker | About 150 to 300 Hz | No real sub-bass. Most of the sweep will be silent, which is normal. |
| Laptop or tablet speakers | About 100 to 200 Hz | Some upper bass. Deep notes are suggested, not played. |
| Small Bluetooth speaker | About 60 to 100 Hz | Punchy, but the deepest movie bass is missing. |
| Earbuds with a good seal | About 20 to 30 Hz | Deep bass depends almost entirely on the ear tip seal. |
| Closed-back headphones | About 20 Hz | The easiest way to hear true sub-bass. |
| Open-back headphones | About 30 to 40 Hz before rolling off | Accurate, but slightly lighter in the deepest octave. |
| Bookshelf speakers | About 45 to 70 Hz | Pair them with a subwoofer for films. |
| Floor-standing speakers | About 30 to 45 Hz | Full-range for most music. |
| Home or car subwoofer | About 20 to 30 Hz | Built for the bottom octave. |
These figures are typical, not guaranteed. The size of the room, where the speaker sits and the volume you test at all change the result. Bass also gets louder near walls and corners, so a speaker on a shelf may test deeper than the same speaker in open space.
Be careful with results below about 30 Hz on small speakers. When a speaker cannot play a very low note cleanly, it often produces distortion at two or three times that frequency instead. You then hear a buzz that sounds like bass but is really harmonics. If a tone at 20 Hz sounds clear and buzzy rather than deep and soft, you are hearing distortion, and the real limit is higher.
Is my subwoofer blown? What your test results mean
Most subs that seem dead are not blown at all. A setting, a cable or standby mode is far more common. Rule those out first, then use this table to match what you hear with the likely cause.
| What you hear | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Complete silence from the sub | Sub is off or asleep, wrong input, cable fault, or the sub is disabled in the receiver | Check power and the standby light, switch auto-on to On, try another cable and set Subwoofer to Yes |
| Bass is weak at every frequency | Sub gain too low, phase cancelling, or the crossover set too low | Raise the sub level, flip the phase switch and set the crossover to 80 Hz |
| Crackling, popping or farting sounds | Torn cone or surround, or the volume is past the driver’s limit | Lower the volume. If it still happens at low volume, inspect the cone for damage |
| Scraping or rubbing, worst on low notes | Voice coil rubbing after overheating or a knock | Stop testing. This usually needs a recone or a new driver |
| Hard knock or clack on deep notes | The cone is hitting its mechanical limit, known as bottoming out | Turn down the gain, and use a subsonic filter in a car |
| Sound cuts in and out | Amplifier protection, loose connection or auto-standby switching off | Check connections and amp temperature, and set the sub to always on |
| One narrow band is missing | Room mode cancellation at your seat, not a fault | Move the sub or your seat and test again |
| Hum or buzz even with no signal | Ground loop between the sub and other equipment | Plug everything into one outlet or use a ground loop isolator |
The gentle cone test
With the sub switched off and unplugged, remove the grille and press the cone in slowly and evenly with flat fingers. It should move smoothly and spring back without scraping. A gritty feel, a tilt to one side or no movement at all points to a damaged voice coil or suspension.
When to stop testing
Stop at once if you smell burning, hear scraping, hear distortion at low volume, or the sub went silent after a loud moment. Running a damaged driver can harm the amplifier as well. A technician can confirm a blown coil with a multimeter.
Settings to check before you blame the subwoofer
Run through these before you replace anything. Each one can make a perfectly healthy sub sound weak or silent.
Auto standby
Many subs sleep after a few minutes of silence and need a strong signal to wake. A quiet test tone may not be enough. Set the power switch to On while you test.
Input and cable
Use the LFE or Sub In jack with a subwoofer cable from the receiver’s Sub Pre-Out. Wiggle both ends and try a different cable if bass comes and goes.
Receiver setup
Set Subwoofer to Yes and your main speakers to Small. If speakers are set to Large with the sub set to LFE only, music may send almost nothing to the sub.
Level and gain
Start with the sub’s own gain knob around halfway, then fine-tune the subwoofer level in the receiver menu with the tone or music mode.
Sound modes
Night mode, dialogue enhancement and dynamic range compression all reduce deep bass. Turn them off while you test.
Soundbars and TVs
Wireless subs must be paired with the soundbar. Re-pair them with the app, and set the TV’s sound output to the soundbar or receiver instead of the TV speakers.
On a computer, check that the correct output device is the default before you open the page, because browsers always play through the system default. If you want to send bass to the subwoofer channel only, set the HDMI output to 5.1 or 7.1 in your sound settings and reload the page. The output badge on the player changes to show that the sub channel is ready. Our surround sound test walks through that setup in detail.
How to set your subwoofer crossover and phase
A sub that plays is only half the job. It also has to blend with your main speakers so bass sounds like it comes from the whole room, not from a box in the corner.
Crossover
The crossover decides which bass goes to the sub. 80 Hz is the common starting point recommended by THX. Raise it to 100 or 120 Hz for small satellite speakers, and lower it to 60 Hz for large towers.
Phase
Play an 80 Hz tone from your seat and flip the sub’s phase switch between 0 and 180 degrees. Keep whichever setting sounds louder and fuller. That is the one where sub and speakers add together.
Placement
Try the sub crawl. Put the sub at your seat, loop a tone or the music, then crawl along the front of the room. The spot where the bass sounds smoothest is where the sub belongs.
- Use the Tone mode with the 80 Hz preset, or whatever your crossover is set to, at a moderate volume.
- Sit in your main seat and listen to how loud and full the tone sounds.
- Flip the phase switch on the sub, or use the receiver’s phase setting, and listen again.
- Keep the louder setting, then run the sweep from 120 Hz down to 40 Hz and listen for a smooth, even glide with no big dips.
- If one note booms much louder than the rest, try moving the sub a little, then run the sweep again.
Using a receiver with room correction? Systems such as Audyssey, YPAO and Dirac measure your room with a microphone and set distance, level and crossover for you. Run them first, then use this test to confirm the result sounds even.
How to find rattles and buzzes in a car or room
Every object has a frequency at which it likes to vibrate. When your bass hits that note, a trim panel, a picture frame or a loose screw starts to buzz. A steady tone makes those culprits easy to find.
Step through the tones
- Open Tone mode, choose Steady and set a moderate volume.
- Start at 20 Hz and tap each preset in turn up to 120 Hz, or drag the fine slider slowly.
- When something buzzes, stay on that frequency and walk around until you find the source.
- Press on the spot. If the buzz stops, you have found it.
Common culprits and fixes
In a car: license plate, rear deck, trunk lid, door panels, mirrors and seat belt buckles. Use foam tape, felt pads or sound-deadening mat.
In a room: windows, picture frames, shelves, air vents, lamp shades and items on the TV stand. Add small rubber feet, felt or museum putty.
On the sub itself: a loose grille or a loose driver screw. Tighten gently, without over-tightening.
Pulse mode helps when a rattle is hard to locate, because the on and off rhythm makes the buzz easier to separate from the tone. Keep the volume moderate. A rattle that only appears at extreme levels usually means the system is being pushed too hard, not that something is loose.
Bass on headphones, earbuds and phones
Small drivers can still sound deep, but only when the conditions are right. If your bass test result looks poor on headphones, the fit is usually the reason.
Seal is everything
Earbuds rely on a sealed ear canal to build bass pressure. With a loose fit, the lowest octave can almost vanish. Try a larger ear tip, or foam tips, and run the range finder again.
Check the EQ
Phone sound settings, Dolby Atmos, spatial audio and headphone apps can boost or cut bass. Turn off extra effects for a fair test, then add bass back to taste.
Phones are limited
A phone speaker is a few millimetres wide, so it cannot reproduce 40 Hz. Hearing nothing below 150 Hz is normal. A sudden loss of bass or a buzzy sound may mean dust or water in the grille.
Bluetooth does not cut the deep bass on its own, so a wireless pair can test as deep as a wired one. If your phone speaker sounds muffled or rattly on every sound, try our speaker water removal or speaker dust cleaner tool before assuming the speaker is damaged. To check that left and right earbuds are both working, use the left right stereo sound test.
Common bass and subwoofer myths
MythIf I can’t hear 20 Hz, my sub is broken
Fact: 20 Hz is at the very edge of human hearing and is felt more than heard. Many healthy subs play it quietly. Missing 20 Hz alone is not a fault.
MythTurning the sub all the way up gives better bass
Fact: Too much sub level makes bass boomy, hides dialogue and pushes the driver toward damage. A well set sub blends in.
MythA bigger subwoofer always goes deeper
Fact: Box design, amplifier power and placement matter as much as driver size. A good 10-inch sub can outperform a poorly built 12-inch one.
MythBreak-in tones are needed to make a new sub sound right
Fact: Driver suspensions loosen slightly with normal use. Playing your usual music at moderate volume does the same job safely.
Bass and subwoofer test FAQ
How do I test my subwoofer online?
Choose Subwoofer as your device, keep the volume low and press play to run the sweep from 200 Hz down to 20 Hz. Press Bass faded here when the tone disappears. A healthy sub should keep playing well below 40 Hz. For a band-by-band result, use the bass range finder.
How do I know if my subwoofer is blown?
A blown sub usually crackles, scrapes or distorts even at low volume, or makes no sound while the rest of the system works. First rule out power, standby mode, cables and receiver settings. Then gently press the cone with the sub unplugged. Scraping or no movement points to a damaged voice coil.
Why can’t I hear the 20 Hz tone?
20 Hz sits at the bottom edge of human hearing, so it is felt more than heard. Many speakers and headphones cannot play it at all, and even good subs play it quietly. If you hear nothing below 30 or 40 Hz on a subwoofer, check the settings and placement before assuming a fault.
Can a bass test damage my speakers?
At sensible volume, no. Damage comes from playing deep tones loudly through small speakers that cannot handle them. Start low, raise the volume slowly, stop if you hear rattling or crackling, and keep tests short. Tones in this tool stop by themselves after two minutes.
What frequency is best for testing a subwoofer?
Run the full sweep first. Then 40 Hz and 50 Hz are good checks of real sub-bass output, 80 Hz is useful for setting the crossover and phase, and 30 Hz shows how deep the sub can go.
What is a good bass test result for headphones?
Closed headphones and well-sealed earbuds should reach about 20 to 30 Hz. If your result stops at 60 Hz or higher, try a better ear tip fit and turn off any EQ or effects, then test again.
Does the bass test work on iPhone and Android?
Yes. The test runs in Safari, Chrome and other modern mobile browsers. Phone speakers cannot play deep bass, so use headphones on a phone for a meaningful result. Make sure silent mode is off on iPhone, as it can mute web audio.
Can I send bass only to my subwoofer?
Yes, when your computer outputs 5.1 or 7.1 over HDMI to a receiver. The badge then shows that the sub channel is ready, and you can choose Sub only. On stereo devices, bass plays through both speakers and a connected sub receives it through its own crossover.
What does the polarity test do?
It plays bass through two speakers and flips one of them between in phase and reversed. In phase should sound fuller and centred. If the reversed setting sounds fuller, one speaker is wired the wrong way round, plus to minus, and you should swap its two wires.
Why does a low tone sound buzzy instead of deep?
When a speaker cannot play a note cleanly, it produces distortion at two or three times that frequency. You hear a buzz instead of a deep, soft tone. Lower the volume. If the buzz remains, the speaker has reached its limit, or something nearby is rattling.
Is anything recorded or uploaded?
No. Every tone and music track is generated in your browser on your own device. The tool does not use your microphone and sends no audio anywhere. Your settings are saved only in your browser.
Bass sorted? Check every speaker next
Test each channel of your 5.1 or 7.1 home theater, or clear water and dust from a muffled phone speaker with our other free tools.
Try the surround sound test →