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Microphone testMicrophone Testing
A live microphone test that runs entirely in your browser. Level meter, oscilloscope, spectrum, recorder and playback — no download, no account, nothing uploaded.
Microphone testing means three separate checks: the operating system can see the device, the browser or app is allowed to use it, and the signal arriving is loud enough and clean enough to be understood. The panel above does all three in one pass.
Microphone Testing: step by step
- Pick the right input
Open the device list at the top of the console. Every microphone the system can see is listed by name. Choose the one you actually intend to use — the default is often a webcam or a virtual cable.
- Press Start test and allow access
The browser shows a permission prompt. Choose Allow. Nothing is recorded until you press Record, and even then the audio stays on your machine.
- Speak at your normal distance
Say a full sentence at conversational volume, sitting where you normally sit. The meter should swing between -24 dB and -6 dB. A flat meter means no signal is arriving.
- Check the waveform for damage
Open the Waveform panel. A healthy voice looks like rounded peaks with space above and below. Flat tops touching the edges mean the signal is clipping and words will sound crunchy.
- Record and play it back
Levels can look perfect while the audio sounds terrible. Record five seconds, play it back, and listen for hiss, hum, echo and keyboard noise.
- Read the report
The Report panel names the device, its sample rate and channel count, whether echo cancellation and auto gain are active, and gives a plain verdict you can copy into a support ticket.
If the meter does not move
- Something else has the microphoneZoom, Teams, Discord, OBS and Camera apps can hold an input exclusively. Quit them completely, including from the system tray, and try again.
- A hardware mute is engagedMany headsets mute when the boom is rotated up, and most USB mics have a mute button that stays lit. Check the physical control before touching any software.
- The browser was never allowedClick the padlock or slider icon at the left of the address bar, set Microphone to Allow, then reload the page. A blocked prompt never appears twice on its own.
- The wrong device is selectedChange the input in the dropdown and the test restarts automatically. Laptops frequently default to a webcam mic rather than a plugged-in headset.
Why a browser test beats the built-in one
Windows reports microphone activity as a moving bar and macOS as a row of dots. Neither tells you the one thing that decides whether people can understand you: the distance in decibels between your voice and the room behind it.
A browser test also sits at the same point in the audio chain as Zoom, Meet, Teams and Discord. When it hears you clearly, every layer beneath it — capsule, cable, driver, operating system routing, privacy permission — has already been proven to work, and the only place left to look is the settings of the app that failed.
Questions people ask
What is a good level?
Peaks between -12 dB and -6 dB, with a noise floor below -50 dB. That gives clean headroom without clipping.
The test works but people still cannot hear me
Then the microphone is fine and the app is not. Open that app's audio settings and select the same device you chose here.
Does this work on a phone?
Yes. Chrome on Android and Safari on iOS both support the test, though iOS restricts which of the phone's microphones a browser can reach.
Why does the browser ask for permission every time?
Some browsers only remember the choice for the session, and private or incognito windows always forget it. Allowing the site in your browser's site settings makes the choice permanent.
Related tests
Where to go next: testing a headset mic, checking both headphone drivers, or a left and right channel check.
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