Microphone test

🎤 Check your microphone

The browser will ask for permission to use the microphone. The sound stays on your device: neither the stream nor the recording is sent anywhere

🧠 How to tell the microphone is working

Speak in your normal voice from your usual distance and watch the meter. The bar should react to every word and reach the green zone, roughly between -18 and -6 dBFS. If it barely moves, the microphone is turned down in the system settings or you are speaking into the wrong side; if it hits the right edge, the signal is overloaded and the voice will sound harsh.

The waveform shows the same thing over time: speech has spikes on the words and an almost flat line in the pauses. A thick moving band during silence means interference or a noisy input, for example a built-in microphone next to a fan.

The input settings come from the browser itself. Echo cancellation, noise suppression and automatic gain are on by default almost everywhere: they help on calls, but they noticeably spoil a voice or instrument recording. The sample rate is usually 48 kHz; on a Bluetooth headset in call mode it drops to 16 kHz or lower, and you can hear it.

The scale is in decibels relative to full scale: 0 dBFS is the ceiling, and above it the signal is clipped. The headroom below the ceiling is there in case you suddenly speak louder.

If the browser hears nothing: check the site permission in the address bar, pick the right device in the list above, close other programs that could have grabbed the microphone, and look at the privacy settings in your system. On an iPhone or an iPad, microphone access works only in Safari and only over a secure connection.

When you need this: getting ready for a call or an interview, checking a new headset, tracking down a quiet or harsh voice, setting up a podcast recording, testing a webcam microphone after reinstalling the system.