How to use the microphone test
Press Start microphone and allow access when the browser asks. The meter starts moving immediately. If you have more than one input — a laptop's built-in array, a USB microphone, a headset — choose it from the list; device names appear once you have granted permission, which is a browser privacy rule. Changing device restarts the test cleanly.
By default the test listens to the raw microphone, with the browser's echo cancellation, noise suppression and automatic gain switched off. That is the honest way to judge hardware. Open Processing to switch each one on and hear roughly what Zoom, Meet or Teams do to your voice.
Three tools sit under the meter. Measure noise floor listens to two seconds of silence and reports the background level. Record 10 s captures a short clip and plays it straight back, so you hear yourself as others do; you can save it as a file. Live monitoring feeds the microphone to your headphones in real time — use headphones, because speakers will feed back into the microphone and howl.
Reading the meter: dBFS, peak, RMS and clipping
Digital audio is measured in dBFS — decibels relative to full scale. 0 dBFS is the loudest value a sample can hold; everything else is negative. The peak figure is the loudest single sample in each moment, and the white marker on the meter holds it for 1.5 seconds. The RMS figure is the average energy, which tracks how loud you actually sound.
| Speech peaks | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Below −30 dBFS | Too quiet; listeners turn up and hear hiss | Move closer, raise the input gain in your system sound settings |
| −18 to −6 dBFS | The sweet spot for calls, streaming and recording | Leave it |
| Above −3 dBFS | Little headroom; laughs and plosives will clip | Lower the gain or back off slightly |
| Clipping light on | Samples hit 0 dBFS and were flattened — audible crackle | Lower the gain; clipping cannot be fixed afterwards |
The spectrum shows where the energy sits on a logarithmic 20 Hz–20 kHz scale. A healthy voice fills roughly 100 Hz to 8 kHz. A tall spike at 50 or 60 Hz with harmonics is mains hum from a ground loop; a spectrum that stops dead at 4 or 8 kHz means a low-quality or Bluetooth headset profile.
What the noise floor tells you
The noise floor is the level your microphone records when nobody is speaking: preamp hiss, computer fans, air conditioning, traffic. We average two seconds of it and grade the result.
- −65 dBFS or lower: excellent — a quiet room and a good microphone.
- −65 to −55 dBFS: good for calls; faint room tone.
- −55 to −45 dBFS: noticeable. Listeners will hear it between your sentences.
- Above −45 dBFS: noisy. Find the source, or use a headset microphone close to your mouth.
Once you have measured the floor and spoken, the speech-to-noise figure appears. Above 35 dB is excellent; below 20 dB your voice is competing with the background. The fix that works best is moving the microphone closer — halving the distance raises your voice by about 6 dB while the room noise stays put. If the measurement shows pure digital silence, the microphone is muted in hardware or its input volume is at zero.
Microphone not working? Common causes
- Blocked permission. Open the fix steps under the tool; they select your browser automatically and walk through resetting the site permission.
- System privacy switch. Windows and macOS each have a microphone privacy setting that overrides the browser. Allow your browser there and restart it.
- Meter flat, no error. The wrong device is selected, the headset has an inline mute switch, or the input volume in the system sound settings is at zero. The tool warns you when it receives pure digital silence for four seconds.
- Busy or failed to start. Another program may hold the microphone exclusively. Close call and recording apps, then press Start again.
- Robotic or cutting out. Bluetooth headsets switch to a low-quality hands-free profile when the microphone is in use; a wired or USB microphone avoids this.
- iPhone playback is quiet. iOS routes sound to the earpiece while the microphone is open. Use headphones, or press Stop before playing back.
Everything runs locally in your browser; nothing is uploaded (see our privacy policy). Setting up for a call? Check your webcam and speakers or headphones too.
Frequently asked questions
Is this mic test private?
Yes. The audio is analysed by JavaScript inside your browser and never uploaded or stored on a server. A recording exists only in this tab's memory until you save it, and it disappears when you close the page. Pressing Stop releases the microphone, and the recording indicator in the browser tab goes away.
What is a good microphone level?
For speech, aim for peaks between −18 and −6 dBFS on the meter, with the clipping light staying off. That leaves headroom for laughter and emphasis without sounding quiet. If your peaks sit below −30 dBFS, raise the input gain in your system sound settings or move closer to the microphone.
Why can't I hear myself in the playback?
Check your output volume and that the right speakers or headphones are selected in your system. If the recording shows as silent, the microphone was muted or the wrong input was chosen. On iPhone, sound plays through the earpiece while the microphone is open, so it can be very quiet; use headphones or press Stop first.
Should I turn on noise suppression and echo cancellation?
For calls on speakers, yes — echo cancellation stops the other person hearing themselves. For judging your microphone, or recording music and podcasts, leave them off: noise suppression can make voices sound watery and automatic gain pumps the background up between sentences. This test starts with all three off so you hear the raw microphone.
Why does the meter move but people say I sound quiet on calls?
Call apps often apply their own automatic gain and may use a different input device from the one you tested. Check the input device in the app's audio settings, turn the system input volume up until your peaks reach around −12 dBFS here, and make sure you are speaking towards the front of the microphone, not its side.
Does the microphone test work on phones?
Yes, in Safari on iPhone and iPad and in Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Samsung Internet on Android. Phones usually expose one or two built-in microphones plus any headset you connect. Phone microphones apply processing in hardware, so the noise floor may read lower than the room really is.