Frequency & Hearing
Sweep a locally generated tone across the audible range and hear where your equipment, your ears, and your attention start to disagree with the physics.
How to run it
- 1.Use headphones or good speakers and start at a low volume.
- 2.Press Start to enable audio, then move the frequency slider.
- 3.Stop the tone before adjusting volume; never listen at uncomfortable levels.
Interactive demonstration
Start at a low volume. Audio only begins after you press Start, and it stops automatically when you leave this page. Stop the tone before changing your device volume.
440 Hz
Mid range — speech lives here
How this demonstration works
A single Web Audio oscillator is created inside your click and its frequency is set directly from the slider, with a low fixed gain and short ramps to avoid clicks. Nothing is streamed or recorded, and the AudioContext is closed on unmount.
What the science says
Young healthy hearing spans roughly 20 Hz to 20 kHz, with sensitivity highest between about 2 and 5 kHz, and high-frequency sensitivity declines gradually with age. What you hear here is limited first by your headphones or speakers, so the demonstration illustrates pitch and equipment response — it is not a hearing assessment. Persistent hearing concerns belong with an audiologist.
For the immersive listening side — spatial sound experiences built on the same auditory principles. SonicSenses.com
Sources
Sponsor this work
BRAINMATTER is independent and reader-supported. These demos and the Visualizer Studio run entirely in your browser, with no tracking and no sign-up. A one-time sponsorship covers research time, editorial review, and hosting so we can keep publishing without paywalls.