What this sound test actually checks
Three things, in the order they usually break: that audio reaches your left channel, your right channel, and both in stereo. The melody is synthesized live by your browser (the left side plays it as written, the right side an octave higher — two different registers so you can't fool yourself), and the oscilloscope shows the signal generated inside the browser. If the trace moves and you hear silence, the fault may be further down the chain: tab mute, system volume, output routing, cable or hardware.
No sound at all? The 30-second diagnosis
If a sound test plays but you hear nothing, the fastest diagnosis is to split the audio chain in two. A browser sound test that shows a moving waveform proves the signal was generated correctly inside the page; silence beyond that point means the fault sits in one of five layers between browser and ear: tab mute, per-app volume, the system output-device selection, the physical connection, or the transducer itself. Check them in that order — it takes about 30 seconds and each step rules out everything above it. The most common single cause on desktop is output-device selection: the operating system is sending audio to a monitor's HDMI output or a Bluetooth device that is out of range, not to the speakers in front of you. A browser cannot read or change your system volume or output routing, so these checks have to happen in the OS.
The sections below expand each layer. Keep the test tone looping while you work — the layer that restores sound is your answer, and you don't need to touch anything below it.
1. Output device selection
Operating systems move the default output whenever a new device appears — plug in a USB headset, pair a Bluetooth speaker or connect an HDMI monitor, and the audio path can change with no notification. On Windows 10/11, click the speaker icon in the taskbar and open the output picker: every device the OS can address is listed, and the highlighted one is where your audio is going right now. Settings → System → Sound shows the same list with a per-device test button. On macOS, Option-click the menu-bar speaker to see and switch outputs in place; Audio MIDI Setup lists the same devices with their sample rates. Two catches: conferencing apps and audio workstations often select their own device independently of the system default, and virtual outputs — streaming drivers, screen-recorder loopbacks — count as devices and will silently swallow audio.
2. Volume and mute layers
A desktop system has at least four volume controls stacked in series, and any one of them at zero silences everything below it. From top to bottom: the page or app's own slider; the browser tab (Chrome and Edge can mute a site from the tab's right-click menu, and the mute persists across visits); the per-app mixer (on Windows, right-click the speaker icon → Open volume mixer — a browser can sit at 0% while the master reads 100%); and the system master, plus whatever the hardware adds — keyboard media keys, an inline remote on the headphone cable, the knob and power switch on powered speakers. macOS has no built-in per-app mixer, which removes one failure layer. Work top-down while the tone loops.
3. Exclusive mode and “enhancements”
On Windows, an application can take exclusive control of an output device (WASAPI exclusive mode). While a DAW, high-resolution music player or some games hold the device, every other application's audio is dropped — no error, no notification, just silence. If sound died the moment a specific program opened, that's the signature: close the program, or untick “Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device” in the device's Advanced properties. While you're in that dialog, third-party audio enhancements and mismatched sample rates are worth ruling out too — both can produce crackle or intermittent silence that looks convincingly like hardware failure.
4. Bluetooth: the A2DP ↔ HFP trap
Bluetooth headphones that suddenly sound muffled, quiet, or silent are usually stuck in the wrong profile, not broken. Bluetooth audio runs on two profiles: A2DP, the high-quality one-way music profile, and HFP (hands-free), a two-way call profile that reserves bandwidth for the microphone and drops playback quality sharply — classic HFP carries roughly 8–16 kHz sample-rate audio versus 44.1/48 kHz over A2DP. Any app holding the microphone open — a video-call tab, a voice assistant, a game with voice chat — can force the switch, and some devices fail to switch back when the call ends. Close or mute every app that could be using the mic, or toggle the headphones off and on, and the headset should renegotiate A2DP. If the device also pairs to a phone, disconnect one host; multipoint firmware sometimes holds HFP for the other connection.
If profile switching isn't the issue, remove the pairing on both ends and re-pair from scratch — stale pairing records are a common cause of one-way or missing Bluetooth audio.
5. HDMI and DisplayPort routing
HDMI and DisplayPort carry audio alongside video, and both Windows and macOS may treat a newly connected display as the preferred output. If sound vanished right after you connected a monitor, dock or TV, suspect the routing first: the audio is being decoded by a display with no speakers, or with its own volume at zero. Reselect your real output in the system picker — or, if the TV should play it, check the display's input-level mute and its audio-format setting (PCM is the safe choice for stereo from a computer). AV receivers and soundbars add one more layer: many drop the HDMI audio link in standby, so the computer still lists an output that renders nothing until the receiver wakes.
6. Drivers and the audio service
If every layer above checks out and every app is silent, restart the audio stack. Windows: restart the “Windows Audio” service (services.msc) or run the built-in audio troubleshooter; a driver reinstall from Device Manager is the next step. macOS: sudo killall coreaudiod restarts Core Audio in about a second (audio apps may need reopening). These steps reset the software stack — if silence survives a reboot, a second user account and a second device, you are in hardware territory; see the cross-test below.
Sound on one side only
When one earphone or speaker is silent, settings cause the failure more often than hardware. Check the balance slider first: Windows Settings → System → Sound → device properties → left/right levels; macOS System Settings → Sound → Output → Balance; iOS and Android hide theirs under Accessibility → Audio/Visual. Second, reseat the plug. A 3.5 mm TRS connector carries left on the tip, right on the ring and ground on the sleeve; if the plug sits even 1–2 mm proud of the jack, the ring contact misses and the right channel drops or bleeds. Push until it clicks, and clear lint from the jack if it won't seat. Only after balance is centered and the plug is fully seated should you suspect wiring — a conductor broken at the plug or the earcup entry, the two points that flex most. A cable fault typically cuts in and out as you bend it; a settings fault is perfectly stable.
Cable breaks have a geography: nearly all of them happen at the two flex points — where the cable enters the plug and where it enters the earcup or Y-splitter. Wiggle the cable at each point while a tone plays on the affected side; intermittent sound as you flex is a positive identification. Detachable cables make the fix cheap; molded ones need a solder repair or replacement. Our headphone bench adds per-channel tones, a phase check and frequency sweeps if you want to characterize the survivor before deciding.
Hardware or settings? The one-minute cross-test
To decide whether a silent audio device is broken hardware or a settings problem, run a two-device cross-test — it takes under a minute and needs no tools. Plug the suspect headphones or speakers into a second source (a phone with a dongle, another computer) and play a stereo test. If the same channel is dead on both sources, the fault travels with the device: typically a broken conductor at the plug or the earcup strain relief, and repair or replacement is the fix. If the device works on the second source, the fault stays with the original computer — work through output-device selection, balance, per-app mutes and drivers before blaming the jack. The one case the cross-test misses is the port itself: if nothing works in that jack, test a known-good device in it. Browser tests can generate the signals, but the swap has to be done by hand.
One limit worth stating plainly: a browser test can prove your system generates and routes a signal, but it measures levels in dBFS — decibels relative to the digital ceiling — not calibrated SPL. It can tell you a channel is silent or clearly quieter than the other; it cannot certify absolute loudness. The readings we do and don't stand behind are listed on how we test.
Stereo sounds “weird” or hollow
If voices sound distant and everything feels wider than it should, one driver may be wired with inverted polarity — stereo content partially cancels itself. That's exactly what the phase check on the headphone test detects. If music sounds fine but games place sounds on the wrong side, your left/right channels are swapped: many OSes let you swap them, or you may simply be wearing the headset backwards (it happens more than anyone admits).
Why we built another sound test
The sites that rank for this query mostly ship a 2010-era play button, a wall of ads, and no actual measurement. We think a test should behave like an instrument: show the signal on a scope, report numbers with units, tell you honestly what a browser can and cannot measure, and never ask you to install anything. Every tool on this site follows those rules — see how we test.