Web & Diagnostics
Microphone Test
See your input level and waveform, check the right mic is selected, and record a quick sample.
Peak: —
Only affects what you see here and any sample you record — it does not change your system settings.
A microphone problem is usually one of three things: the wrong device is selected, the level is too low, or something is applying noise suppression that makes you sound like a fax machine. All three are visible in seconds if you can see the input level while you talk.
This page opens the microphone with echo cancellation, noise suppression and automatic gain control deliberately switched off, so what you see is what the microphone hears rather than what a call app would hand you. The meter shows RMS level with a peak hold, the waveform shows the shape of the sound, and a recording lets you hear yourself back the way the other end will.
How to use it
- Press Start listening and allow microphone access.
- Pick your microphone from the device list — headset, webcam, laptop array or interface.
- Speak normally and watch the meter. It should sit well clear of the bottom without hitting the top.
- Try a soft voice and a loud one. The peak-hold number on the right keeps the loudest level seen, which is what causes clipping.
- Press Record a few seconds, speak, then stop and play the result back. That is the honest test — levels can look fine while the audio is distorted.
- Use the gain slider to check how a quieter input sounds when boosted, then press Stop to release the microphone.
Questions
Why is noise suppression off by default?
Because it changes the sound. Call apps turn it on to remove keyboard and fan noise, and it does that by mangling consonants and cutting off the start of sentences. For testing, you want the raw signal — turn the processing back on in your call app and compare.
What level should I be aiming for?
Speech peaks around -12 to -6 dB with an average around -18 dB is a healthy recording level. If the peak indicator sits at 0 dB you are clipping and the distortion is permanent. If the meter barely moves, raise the input level in your operating system's sound settings rather than pushing the gain here, because digital gain amplifies the noise floor too.
Does anything get saved?
Only if you press Save on a recording, and then it goes to your own Downloads folder. Nothing is uploaded and the page forgets everything when you close it.