Nature sounds as test tones: the fun hearing test

Simply enjoy the sound of this summer night ambience, or dig a little further: behind this soundscape, hides a valuable tool that will challenge your hearing!

Don't be fooled by the fun factor of this noise generator, and by the fact that we use natural sounds instead of synthetic test tones. The whole challenge was to find in nature the exact sounds needed to build a serious hearing test. This is not a classic hearing test though. Regular audiograms - as those produced by audiologists - do not cover these frequencies, which are considered too high to care about in a strict medical point of view. This is exactly what makes this soundscape special: it relies on these "useless" frequencies that we only hear when we are young and in good health. If you are interested in a classic ENT hearing test, try HearingTest.online, an online hearing test, with an audiogram printout.

Have kids around you when you are playing this noise, and let them proudly describe the sounds that remain inaudible to you. Looking at your nearby pets can give you interesting clues too.

WARNING: you will be tempted to increase the volume on your computer, trying to hear sounds that will remain inaudible to you anyway. DON'T DO THAT or you may end up in deafening people around you - especially younger kids - or your pets; and, there is a risk of damaging your speakers' tweeters too. SERIOUSLY.

The sounds

Let's now review each slider separately. The three first sliders test broad frequency ranges; the next ones are centered around given frequencies.

Click the first slider link, then set your computer—s volume level so that the sound plays comfortably loud, then, DON'T CHANGE YOUR COMPUTER—S VOLUME ANYMORE - see the warning above — and start exploring the other sounds.

• Slider 1 - the upper range of the classic hearing test: 4-8kHz
• Slider 2 - at the verge of the classic hearing test: 8-12kHz
• Slider 3 - beyond the classic hearing test: 10-16kHz
• Slider 4 - various cicadas with one particularly active around 12kHz
• Slider 5 - one particular around 14kHz
• Slider 6 - one particular around 15kHz
• Slider 7 - one particular around 16kHz
• Slider 8 - cicadas around 16-19kHz
• Slider 9 - a bat sonar (isolated chirps) around 17k-20k
• Slider 10 - cicada around 20-21kHz