Free online high frequency hearing test. Find the highest frequency you can still hear from 8kHz to 20kHz and see how your hearing age compares.
Test your upper hearing limit — find the highest frequency you can still detect.
🎧 Use headphones for best results — phone speakers can't reproduce high frequencies.
Click the highest frequency you can still hear. Start from 20 kHz and work down.
⚠️ This is an approximate screening, not a medical audiogram. Results vary with your device, headphones, and volume. For a proper hearing assessment, see an audiologist.
| Age | Typical highest audible frequency |
|---|---|
| Under 20 | 18–20 kHz |
| 20–30 | 16–17 kHz |
| 30–40 | 14–15 kHz |
| 40–50 | 12–13 kHz |
| 50–60 | 8–11 kHz |
| 60+ | below 8 kHz |
These are population averages, not hard limits. Your exact upper limit depends on genetics, noise exposure history, and your playback equipment. Headphones or studio monitors reproduce high frequencies far more accurately than phone or laptop speakers.
Your cochlea — the spiral-shaped organ in your inner ear — is lined with thousands of tiny hair cells that convert sound waves into nerve signals. The hair cells responsible for the highest frequencies sit at the base of the cochlea, which receives the most mechanical stress. Decades of exposure to everyday sound wear these cells out first, which is why the very top of your hearing range fades decades before the rest.
This process is called presbycusis, and it affects essentially everyone. By 30, most people have lost everything above 15 kHz. By 50, the ceiling has typically dropped to around 10–12 kHz. The good news: the frequencies we actually need for speech (500 Hz–4 kHz) are the last to go, which is why age-related hearing loss rarely affects conversation until much later in life.
You can't reverse it, but you can slow it: wear hearing protection around loud sounds, keep headphone volume moderate, and give your ears regular quiet time.