1-Minute Audio Test for Stereo Speakers & Headphones

Video Overview & Insights

Test your speakers and headphones for common problems.

*KEEP VOLUME LOW*

Audio signals (whether test signals or music) can cause hearing loss or speaker/amplifier damage even if you cannot hear them! NEVER troubleshoot while wearing headphones.

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0:00 Channel Identification (Left vs Right)

0:04 Channel Levels

0:13 Speaker Polarity (Normal, Inverted)

0:19 Buzz/Rattle Test Sweep

0:39 Phantom Center Stability

// Content

- First 4 seconds use "Counting From 1 to 20" by EnjoyPA @ https://freesound.org under Public Domain, CC0 (Creative Commons 0)

- Other test signals are created by Outlier Studios

Post your questions/comments below. The more detail you provide and the more troubleshooting you try in advance, the more likely you'll solve your problem. For consulting inquiries in audio/acoustics, contact me at: https://bit.ly/outlieraudio

// FAQ

- My left (or right) speaker sounds louder than the other during the Levels test. What's the problem?

Here's some troubleshooting 101. Assuming it's speakers (not headphones), first thing to try is to unplug the speakers and plug in a known good pair of headphones to the same audio output jack if possible. Listen to the Levels test again on the headphones. If the you hear the same imbalance on the headphones as on the speakers, there's a good chance the problem is somewhere in the audio playback/processing/DAC stages - try replacing any physical connectors or cables between media player to speaker output, check all OS/driver/player balance control settings, reinstall sound card drivers, etc. If you don't hear the same imbalance, that implies there's some issue after the audio output - try replacing any physical connectors or cables from output to the speakers, set any speaker knobs or switches to match on Left and Right speakers. If it's just a slight offset, by less than 3 dB or so, there's a chance it's just your room acoustics and/or manufacturing tolerances for speaker drivers & electronics.

There's also a chance it could be your hearing. The simplest test for this is to get a pair of headphones and listen to the Levels test. Now flip the headphones around (Right side to Left ear and vice versa) and listen again. If your hearing is louder in the same ear for both tests, you have a hearing offset. Confirm by doing the same test with a different pair of headphones.

- Why don't I hear the inverted sound on my cellphone speaker?

Mobile devices often have a single speaker on board, and sum L & R audio signals before the speaker output. Therefore during the Inverted signal test, you would hear absolutely zero signal output. This is by design, and not something to be concerned about.

- I hear buzz during the test. Is this ok?

Lots of reasons you could be hearing buzz - could be the speaker driver, the way it's attached to the enclosure, anything in the enclosure or surrounding the speaker, the amplifier, etc. I would first identify the source and see if you can eliminate it - brace things down if you can, shake the enclosure, use rubber spacers etc. It could turn out that the speaker driver itself is damaged, in which case you probably need to replace that particular driver if removable, or the whole speaker if not.

A buzz during the test means it'll probably buzz during music playback, but may not be as noticeable. The sound won't be as clean as it could be, but a slight buzz probably doesn't mean the speaker is getting damaged.

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