Mic test: find out what makes you hard to hear on calls
Most mic tests only tell you the mic works. This one records 10 seconds of your voice and checks the four things that make people hard to hear on calls: volume, background noise, room echo and clarity.
Check your microphone
After a few seconds of silence, you’ll read this aloud:
This is my mic test. I’m reading at my normal volume. Can you hear me clearly? Good. Now let’s see how my room sounds.
Takes about 15 seconds. Your browser will ask for microphone access, and the recording stays on this device.
What the test checks
Volume
Too quiet, and Zoom or Teams turns you up along with the room. Too loud, and your peaks crack. The test measures loudness in LUFS, the unit broadcasters use, and counts samples that hit the ceiling.
Background noise
The first seconds of silence record your room alone. Then the test compares the room with your voice: with a gap of 35 dB or more the noise disappears behind speech; under 20 dB the other side hears the fan or the street under every word.
Room echo
When a word ends, a bare room keeps ringing. The test times how fast your phrase endings fade by 20 dB and takes the typical value. Under 150 ms sounds dry, over 300 ms sounds like a bathroom. It is an estimate from your voice, not an acoustic survey.
Clarity
Bluetooth headsets and some cheap mics cut everything above 4 or 8 kHz, where s, f and t live, and your voice turns flat. The test finds where your voice stops and checks for the boom you get sitting too close.
How to fix what the test found
Most problems have a free fix. Try these first, then run the test again to hear the difference.
- Too quiet
- Get closer: a hand’s width from a USB mic, or put the laptop where the mic faces you. On a Mac, raise the level in System Settings → Sound → Input.
- Clipping
- Lower the input level or move back a little. A level that peaks well under the top beats one that cracks every time you laugh.
- Background noise
- Close the window, turn off the fan, move the laptop away from a humming desktop. A directional mic pointed at your mouth picks up much less of the room.
- Room echo
- Soft things absorb echo: curtains, a rug, a sofa, a full bookshelf. Sit away from bare walls and get closer to the mic, so your voice is louder than its reflection.
- Dull or phone-like sound
- AirPods and other Bluetooth headsets switch to a low-quality mic mode during calls. Keep them for listening and talk into the Mac’s built-in mic or a wired one.
Testing a mic on a Mac
Your browser can use a different mic from the one in System Settings → Sound → Input. After your first test, a list of your microphones appears above the button: pick the one you want to check. Browsers reveal device names only after you allow access, which is why the list isn’t there on your first visit.
Comparing is the fastest way to choose a mic for calls. Test the MacBook’s built-in mic, then AirPods, then a USB mic if you have one, and the results appear side by side. AirPods often lose to the built-in mic on calls, because Bluetooth cuts the top of your voice.
Your recording stays on your device
The test records and measures in your browser. Nothing is sent to our server or anyone else’s, and the recording disappears when you close the page.
Questions
Why do I have to stay quiet first?
Those seconds record the room on its own. Background noise only matters in comparison with your voice, so the test needs both.
Why does my mic sound different on Zoom?
Call apps run their own noise suppression, echo cancellation and volume control. The test switches the browser’s versions of these off, so you hear the mic itself: the sound every app starts with.
Can a browser measure decibels exactly?
Not in absolute terms. The numbers are relative to the loudest sound the mic can deliver (dBFS), so they are reliable for comparing mics and rooms on the same computer, not as a sound level meter.
What counts as a good result?
“Good” on every line. One “Minor issue” is normal for a laptop in an ordinary room; a “Problem” is what the other side will notice. “Not measured” means the test couldn’t read that line, not that something is wrong.
Is this test free?
Yes, with no sign-up and no limits. It is made by TunedMic, a Mac app that cleans up background noise, room echo and uneven volume live on calls.