Mic test with playback: how do you sound?
Press one button, talk for five seconds, and hear the recording play back right away. It is the quickest way to know how your mic sounds to other people.
- Free
- No sign-up
- Runs in your browser
Your audio never leaves this device.
Ready when you are
Press the button, allow microphone access and talk for five seconds. Your clip plays back on its own.
- Level
- – dB
- Peak
- – dB
- Background
- – dB
Record and play back
Mic details
- Status
- Not started
How do I hear my mic playback?
Press Record a test clip, allow microphone access, and talk normally until the countdown ends. The clip plays back on its own. Use the player to listen again, or press Record under the meter for a 10 or 30 second clip.
Wear headphones if you can. Then you hear the clip the way a caller hears you, and your speakers do not leak into the next recording.
What to listen for in your playback
A level meter tells you that sound arrives. Your ears tell you whether it sounds good. Listen for these five things.
- Volume. Your voice should be easy to follow at a normal listening level. If you have to turn up your headphones a lot, the input is too quiet.
- Distortion. Crackle or a harsh, buzzy edge on loud words means the signal clips. The meter shows red at the same moments.
- Distance. A hollow, far-away sound means the mic is too far from your mouth, or the browser picked the laptop mic instead of your headset.
- Background. Fans, traffic, keyboard clicks and a fridge hum all end up in the clip. Pay attention to the gaps between your words.
- Echo. A bare room with hard walls adds a ringing tail to every word. Soft things like curtains, a rug or a sofa reduce it.
Why does my voice sound strange on the recording?
Almost everyone dislikes their recorded voice at first. When you talk, you hear yourself partly through the bones of your skull, which adds bass. A recording only captures the sound that travels through the air, so it sounds thinner and higher than the voice in your head. That is normal and is what everyone else hears anyway.
If the clip sounds tinny or muffled compared with your voice on other devices, the mic or its placement is the issue, not your voice.
Raw sound or call-style sound?
By default, this playback test records the raw signal from your mic. Call apps process your voice before anyone hears it: they remove echo, filter out steady noise and even out your volume. Tick Call-style processing and record again to hear roughly what that does. If the processed clip sounds much better, your setup is fine for calls even if the raw clip has some noise.
Quick fixes for a bad playback
| You hear | Try this |
|---|---|
| Nothing at all | Check the meter. If it does not move, follow the mic not working checklist. |
| Very quiet voice | Raise the input volume in your system settings and move closer. |
| Crackle on loud words | Lower the input volume a step, or move back a little. |
| Steady hiss | Lower the gain and speak closer, so your voice does the work instead of the amplifier. |
| Echo or ring | Use headphones and soften the room. |
| Muffled sound | Pick the right mic in the list. A headset mic belongs near the corner of your mouth. |
Everything you just heard stays in this browser tab. Your clip is never uploaded, and it is gone once you close the tab. Want the full picture with a live meter first? Use the main microphone test.