Mic noise test

Stay quiet for 10 seconds, then talk for 8. See how far your voice rises above the room and what's causing the noise.

Compare your voice with your room

Leave the room as it would be during a call, fans and air conditioning included. Don't talk, type or click while we listen.

What this test measures

A microphone noise floor test in two steps: the room on its own, then your voice over it.

Voice over background

The main result is how many decibels your voice is above the room. Mics and gain settings differ, so raw levels can't be compared between devices. The gap decides whether people on a call hear your room.

Room level

The room level is the median of the quiet phase in dBFS (decibels below digital full scale), so one door slam doesn't change it. A narrow low–high range means steady noise like a fan; a wide one means noise that comes and goes, like traffic or voices.

What's making it

The quiet phase is checked for mains hum at 50 or 60 Hz and its harmonics (ground loops, unshielded cables), rumble below 200 Hz (fans, air conditioning, traffic) and high-frequency hiss. Even hiss usually comes from the mic's preamp, uneven hiss from air conditioning or a vent.

Raw or filtered sound

The test asks the browser to turn off noise suppression and auto gain. If it refuses (Safari always does), the result says so, and it then shows what the browser lets through, not your room.

Reduce background noise
Found hum or rumble? Fixes for each kind, from ground loops to Zoom and Discord settings.
Read the guide
Improve your mic sound
Distance, gain and room treatment: the changes that make any mic sound better.
Read the guide

Frequently asked questions

The sound level your mic records when no one is talking: the room, fans, electrical interference and the mic's own electronics. What matters is how far your voice is above it.
40 dB or more: the background is almost inaudible, the gap audiobook platforms such as ACX require. 15–40 dB: fine for calls, though recordings carry some room sound. Below 15 dB, the minimum the classroom standard ANSI S12.60 sets for intelligibility, the noise competes with your voice.
A browser gets digital samples without knowing your mic's sensitivity or gain, so it can't measure sound pressure (dB SPL). dBFS shows how far the noise is below the loudest possible digital signal. That's why the page compares the room with your voice.
A steady hum at 50 or 60 Hz, your mains frequency, usually comes from a ground loop, an unshielded cable near a power supply, or a USB port with noisy power. Try another USB port, unplug the laptop charger, or move the cable away from power adapters. The noise reduction guide covers ground loops step by step.
Even hiss across the high frequencies is usually the mic's preamp, and it gets louder as you raise the gain. Move closer and lower the gain. Hiss that rises and falls or has a tone is more often air conditioning or a fan.
It shows whether your browser's noise suppression was on: each result has a "Raw sound" or "Browser noise filter on" badge. Zoom, Teams and Discord add their own suppression, which this page can't see.
Some browsers, including Safari on iPhone, iPad and Mac, don't let a page turn off voice processing. The room then measures quieter than it is. For a raw reading, use Chrome, Edge or Firefox on a computer.
No. The analysis runs in your browser. Nothing is saved or uploaded.