Online Tone Generator Any Frequency From 20 Hz to 20 kHz
Start at a low volume. High-frequency tones above 10 kHz can be uncomfortable and are inaudible to many adults even at damaging levels.
A tone generator produces a single pure frequency on demand. Use it to test whether a speaker reproduces the full frequency range, find the upper limit of your hearing, locate a rattle in a car door or room, or generate the 165 Hz tone used for speaker water ejection.
What each frequency range tells you
| Range | What it is | What to listen for |
|---|---|---|
| 20–60 Hz | Sub-bass | Most phone and laptop speakers produce nothing usable here. You may feel it rather than hear it. |
| 60–250 Hz | Bass | Where 165 Hz water ejection sits. Rattles and buzzes in this range usually mean loose debris. |
| 250 Hz–2 kHz | Midrange | Speech lives here. A dip in this band is what makes a speaker sound muffled on calls. |
| 2–6 kHz | Presence | The ear is most sensitive here. Blockages show up as reduced clarity before anything else. |
| 6–16 kHz | Treble | Used for dust removal. If you cannot hear 15 kHz, that is normal age-related hearing loss. |
| 16–20 kHz | Upper treble | Audible mainly to children and teenagers. Most adults hear nothing here at any volume. |
Tone generator questions
What is a tone generator used for?
Testing speakers and headphones, checking the low and high limits of your hearing, finding a room's resonant frequencies, tuning instruments against a reference pitch, and calibrating audio equipment against a known 1 kHz signal.
What frequency range can humans hear?
The textbook range is 20 Hz to 20 kHz. The upper limit falls with age in a well-documented pattern called presbycusis, which is why a tone many teenagers find piercing is silent to most adults. Use the slider to find your own ceiling — that number is personal, not universal.
Which waveform should I use?
Sine for clean testing and hearing checks — it contains only the fundamental. Square and sawtooth add harmonics, which makes them useful for revealing distortion and rattles that a pure tone will not expose.
Can a tone generator damage my speakers?
Sustained high-amplitude tones at very low frequencies can overdrive small drivers, because they demand large diaphragm excursion. Keep the volume moderate, especially below 60 Hz, and stop if you hear the driver bottoming out.
Why does the slider move logarithmically?
Pitch perception is logarithmic: 100 Hz to 200 Hz sounds like the same musical interval as 1 kHz to 2 kHz, because both are one octave. On a linear slider the entire range below 2 kHz would occupy the first tenth of the travel, making the useful part unusable.
What frequency should I use to clean my phone speaker?
Use 165 Hz for water and sweep 8 kHz to 16 kHz for dust — or use the dedicated tools, which run those plans automatically. This generator is for testing and diagnosis rather than cleaning, because holding one fixed frequency is less effective than a sweep.
Sources
- MDN — OscillatorNode, the Web Audio interface this tool uses
- AudioCheck — reference test tones and hearing tests
Last verified July 2026.
Trying to clean a speaker instead?
The main tool runs pre-calibrated cleaning cycles so you do not have to pick a frequency yourself.