Microphone Playback Test
Record a few seconds and play it straight back to hear how you sound.
Your test runs locally in your browser. No device data is uploaded.
How to use the playback test
Press record, speak normally for a few seconds at your usual distance from the microphone, then stop and listen. Recording stops itself at fifteen seconds. Use headphones for playback if you can, since listening through speakers makes it harder to judge background noise.
What this shows that a level meter cannot
A level meter proves the microphone is being heard. It cannot tell you that you sound muffled, that a fan is roaring behind you, that the room echoes, or that the input gain is so high your voice is clipping. Those only become obvious when you hear the result.
Listen for three things in particular: how loud your voice is relative to the background, whether consonants sound crisp or smeared, and whether there is an audible room echo. All three are what other people on a call actually notice.
Privacy
The clip is created and played back entirely inside this tab. It is never uploaded, there is no server to store it on, and it is discarded as soon as you reload or close the page. Stopping the recording releases the microphone immediately.
Frequently asked questions
- Is my recording uploaded anywhere?
- No. The clip is created and played back inside this tab and never leaves your device. It is discarded the moment you reload or close the page, and there is nowhere for it to be stored.
- How is this different from the microphone test?
- The microphone test shows a live level meter, which proves the microphone is being heard. This one lets you hear what it actually sounds like, and background noise, muffling, echo and clipping are all things a meter cannot show you.
- I sound quiet, distant or echoey.
- Distance is usually the cause. A laptop or desk microphone an arm's length away picks up far more room than voice. Move closer, raise the input level in your system settings, and reduce hard reflective surfaces if there is a noticeable echo.
- My voice sounds crackly or cuts out.
- That is usually clipping from too much input gain, or aggressive noise suppression. Lower the input level, and turn off any enhancement or noise cancellation in your system sound settings to compare.