Microphone Test
Speak normally and watch the meter react. Then record a five-second clip and play it back to hear what callers hear. The recording stays in this tab and dies with it; nothing is uploaded.
How the level meter works
Press Start and the browser hands the page a raw audio stream. The filled bar tracks your average loudness; the thin marker shows the recent peak and holds it for about a second and a half, so a short burst (a laugh, a cough, a hard consonant) does not flash by unseen. None of the app-level processing is applied here. Noise suppression and echo cancellation happen after this point, which is why the meter can read healthy while a call still sounds terrible.
Reading your results
Talk the way you talk in calls. Normal conversation should push the bar past half. If it does, the input level is fine. Peaks stuck in the bottom third mean the system is getting a quiet signal, so raise the input level or mic boost in sound settings and retest. Shouting at it proves nothing. The opposite case, a bar that slams to full and stays there, means the input is too hot and callers are hearing distortion.
Then play back the clip. Most people skip this and it is the one step that settles arguments. The meter only proves the mic sends a signal. Hiss, crackle, robotic artifacts, or audio that dies mid-sentence are invisible to the bar but obvious the moment you hear them.
If the meter never moves
Check permission first. The browser needs to be allowed to use the mic, and a denied permission looks identical to a dead mic until you spot it in the address bar. Next, close the voice apps. Discord, Zoom and game bars can hold the device exclusively and hand every other app silence. Last, check which device is actually selected. USB headsets and webcam mics have a habit of quietly becoming the system default, so the mic you speak into may not be the mic being tested. If a different input device makes the meter move, your hardware was never the problem.
The microphone test guide goes further, including how to document a failure for a warranty claim. Hiss, hum or crackle specifically? The microphone static fix guide works through the usual culprits in order, from gain staging to a failing cable.
Frequently asked questions
Is my voice recorded or uploaded?
No. The level meter is computed in your browser from the raw microphone signal. Recording only happens when you press Record, the clip stays in your tab as a local blob, and it disappears when you close the page. Nothing is uploaded, ever.
The meter moves but nobody can hear me in calls. Why?
Then the mic works and a software setting is the culprit. Check that the same device shown here is selected as the default in your OS sound settings and in the calling app. Windows in particular loves to switch the default after a driver update or a new USB device.
Why is my recording so quiet even though the meter moves?
Windows and macOS both have an input level slider that can sit at 10–30% out of the box. If your peaks stay in the lower third of the meter, raise the input level in system settings and retest. Peaks should reach the upper half during normal speech.
How can I tell a broken mic from a bad driver?
Test on a second device, a phone or another computer. If the same mic shows a healthy meter here but is silent elsewhere, the driver or OS settings are at fault. If it reads flat everywhere, the capsule or cable is dead. A USB mic that shows no level at all in this test is a strong warranty case.
My recording picks up every keyboard click and room noise. Can the test tell if that is the mic?
Partially. A very sensitive capsule is a feature, not a fault — it is supposed to hear those sounds. What the test can show you is whether the level is set so hot that normal speech clips. The fix for room noise is almost always software: noise suppression in the calling app, a cardioid pattern on a USB mic, or moving the mic closer. Only a persistent hiss or crackle that survives all of that points at the hardware.
The meter slams to full and stays there even when I whisper. What does that mean?
The input is clipping. The signal is so hot that the top of the waveform is being cut off, which sounds like a distorted, robotic version of your voice on the other end. Lower the input level or mic boost in system settings until normal speech peaks around three quarters of the meter. A mic that clips even at the lowest level has an output stage problem — a legitimate warranty case.
What is the difference between input level and mic boost?
Level is the gain applied to the signal; boost is extra gain applied on top when level alone is not enough. The rule: keep level as high as the environment allows and use boost only if you cannot reach healthy peaks any other way, because boost amplifies noise along with your voice. The meter reading is the same either way — what matters is where your peaks land and whether they are clean.
I have both a built-in mic and a USB headset. Which should I use for calls?
Whatever sounds better here. Built-in mics are tuned for convenience, USB headsets for voice clarity, but both can be fine — and either can be bad. Test both in this page using the same sentence, then compare the recordings. The one that is cleaner and stays off the level meter floor is the one your callers want, regardless of which is "supposed" to be better.