Hearing Age Test

Why does high-pitch hearing fade with age?

Inside the cochlea, tiny hair cells convert sound into nerve signals, and the ones that detect high frequencies sit near the entrance of the cochlea — which means they're the first to wear down from noise exposure and aging. That's why age-related hearing loss (presbycusis) usually takes the highest frequencies first. It's the same reason "mosquito tones" in the 15–17kHz range, nearly ultrasonic, tend to fade out first as people get older.

What's average, and what's a good score?

By the reference table, people in their 20s typically hear up to around 17,000–19,000Hz, late 30s up to 15,000–16,000Hz, and around 50 up to 12,000–14,000Hz. It's a rough mapping of the general tendency to lose high frequencies with age — individual variation is large.

This is not a hearing test result. Whether your speakers or earphones can actually reproduce a frequency, and at what volume, changes the outcome for the same person.

Frequency-to-age reference

Why do results vary so much between attempts?

Results here depend heavily on your speaker or headphone quality, device volume, how your browser handles audio, and background noise — so treat this as a fun estimate, not a medical measurement. For a more consistent read, try wired headphones in a quiet room.