Testing Guide
🎧 Equipment
For accurate results, use wired headphones or earbuds. Here's why:
- Wired headphones — Best option. Direct connection means no latency or compression
- Wired earbuds — Good option. Insert-style earbuds provide some ambient noise isolation
- Bluetooth headphones — NOT recommended. Bluetooth audio codecs add latency and may compress quiet signals, affecting threshold detection
- Speakers — NOT suitable. Cannot test ears independently, and room acoustics severely affect results
🤫 Environment
- Find the quietest room available
- Close windows and doors
- Turn off fans, AC, or other noise sources if possible
- Avoid testing in busy environments (cafés, offices, public transport)
- Background noise can mask quiet test tones and make your thresholds appear worse than they are
🔊 Calibration
The calibration step is crucial for meaningful results:
- The reference tone is a 1000 Hz pure tone at a moderate level
- Adjust your device volume until the tone is barely audible
- Then turn the volume up by 3 clicks or notches
- This sets a baseline so the test tones span an appropriate range
If you skip calibration, the test will still work but results may not be accurate for dB HL values. Relative comparisons between frequencies and ears remain valid.
📊 Reading Your Audiogram
The audiogram is a graph showing your hearing sensitivity at different frequencies:
- X-axis (horizontal): Frequency in Hz — low sounds (250 Hz) on the left, high sounds (8000 Hz) on the right
- Y-axis (vertical): Hearing level in dB HL — better hearing at the top (0 dB), worse at the bottom (120 dB)
- Blue X markers: Left ear thresholds
- Red O markers: Right ear thresholds
📈 Hearing Level Categories
- Normal (-10 to 25 dB): No difficulty in typical situations
- Mild loss (26–40 dB): Difficulty hearing soft speech, especially in noisy environments
- Moderate loss (41–55 dB): Difficulty with normal conversation without amplification
- Moderately severe (56–70 dB): Difficulty with most speech; hearing aids recommended
- Severe loss (71–90 dB): Only loud sounds audible; hearing aids essential
- Profound loss (91+ dB): Most sounds inaudible; cochlear implant may be considered
🔍 Common Patterns
- High-frequency sloping loss: Normal hearing at low frequencies with increasing loss at high frequencies. Very common with aging (presbycusis) and noise exposure
- Flat loss: Similar threshold at all frequencies. May suggest conductive hearing loss
- Notch at 4000 Hz: Classic noise-induced hearing loss pattern
- Asymmetric loss: Significant difference between ears — warrants professional evaluation
⚕️ When to See a Doctor
Consult an audiologist or ENT specialist if:
- Any frequency shows hearing level above 25 dB
- Significant difference between ears (>15 dB at any frequency)
- You notice sudden hearing changes
- You experience tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
- You have difficulty understanding speech in everyday situations
- Your hearing test results are worsening over time
Remember: HearHz is a screening tool. It can indicate potential hearing issues but cannot replace a comprehensive audiological evaluation with calibrated clinical equipment.