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One Quick Try

Audio Reaction Time Test

Wait for the beep, then respond as quickly as you can. The screen won't give you a hint.

Type
Speed
Takes
about 30 sec
Result in
milliseconds

Audio Reaction

~30 sec

  1. Turn your sound on, or put headphones in.
  2. Press Start, then wait. Nothing on the screen changes when the beep plays.
  3. Click, tap or press Space as soon as you hear it. 5 rounds; your result is the average.

On an iPhone, the silent switch mutes this test.

Your result: — ms

How it's measured

Try another challenge

  • Reaction Time

    See how quickly you react to a signal.~30 sec

  • Choice Reaction

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  • Time Perception

    Stop a hidden timer at the target time.~1 min

  • Go/No-Go

    React to the circle. Hold back on the square.~1 min

  • 1 Second

    Start the stopwatch. Stop it at exactly 1.000.~30 sec

  • Mouse Accuracy

    Hit the targets quickly and dead center.~30 sec

How this test works

Press Start test and listen. After a random wait of between 2 and 5 seconds, your device plays a short beep: a plain 880 Hz tone lasting 0.2 seconds. Respond as soon as you hear it by clicking, tapping, or pressing Space or Enter. Nothing on the screen changes when the beep plays, so the only signal is the sound itself.

There are 5 rounds. Responding before the beep shows Too soon and the round restarts with a new wait. If you switch tabs during a round, that round is dropped. Use Play the beep on the start screen to check your volume before you begin.

How we calculate your result

The beep isn't started by a timer in the page. It is scheduled in advance on your browser's audio clock (the Web Audio API) for an exact moment. We convert that moment to the page's high-resolution clock using the browser's own report of what your speakers are playing, which already includes the output delay the browser knows about. The clock stops at the timestamp the browser gives your press when it arrives.

Your result is the average (mean) of the 5 rounds, rounded to the nearest millisecond, shown with your fastest and slowest rounds. Everything is calculated in your browser.

What can change your result

  • Bluetooth headphones and speakers. Wireless audio is buffered before it plays, which delays the beep, and the browser doesn't always know by how much. Every round then looks slower than you really were. Wired headphones or the device's own speakers avoid most of this.
  • Volume and surroundings. A beep that is only just audible over background noise is harder to catch. Turn it up to a comfortable level and test somewhere quiet.
  • Your input device. Mice, keyboards and touchscreens each add their own small delay to the press, just as in our visual Reaction Time Test.

Comparing sound and sight

Run this test and the Reaction Time Test on the same device and you can compare your own reaction to a sound with your reaction to a color change. Keep in mind that the two signals reach you along different paths, through the speakers in one case and the screen in the other, and each path has its own delay. The difference you see includes those device delays, not just your reactions.

How to get a consistent result

  • Use the same headphones or speakers every time, preferably wired.
  • Keep your finger resting on the mouse button, the Space bar or the screen.
  • Close tabs or apps that are playing sound.
  • Compare complete runs of 5 rounds rather than single rounds.

What this test does not measure

This is not a hearing test. It plays one tone at one loudness and times your response; it can't tell you anything about your hearing. It also isn't a medical or psychological assessment. Because audio and input delays differ between devices, your result is best compared with your own earlier results on the same setup.

For a timing challenge with no signal at all, try the Time Perception Test: you stop a hidden timer at a target time.

Questions

I can't hear the beep. What's wrong?
Check that your device and this browser tab aren't muted and that the volume is up. On an iPhone, the silent switch mutes sound played by web pages. If you use Bluetooth headphones, make sure they're connected before you start. Play the beep on the start screen to check.
Does this test use my microphone?
No. It only plays a sound. It never asks for microphone access and records nothing.
Why doesn't the screen change when the beep plays?
Because then you could react to the screen instead of the sound, and it would become a visual test. The screen stays still until you respond.
Why is my audio result different from my visual result?
Partly because people react to sounds and to sights at different speeds, and partly because speakers and screens add different delays. On Bluetooth audio the device delay can be large.
What is the average auditory reaction time?
In laboratory studies, young adults react to a sound in about 140 to 160 ms, against 180 to 200 ms for a flash of light, as summarised by Jain and colleagues in 2015. Browser tests come out slower, because speakers and headphones, Bluetooth ones especially, add their own delay before you hear anything.
Is auditory reaction time faster than visual?
In laboratory studies, usually yes: people tend to react a little faster to a sound than to a flash of light. In a browser it can come out the other way, because speakers, and Bluetooth headphones especially, add their own delay to the sound, often more than a screen adds to a picture.
Why do people usually react faster to sounds?
The inner ear turns sound into nerve signals mechanically, through tiny hair cells, while the eye relies on a slower chemical process in its light-sensitive cells, and visual signals pass through more processing on the way. So a sound tends to reach the brain a little sooner.