Question 1

Is this online tone generator free?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and there's no account to create. Every waveform, the sweep, several tones at once, the WAV download, and the share link are free, with no length limit on the file you save and no watermark in it.

Question 2

How do I play an exact frequency?

Accepted Answer

Type the number into the frequency box and press play. That box is what people mean when they search for an Hz generator: you enter the number of hertz you want and hear exactly that, down to two decimal places. Use the slider beside it when you'd rather hunt around than know the number, and the arrow keys to fine-tune from there: 1 Hz per press, 10 Hz with Shift held, 0.01 Hz with Ctrl.

Question 3

What's the difference between sine, square, sawtooth and triangle waves?

Accepted Answer

A sine wave is one frequency and nothing else, which is why a sine wave generator is what you want for testing, tuning, and hearing checks. A square wave adds odd harmonics (three times the frequency, five times, seven times) and sounds hollow and buzzy, so a square wave generator turns up in electronics work and anywhere a tone has to cut through. A sawtooth carries every harmonic, odd and even, and sounds bright and brassy. A triangle has odd harmonics too, but they fall away fast, so it sits between a sine and a square. Switch the view under the controls to Spectrum and you can watch those harmonics appear as you change waveform.

Question 4

How do I run an Hz test to find the highest frequency I can hear?

Accepted Answer

Put headphones on, keep the volume low, start around 8,000 Hz and step upward. Most adults run out somewhere between 15 kHz and 17 kHz. Teenagers often reach past 18 kHz, and hearing much above 20 kHz is rare at any age. Two things will fool you. Cheap earbuds and laptop speakers often produce very little above 15 kHz, so silence can be the hardware rather than your ears, and a tone you can barely hear up there can still be loud enough to do harm. Whatever number you land on is a rough personal Hz test, not a hearing measurement.

Question 5

What is the mosquito tone?

Accepted Answer

The mosquito tone is a high-pitched sound around 17 kHz that most people over about 25 can no longer hear, which is where its other name, the Teen Buzz, comes from. It's on the preset row above. Some shops have used devices emitting it to move teenagers along, and it got used in the other direction as a phone ringtone adults in the room couldn't hear.

Question 6

Can I use this as a dog whistle?

Accepted Answer

Only partly, and it's worth knowing why. A browser tops out around 20 to 22 kHz because that's where your device's audio output stops, while real dog whistles run from roughly 23 kHz to 54 kHz. The dog whistle sound you can make here sits at the very bottom of a dog's hearing range. Plenty of dogs do react to a 20 kHz tone, but you are not reproducing a silent whistle, and no browser-based tool can.

Question 7

Can I sweep from one frequency to another?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Switch to Sweep and the page becomes a frequency sweep generator: set a start frequency, an end frequency, and a duration, then choose whether the pitch rises in equal steps (linear) or equal octaves (exponential). Exponential is usually what you want across the full audible range, because it spends as long climbing from 40 Hz to 80 Hz as it does from 10 kHz to 20 kHz, which is how your ears hear pitch. When the sweep arrives you can hold the end frequency or loop the whole run.

Question 8

Can I play more than one tone at the same time?

Accepted Answer

Yes, up to eight, each with its own frequency, waveform, level, and stereo position. Press "Add a tone" under the controls and you have a multi tone generator: set one to 600 Hz and another to 602 Hz and you'll hear them beat against each other twice a second, the same wavering musicians listen for when they tune by ear. Widen the gap and the beats speed up, until the two stop blending and you hear two separate pitches.

Question 9

Can I download the tone as a WAV file?

Accepted Answer

Yes, free, at any length up to five minutes, at 44.1 or 48 kHz. Your browser renders the file and saves it straight to your device, so nothing is uploaded and nothing waits in a queue on a server. Whatever is set up on the page is what lands in the file, including a sweep or a stack of tones.

Question 10

Can I tune my guitar or piano with this?

Accepted Answer

Yes, as a pitch reference. The 440 Hz tone is the A above middle C that orchestras, tuners, and recordings calibrate to, and the note picker reaches any other note from C0 to B8. You match the instrument to the tone by ear. If you'd rather have something listen to the instrument and tell you which way to turn the peg, the Guitar Tuner does that through your microphone.

Question 11

Is 432 Hz better than 440 Hz?

Accepted Answer

440 Hz is the international standard for A above middle C, and nearly every recording, tuner, and orchestra uses it. 432 Hz is an alternative tuning some musicians prefer for how it sits under their fingers, and it's on the preset row so you can hear both. The claims you'll find about 432 Hz healing people or resonating with the universe have no evidence behind them, and this tool doesn't make them.

Question 12

What frequency should I use to test my speakers or headphones?

Accepted Answer

A 1,000 Hz tone is the standard line-up reference. It sits where your hearing and most equipment are flattest, so if it sounds clean and equally loud on both sides, the basics are working. For bass, 40 Hz tells you whether a speaker reaches down there at all, and 20 Hz separates a real subwoofer from a small driver flapping. For a channel-by-channel walk through a whole setup, Speaker Test does it step by step.

Question 13

Can I find the frequency of my tinnitus with this?

Accepted Answer

You can try, and frequency matching is exactly this: play a tone, move it up or down until it sounds closest to what you hear, and note the number. Two things make it less frustrating. Work at a low volume, and check the octave above and below your first answer, because landing an octave off is common. What you find is not a diagnosis. This is a browser tone generator, not a medical device, and tinnitus that is new, one-sided, or getting worse is a reason to see an audiologist.

Question 14

Can this damage my speakers or my hearing?

Accepted Answer

Both, at high volume. Very low frequencies are hard on speakers because a small driver has to travel much further to produce the same loudness, so it distorts and heats up instead of playing the note. Very high frequencies are hard on ears because that's where you're least sensitive: 15 kHz at a level that feels mild is louder than it seems, and the damage gives no warning while it happens. That's why this page opens at 10% volume and puts a warning on screen at both ends of the range.

Question 15

Does this record anything or upload my audio?

Accepted Answer

No. It only plays sound. There's no microphone permission, no upload, and nothing to send: this tool doesn't even have a server to upload to. The WAV export is rendered by your own browser, and a share link carries its settings in the part of the URL that never reaches a server at all.

Question 16

Is this the same as a tone generator for tracing electrical wires?

Accepted Answer

No. That's a physical toner and probe kit: you clip the toner onto one end of a cable, then move the probe along a wall or a patch panel until it picks up the signal. Fluke, Klein, and Ideal all make them. This page produces audio through your speakers and cannot find a cable in a wall. Search for a tone generator and probe kit, or a wire tracer, if that's what brought you here.

Question 17

Does this work on my phone?

Accepted Answer

Yes, on iOS and Android in any modern browser. One thing to know on an iPhone: the silent switch mutes browser audio, so if you get no sound at all, check that switch first.

Question 18

Do I need to install anything?

Accepted Answer

No. It runs in this browser tab, so there's no app to download, no extension, and no account. Closing the tab is all the uninstalling there is.

Tone Generator

Presets

More tones at once

What the tone looks like

Download as WAV

Frequently asked questions

Related tools