How to test spatial audio
- Put on headphones. Any wired or wireless headphones or earbuds work. Wear them the right way round and start with a low volume.
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Press Play sound. You’ll hear bird-like chirps in front of you. Tap or drag anywhere in the circle to move the sound — the dot shows where it should be, and the line under the circle names its direction, distance and height.
- Let it orbit. Turn on Auto-orbit to send the sound around your head, and change the speed in the settings.
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Change height and distance. Move the Height slider to lift the sound above or below ear level, and Distance to push it further away.
- Compare 3D with stereo. Switch between 3D (HRTF) and Stereo. Stereo can only move the sound between your ears; 3D adds front, back and height cues.
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Take the quiz. Press Guess the direction. Over ten rounds the sound plays from one of eight directions — click the arrow it seems to come from. Replay plays the sound again.
With the circle focused, the arrow keys move the sound, Page Up and Page Down change its height, Enter plays or stops it, and Esc stops everything.
How 3D audio works on headphones
Your brain works out where a sound comes from using tiny differences between your two ears: which ear hears it first, which ear hears it louder, and how your head and outer ears change its tone depending on direction. A head-related transfer function, or HRTF, is a set of filters that recreates these cues, so a sound played through ordinary headphones seems to come from a point around you.
This test uses the HRTF built into your browser’s Web Audio engine. It is generic rather than measured for your ears, so left and right are usually easy, while front, back and height are harder. Hearing a sound from the front as if it were behind you or inside your head is called front-back confusion. It’s common and doesn’t mean your headphones are faulty.
Reading your quiz score
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Left and right correct, front and back mixed up: your headphones and setup are fine — this is how generic 3D audio usually behaves. After each answer the quiz marks the true direction in green, and it counts these mix-ups separately.
- Left and right swapped: your headphones are on backwards or the channels are reversed. Check with the Headphone Test.
- Everything sounds in the middle: mono audio may be turned on, Bluetooth may be in hands-free mode, or you’re listening on speakers.
- 3D sounds the same as Stereo: another spatial effect may be processing the sound on top, such as Windows Sonic, Dolby Atmos for Headphones or Apple’s spatial audio.
Spatial audio not working? Fix it step by step
- Use headphones, not speakers. Speakers send both channels to both ears, so the 3D cues mostly cancel out. Make sure your headphones are the selected output — Windows: Settings › System › Sound › Output; macOS: System Settings › Sound › Output; iPhone: Control Center › AirPlay icon; Android: Quick Settings › media output.
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Check the status on the test. If it turns orange and says Sound is paused, your browser hasn’t started the sound yet. Press Play sound again. On iPhone and iPad, also turn off silent mode.
- Turn off mono audio. Windows: Settings › Accessibility › Audio. macOS: System Settings › Accessibility › Audio. iPhone: Settings › Accessibility › Audio & Visual.
- Turn off other spatial effects. Windows Sonic and Dolby Atmos for Headphones are set in Settings › System › Sound, under your headphones’ Spatial sound option. For AirPods and Beats, press and hold the volume slider in Control Center on iPhone to switch Spatial Audio off; on a Mac, use the Sound or Bluetooth menu in the menu bar.
- Close call apps. If Bluetooth headphones sound thin and flat, an app is probably using their microphone, which switches them to mono hands-free mode. Close it so they return to stereo, then reload this page.
Testing 3D audio on PS5
This page can’t run on a PlayStation, but PS5 3D audio is set up on the console itself: go to Settings › Sound › Audio Output, turn on Enable 3D Audio for Headphones and use Adjust 3D Audio Profile to pick the profile where the sound seems closest to ear level. You can use this page on a phone or computer with the same headphones to check that they handle left, right and front-back cues.
About this 3D audio test
Every sound — bird chirps, noise bursts and footsteps — is synthesized live in your browser with the Web Audio API and placed around you with its 3D panner. There are no audio files, and nothing is recorded or uploaded. The test works with any stereo headphones or earbuds in current versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari on Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS, Android and iOS.
Frequently asked questions
How do I test if spatial audio is working?
Put on headphones, press Play sound and drag the sound around the circle. If it clearly moves between your ears and seems to come from outside your head, 3D audio works. Switch to Stereo to hear the difference.
Why does the sound seem to come from behind when it’s in front?
That’s front-back confusion. Generic 3D audio can’t match the exact shape of your ears, so front and back cues are weak for many people. Left and right should still be clear.
Do I need special headphones for spatial audio?
No. Any stereo headphones or earbuds work, wired or wireless. Speakers don’t work well because both ears hear both channels.
Is spatial audio good for music?
It’s a matter of taste. It can make music feel wider and more like listening to speakers in a room, but some people prefer plain stereo because it sounds more direct. Try both and keep what you enjoy.
How do I test 3D audio on PS5?
On the console, open Settings › Sound › Audio Output, turn on Enable 3D Audio for Headphones and run Adjust 3D Audio Profile. You can also try your headphones on this page from a phone or computer.