Your payment is being processed. You will be redirected in a couple of seconds...

Blind Testing a 1 dB Level Difference

Change the target here:  6dB  3dB  1dB  0.5dB  0.2dB  0.1dB 

Purpose

A 3 dB tolerance is a common figure in frequency response specifications. Some professional systems go beyond by one or two decibels. In some eccentric cases, fractions of a decibel are quoted. This test helps you determine the smallest difference in levels you can detect.

Files being tested

1 dB Up 1 dB Down Flat

The first one plays back a 440 Hz sine tone characterized by a sudden increase in level occurring after 1 second (1 dB in this case). The second file introduces a decrease in level by the same amount. The third one is flat.

The Test

1 dB Up 1 dB Down Flat
Listen to [?] then vote — multiple guesses not allowed (your vote triggers a new draw)

To pass a blind test, you will need to perform 10 trials at least, obtain a high score and reach a high confidence level: 95% is standard to rate statistical significance. It means that your score outperforms random guesses by 95%. There is still a probability that you just got lucky though, 5%. To reduce such probability to 1%, keep testing until you reached a confidence level of 99%.

If you didn't pass this test, try with a higher level difference. Change the target on the top of this column.

Help Me Help You!

Is AudioCheck free? Not for me. Your support keeps this site running. Any donation will be rewarded with • uncompressed .wav file download for every test (a download arrow will appear next to each sound icon) • increased durations and sample rates up to 192 kHz in the Tone Gen section • and, best of all, the removal of these pesky payment buttons below 😜

If you already are a patron, please log in.

Take up the challenge

  • Find the smallest difference in sound levels you can detect. 
    The Level Series:  6dB  3dB  1dB  0.5dB  0.2dB  0.1dB 

  • Find the highest frequency you can reliably hear.
    The Frequency Series:  10kHz 11k 12k 13k 14k 15k 16k 17k 18k 19k 20kHz

  • Find the smallest difference in pitch (frequency) you can hear. 
    The Pitch Series:  50c  20c  10c  5c  2c  1c 

  • Find the shortest timing difference you can reliably hear. NEW
    The Timing Series:  1ms  2ms  5ms  10ms  20ms  50ms  100ms 

  • Find the highest dynamic range offered by your listening environment. 
    The Dynamic Range Series:  36dB  42dB  48dB  54dB  60dB  66dB  72dB  78dB 

  • Do you have the absolute hearing ability? 
    The Perfect Pitch Blind Test:  C Scale  Chromatic 

  • Are your ears sensitive to Absolute Phase? 
    The Absolute Polarity Blind Test:  Here 

  • Can you hear a difference between 16-bit and 8-bit audio files? 
    The 16-bit v/s 8-bit Blind Test

For sound and studio engineers