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BASS TEST

Bass test

Step down from 200 Hz to 20 Hz and find where your bass actually stops. The answer is usually higher than the spec sheet claims — and on a phone speaker it is much higher than most people expect.

Start at a low level and raise it gradually — sustained test tones are more fatiguing than music at the same volume.

Step down

Work left to right. Listen for the point where the tone stops being a pitch and becomes a buzz, a rattle, or nothing. That is your limit.

Low sweep

200 Hz down to 20 Hz over 15 seconds. Good for hunting a rattle, which shows up at one specific frequency and disappears either side of it.

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What is normal for what you are using

DeviceRealistic lower limit
Phone speaker~300–500 Hz. Below that, essentially nothing
Laptop speakers~150–200 Hz
Earbuds with a good seal~30–40 Hz
Over-ear headphones~20–30 Hz
Bookshelf speakers~50–60 Hz
Subwoofer~25–35 Hz

Published specifications are usually optimistic, because a manufacturer can quote a frequency the driver technically emits at a level nobody would call audible. What you hear in this test is the honest number.

Hearing bass and feeling it are different

Below roughly 60 Hz you perceive as much through your body as through your ears. That is why a subwoofer feels physical and why the same frequency on headphones can seem weaker even when it is objectively there — headphones have no room to pressurise.

So do not judge headphones against a subwoofer at 30 Hz. Judge them against other headphones.

If something rattles

Bass carries the most energy of anything in the audible range, so it sets loose things vibrating. Frequently the rattle is not the speaker: a cabinet panel, a window, a grille that is not seated, or an object on a nearby shelf.

Run the sweep and note the frequency where it appears, then hold that tone with the step buttons and move things until it stops. If the rattle follows the speaker rather than the room, that is a driver problem — the full sound test will confirm it across the rest of the range.

Why boosting bass a speaker cannot produce does not work

If your phone stops at 300 Hz, turning up a 60 Hz equalizer band does not create 60 Hz. It sends the driver energy it cannot convert into sound, which costs you headroom and brings distortion closer while adding nothing you can hear.

The productive move on a phone speaker is to lift 150–250 Hz, where the audible impression of warmth lives and where the driver can actually respond. On headphones the sub bands are worth using properly. Real numbers for all six bands are in best EQ settings for bass.

That distinction is the whole reason Volume Booster pairs a bass dial with a 6-band equalizer rather than a single "bass boost" switch — what helps depends entirely on what you are listening through.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How do I test bass?

Work down through the low frequencies and find the lowest one you can still hear as a pitch rather than a buzz or a rattle. That point is roughly where your speaker or headphones stop producing bass. Do it at a moderate level — bass is loud without feeling loud.

What is the lowest frequency I should be able to hear?

Human hearing extends to about 20 Hz, but almost no consumer equipment reproduces that. Good headphones reach 20–30 Hz, a decent subwoofer 25–35 Hz, bookshelf speakers around 50–60 Hz, and phone speakers seldom produce anything usable below 300 Hz.

Why does my phone have no bass?

Physics rather than a fault. A phone speaker is a driver a few millimetres across in a sealed sliver of metal, and moving enough air for deep bass needs a far larger cone. Below roughly 300 Hz a phone produces almost nothing, which is why bass boost does very little on the built-in speaker and a great deal on headphones.

What is the difference between hearing bass and feeling it?

Below about 60 Hz you perceive as much through your body as your ears, which is why a subwoofer feels physical. On headphones there is no room to pressurise, so the very bottom octave is heard but not felt — that is normal and not a deficiency in the headphones.

Why does something rattle during the bass test?

Low frequencies carry the most energy and set loose objects vibrating. Often it is not the speaker at all but a cabinet panel, a window, a badly seated grille or something on a nearby shelf. Sweep slowly and move things until the rattle stops to find it.

Is bass testing bad for my speakers?

At moderate levels, no. Sustained high-level low tones are harder work than music because there is no let-up, so keep it brief and reduce the level if you hear distortion. The point at which it sounds bad is well before the point at which anything is damaged.

Can a bass booster add bass my speaker cannot produce?

No. If the driver cannot move enough air at 40 Hz, boosting 40 Hz sends it energy it cannot convert to sound — you lose headroom and gain distortion. On a phone speaker, lifting 150–250 Hz instead gives an audible impression of warmth the hardware can actually deliver.

How do I test a subwoofer?

Play tones from 80 Hz down to 20 Hz in steps and note where output falls away. Then walk around the room while a 40 Hz tone plays — the level will change dramatically with position because of room modes, which is normal and is why subwoofer placement matters so much.

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