3.1 Sound Test
Test all 4 channels of your 3.1 speaker system
Play a separate test tone through each of the 4 channels of a 3.1 setup and confirm that every speaker is connected and in the right place.
Select a speaker to test
Your results
- Front Left
- Center
- Front Right
- Subwoofer (LFE)
Related Tools
More Tools
How to use the 3.1 Sound Test
- 1
Set your computer’s speaker configuration to match the layout you want to test (see the troubleshooting section below).
- 2
Check the status box above the diagram. It shows how many output channels your browser can really send to your audio device.
- 3
Press a speaker button to play a pulsing test tone through that single channel only. Press it again to stop.
- 4
Use “Test all channels in order” to hear every speaker one after another, then mark each one as heard or not heard.
What is 3.1 sound?
3.1 sound uses 4 discrete audio channels: Front Left, Center, Front Right, Subwoofer (LFE). The low-frequency effects (LFE) channel feeds the subwoofer and only carries bass.
This test sends audio to one channel at a time using the Web Audio API with discrete channel routing, so nothing is mixed into the other speakers. The speakers play a 1000 Hz pulsing tone and the subwoofer plays a 60 Hz pulsing tone.
4 channels in this test
- LFront Left — output channel 1, 1000 Hz tone
- CCenter — output channel 2, 1000 Hz tone
- RFront Right — output channel 3, 1000 Hz tone
- LFESubwoofer (LFE) — output channel 4, 60 Hz tone
What this test is good for
Checking a speaker system after setting it up
Finding speakers that are swapped or connected to the wrong output
Verifying that the subwoofer is connected and reproducing bass
Troubleshooting a speaker that is silent or crackling
Troubleshooting
Windows — Open Settings, then System, then Sound, choose your speakers, and open Configure (or Sound Control Panel, Playback, Configure). Select 2.1, 4.1, 5.1 or the layout that matches your speakers, then reload this page and press Re-detect.
macOS — Open Audio MIDI Setup, select your output device, choose Configure Speakers, and set the channel layout. Then reload this page and press Re-detect. Built-in speakers and most Bluetooth devices only expose two channels.
HDMI, optical and Bluetooth — HDMI to a receiver can carry 5.1 as PCM when the device is set to a multichannel format. Optical (S/PDIF) usually needs Dolby Digital or DTS encoding, which browsers cannot send. Bluetooth headphones and speakers are stereo only.
Browser support — Browsers can only output as many channels as the operating system exposes. If the status box says your device has two channels, the surround channels cannot be tested until the system is configured for more.
A speaker plays from the wrong place — This test sends channels in the standard Windows order (front left, front right, center, LFE, rear or surround left, rear or surround right). If a tone comes from the wrong speaker, check the speaker wiring and the channel mapping in your audio driver or receiver.