Hearing-range tone

20000 Hz — 20 kHz Upper Limit

20 kHz is the traditional upper limit of human hearing. Most adults can't hear it at all, and many speakers can't reproduce it either.

Audio visualization
Hz

 

20 Hz20 kHz
Waveform
Volume50%
L/R BalanceCenter

Press Space to play

About the 20000 Hz tone

About 20 kHz is as high as human hearing is usually said to reach, and even that mostly applies to young children. For most adults this tone is silent — and plenty of everyday speakers and earbuds do not reproduce 20 kHz cleanly, so hearing nothing is completely normal.

To find your own upper limit, start lower — around 15 kHz — and step upward. This is a casual curiosity check, not a medical hearing test.

Technical details

Frequency
20000 Hz
Nearest note
D#10 (+8¢)
Category
Hearing-range tone
Period
0.0500 ms
Wavelength (air)
1.7 cm
Octave up / down
40000 Hz / 10000 Hz

Common uses

  • Test the very top of your hearing range
  • Check whether high-end gear reproduces 20 kHz
  • The “can you hear 20000 Hz?” curiosity test

Nearby frequencies