Sound is a mechanical wave and just like all the other waves different sounds also have frequencies. When we are born, we are able to hear sound waves of frequencies 20 to 20,000 Hz. But as we age, our hearing ability keeps getting reduced. This ability is reduced from both ends of the sound wave spectrum.
Using a good set of headphones we can easily check how much our hearing ability has gone down. This is done using an online app that can produce sound of varying frequencies. But for this to work, you must have very high quality of headphones. If you use cheap headphones then their sound reproduction capacities are already limited and they cannot reproduce the whole audible range of frequencies. I recommend Sennheiser HD820 Dynamic headphones.
We start by visiting the website https://www.echalk.co.uk/Science/biology/hearing/HowOldIsYourHearing/resource.html which is actually a biology e-learning portal. We can choose two modes – individual and group. We are going to use the Individual Test mode as it is the only mode meant to be used with headphones.
After this, we can simply click on the Start Test button. The web app will start producing a tone with an increasing tone from 0 to 20,000 Hz. As its frequency changes, the tone will change too. As soon as you stop hearing the sound, click on the I can’t hear it button. Now it will show you the maximum frequency of sound that you can hear as well as your hearing age.
Hearing age basically means the usual age at which people stop hearing sounds of a certain range of frequencies. If your hearing age is greater than your actual age, then you should take more care of your ears. For example, you can avoid using earphones, listening to loud music and avoid noisy places.
You should not use this test without the headphones as the sound produced can make people very very uncomfortable if played on the computer’s speakers.