Why we built MicChecker
We built MicChecker because "can you hear me?" should take ten seconds to answer, not a meeting. Most mic tests show a bouncing bar and leave you to guess. Ours tells you in words whether your microphone is working, too quiet, too loud, or sending no sound, and what to do about it.
When something is wrong, the test does not stop at an error. It recognizes the common failures, such as a blocked permission, a dismissed prompt, a microphone held by another app, or no device at all, and shows steps for your browser. Our troubleshooting guides, starting with microphone not working, cover the fixes for each device and app in detail.
Everything runs on your device. Your audio and video are analyzed in the browser tab and never uploaded. A clip you record stays in that tab's memory until you leave the page, unless you choose to download it.
How the mic test reaches its verdict
The test reads your microphone through the browser's standard media and audio APIs, measures the level many times a second in dBFS, and compares the loudest level of the last few seconds against fixed thresholds. It waits a moment before changing its answer, so the verdict does not flicker between words.
The browser asks for permission and opens the microphone with getUserMedia, which only works on secure (https) pages. The Web Audio API then hands the page the raw waveform, with samples in a nominal range of -1.0 to 1.0, as described in MDN's AnalyserNode documentation. We turn those samples into a level in dBFS.
What dBFS means
dBFS stands for decibels relative to full scale. In digital audio, 0 dBFS is the highest level a signal can reach, so every normal reading is negative: a signal at half of the maximum reads about -6 dBFS. Pushing past 0 dBFS does not make you louder; it clips and distorts. See iZotope's guide to headroom and the dBFS overview on Wikipedia, which cites the AES17 and IEC 61606 standards.
The thresholds we use
| Reading | Threshold on our meter | What we tell you |
|---|---|---|
| Meter scale | -60 dBFS at the left edge to 0 dBFS at the right | Live level and peak, in dBFS |
| Too quiet | Speech level below about -42 dBFS | Move closer or raise the input volume |
| Good | From about -42 up to about -11 dBFS | Your mic is working |
| Clipping | Any sample at or above about -0.1 dBFS, just under the 0 dBFS maximum | Too loud |
| No sound | Nothing above about -85 dBFS for 3 seconds | The mic is connected but sending silence |
The quiet and good zones overlap by a few decibels on purpose. Once you are judged "good," the level has to drop a little further before the answer changes back to "too quiet," and any new verdict has to hold for a moment before it appears. A live microphone in a real room is almost never as silent as -85 dBFS, which is why a reading that low points to a mute switch or the wrong input rather than a quiet voice.
Noise floor and the other Advanced readouts
The noise floor under Advanced is the 10th percentile of your recent levels: the level your mic sits at in the quieter moments between words. Comparing it with your speaking level tells you how much room noise and hiss rides under your voice. The Advanced panel also shows the session peak, the number of clips, the sample rate and channel count your browser reports, a 0 to 8 kHz spectrum, and the state of the browser's echo cancellation, noise suppression, and automatic gain control.
One limit worth knowing: every number comes from what your browser and device report. Operating systems, drivers, and the browser's own processing can change the level before we see it, so treat the readings as a practical guide for calls and recording, not a calibrated lab measurement.
How we write and check our guides
Every menu path, setting name, and product spec on MicChecker is checked against the official source: Microsoft, Apple, Google, Mozilla, Discord, Xbox, and each microphone maker's own product page. If we cannot confirm something, we leave it out or say plainly that it may vary.
Settings screens change with operating system and app updates, so we recheck pages against the vendor documentation and update them when anything changes.
Our best USB microphones guide is based on published maker specifications, not hands-on testing, and the page says so. We do not publish star ratings, invented test scores, or prices that go stale.
How MicChecker makes money
The tests are free to use. We earn a commission through the Amazon Associates program when someone buys through a product link on our pages, at no extra cost to them. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. We may also show clearly labeled ads in the future.
Product links are marked, and a disclosure appears above the first one on any page that has them. Links to noise-suppression apps such as Krisp are plain links today; we are not paid for them. Earning a commission never changes what a test tells you, and the recommendations follow the maker specs and the use case, not the commission.
For what the site collects to count visitors and keep the tests working, see our Privacy Policy. Our Terms of Use and Disclaimer covers the limits of what a browser test can tell you.
Contact us
Email us at [email protected]. Corrections are especially welcome: if a menu path has changed, a test misreads your device, or a spec on our pages is wrong, tell us what you see and on which device and browser.