Purpose
This test will help you evaluate the shortest time difference you can hear. This version is the most difficult one, intended for musicians and recording engineers. You will be asked whether two sounds are synchronized, and in which direction they’re out of sync (3-way test).
For a simpler test, please switch over to the 2-way test.
Files being tested
| BD+HH | BD first (20ms) | HH first (20ms) |
The first file plays an electronic bass drum (BD) and an electronic high-hat (HH) simultaneously (BD+HH). The two other files, introduce a 20 ms delay, either playing the bass drum first (BD First), or the high-hat first (HH First). Can you hear the difference? If you think so, confirm with the blind test below, or change the target to a shorter timing (on the top of this page).
In a typical 2.1 or 5.1 speaker system, the kick drum will be reproduced by your subwoofer, and the high-hat will be coming from your satellites. At very low timings — 1 or 2 ms, possibly 5 ms in a large room — the different distances between the satellites, the subwoofer, and your ear may cause the 'BD First' or 'HH First' variation to be more 'in-sync' by the time the two sounds hit your ear than the actual 'BD+HH' variation. If your speaker system uses a subwoofer, it is recommended that you take this test while wearing headphones, unless you want to test the timing of your speakers.
The Test
| BD+HH BD first (20ms) HH first (20ms) | |
| Listen to [?] then vote — multiple guesses not allowed (your vote triggers a new draw) | |
To pass a blind test, you will need to perform 10 trials at least, obtain a high score and reach a high confidence level: 95% is standard to rate statistical significance. It means that your score outperforms random guesses by 95%. There is still a probability that you just got lucky though, 5%. To reduce such probability to 1%, keep testing until you reached a confidence level of 99%.
If you didn't pass this test, try with a longer delay. Change the target on the top of this column.
External Links
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Take up the challenge
- Find the smallest difference in sound levels you can detect.
The Level Series: 6dB 3dB 1dB 0.5dB 0.2dB 0.1dB - Find the highest frequency you can reliably hear.
The Frequency Series: 10kHz 11k 12k 13k 14k 15k 16k 17k 18k 19k 20kHz - Find the smallest difference in pitch (frequency) you can hear.
The Pitch Series: 50c 20c 10c 5c 2c 1c - Find the shortest timing difference you can reliably hear. NEW
The Timing Series: 1ms 2ms 5ms 10ms 20ms 50ms 100ms - Find the highest dynamic range offered by your listening environment.
The Dynamic Range Series: 36dB 42dB 48dB 54dB 60dB 66dB 72dB 78dB - Do you have the absolute hearing ability?
The Perfect Pitch Blind Test: C Scale Chromatic - Are your ears sensitive to Absolute Phase?
The Absolute Polarity Blind Test: Here - Can you hear a difference between 16-bit and 8-bit audio files?
The 16-bit v/s 8-bit Blind Test
