A clean signal source for testing speakers, measuring rooms, masking distractions, or training your ears. Pick a waveform, dial in a frequency, hit play.
Noise generators run a 5-second white-noise buffer in a loop. Pink noise is filtered via a -3 dB/octave IIR — the spectrum used by acoustic test standards. All output stays below -10 dBFS at full volume.
Sine is a single pure frequency with no harmonics — the standard for hearing tests, speaker tuning, and reference calibration. Square contains all odd harmonics and sounds hollow and buzzy; it is used to stress-test amplifiers and to design synth basses. Sawtooth contains every harmonic and is the brightest, classic 'analog synth' sound for leads and pads. Triangle has only weak odd harmonics — softer than square, useful for sub-bass that needs slight texture. Pick sine for measurement, the others for sound design.
White noise has equal energy per Hz — every frequency band gets the same power — so it sounds hiss-bright because there are far more high frequencies than low. Pink noise has equal energy per octave (a -3 dB per octave slope), which matches how human ears perceive loudness, so it sounds naturally balanced. Audio engineers use pink noise to calibrate PA systems, measure room response, and set up monitors because each octave registers as equally loud. White noise is better for masking distractions and infant sleep.
For listening, anything comfortable — the slider tops out around -10 dBFS, which is loud but not painful on most systems. For measurement, set pink noise to a reference SPL: 75–85 dBC at the listening position, measured with a calibrated meter or a phone app. For tinnitus masking, a level just below your tinnitus pitch is usually enough; do not exceed 60 dB SPL for long sessions. For ear training, sweep between 100 Hz and 10 kHz at moderate volume and try to identify the frequency before checking.
Small speakers cannot reproduce the harmonics that make a square wave sound different — they roll off the high end and lose the brightness, and they cannot reproduce the low fundamental either. Both end up filtered into a thin midrange tone that resembles a sine. Try the same waveforms on headphones or full-range monitors and the buzz of square versus the smoothness of sine becomes obvious. You can verify your speaker frequency response with https://devicecheckonline.com/audio/sweep.
Yes, easily. Sustained tones — especially below 40 Hz or above 8 kHz at high volume — concentrate power in one driver. Subwoofers can over-excurse and tear the surround at sustained low frequencies; tweeters overheat at sustained high frequencies. Sine waves are more dangerous than music because there is no peak-to-RMS gap. Output here stays under -10 dBFS to limit risk, but always keep system volume modest, especially with square or saw waves, which have much higher harmonic content.
Yes — clinicians use a sine generator to find the frequency that best matches a patient's tinnitus, usually somewhere between 3 and 8 kHz. Sweep slowly through that range and stop when the external tone blends with your internal sound. The matched frequency is information only; it does not treat tinnitus. For full hearing range testing, use https://devicecheckonline.com/audio/hearing.