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Speech Clarity Tester

Read a few sentences into your mic. The tool builds your long-term spectral balance across speech bands and a consonant-presence score — a proxy for how crisp your consonants are — with practical tips.

ℹ This measures spectral balance, not true intelligibility. A real intelligibility metric (like STI) needs reference signals and room measurement; the “clarity” here is the energy in the 2.5–6 kHz consonant band relative to the rest of your speech — useful for spotting a muffled or harsh balance, but affected by your mic and room and not a clinical or pass/fail test. Your mic is analyzed live and never recorded or uploaded.

Microphone is off. Click “Start microphone”, then read a sentence or two at your normal volume.

How It Works

While you speak, the tool builds a long-term average spectrum — the average energy at each frequency over the whole sample (only counting moments when you’re actually talking). The chart shows the speech bands: low-mid (vowel warmth), mid (vowel core), presence (2.5–6 kHz — where consonant detail lives), and air (above 6 kHz), setting aside the sub-300 Hz rumble/body region. Crisp, clear speech carries a healthy share of energy in the presence band, because that’s where fricatives (s, f, sh), plosive bursts (t, k, p) and the edges of words sit. The score is the presence band’s share of that speech energy, scaled to 0–100 — so it matches the cyan Presence bar. Everything runs live on your device; nothing is recorded.

It’s a useful diagnostic for a muffled balance (too little presence — soft consonants, hard to follow on calls) or a harsh/sibilant one (too much). But it is not a true intelligibility score: real speech clarity depends on articulation, pacing, background noise, and the listener, and proper measurement (STI/STIPA) uses calibrated reference signals. Your mic’s own frequency response also colours the result — compare changes on the same mic rather than chasing an absolute number.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is my microphone recorded or uploaded?
No. Audio is analyzed live in your browser and never leaves your device. Stopping the mic releases it immediately.
Is this a real intelligibility score?
No. It’s a spectral-balance proxy — the share of energy in the consonant-presence band. True intelligibility (STI) needs reference signals and accounts for noise and reverberation, which a mic-only tool can’t do.
Why did my score change with a different mic?
Every mic has its own frequency response — some boost presence, some roll off highs. Use the tool to compare your own speech changes on the same mic, not to compare different mics.
My score is low — what helps?
Open your mouth more, finish word endings, slow down slightly, and speak a touch closer to the mic. A muffled room or a dark-sounding mic will also lower presence.
Can it diagnose a speech disorder?
No. It only looks at frequency balance, not articulation or phonetics. For clinical concerns, see a speech-language pathologist.