Surround Sound Channel Test
This surround sound channel test sends identification tones to each surround position — front left, front right, phantom center, the surrounds, and a low LFE / sub tone — plays a guided sequential sweep through every channel, and lets you check assignments against a 5.1 / 7.1 channel map. Use it to confirm which speaker actually makes the sound and to spot swapped or dead channels.
⚠ Important — browsers output STEREO. A web page can reliably drive only the front-left and front-right outputs. It cannot address discrete 5.1 / 7.1 channels: by default your OS and receiver downmix everything to the front pair, so “center”, “surround” and “LFE” tones here will usually come from the front speakers, not their own. They reach the correct speaker only if your system is configured for true multichannel output from the browser (rare). For a definitive per-speaker test, use your AV receiver’s built-in test tones (the receiver knows the real channel layout). This tool also plays no calibrated level — start at a low volume and protect your hearing and speakers, especially with the sub tone.
Channel map
Per-channel ID tones
Click a channel to play its identification tone. Front L / R are hard-panned and are the only positions a browser can reliably separate. The rest depend on your system’s multichannel setup.
Ready. Pick a layout, set a comfortable volume, then play a channel or run the sweep.
How It Works
Every channel pad and sweep step builds a short tone in the Web Audio API and routes it to a two-channel ChannelMergerNode → output. Front Left feeds only output channel 0, Front Right feeds only channel 1, and the phantom center feeds both equally so it images between the front speakers. Each position uses a slightly different pitch so you can tell them apart by ear: a low rumble for the LFE/sub, mid tones for the fronts and center, and higher tones for the surrounds. The sequential sweep simply steps through the channels in a common setup-menu order (your receiver’s own test sequence may differ, and most place the subwoofer last), highlighting each one on the map with a text label so you can confirm what you hear matches what should be playing. If you also want to verify that each front speaker plays at the same level, the channel balance tester lets you compare left and right output directly.
The hard limit is the browser’s audio model: web pages get a stereo (2-channel) output. There is no standard, reliable way for a web page to say “send this to the center speaker” or “send this to the rear-left surround.” What happens to a center, surround or LFE tone is decided downstream by your operating system’s sound settings and your AV receiver. In the common case — stereo output, downmixed — all of those tones collapse onto the front-left/front-right pair, so the “center” tone images in the middle and the “surround” tones still come from the front. They only emerge from the correct speaker if every link in the chain (browser → OS → receiver) is configured for genuine multichannel passthrough, which most setups are not. Formats like Dolby Atmos or DTS:X add overhead (height) channels on top of the standard 5.1 or 7.1 bed; this tool has no way to address those height channels, so Atmos setups should rely on the receiver’s own built-in test sequence for a full system check.
This page may attempt to open a higher channel count if the browser exposes one, but it does not claim that true 5.1/7.1 routing succeeded — trust your ears and the map. Because of all this, treat the surround/center/LFE pads as a convenience and the front-L/front-R pads as the genuinely meaningful test. For a guaranteed home theater speaker test — including correct bass management and crossover routing to the subwoofer — use the test-tone generator built into your AV receiver or its setup app (such as Audyssey, YPAO, or MCACC), which addresses the real channels directly and covers every speaker in the room. You can then use the subwoofer test tones tool to do a targeted low-frequency check of your sub after the receiver’s calibration is complete.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can this really test my 5.1 or 7.1 speakers individually?
Only partly, and only the front pair for certain. Web browsers output stereo, so the page can reliably separate the front-left and front-right speakers but cannot directly address the center, surround, or LFE channels. Whether those tones reach their own speaker depends entirely on your OS sound settings and AV receiver — in most setups everything is downmixed to the front pair. For a true per-speaker test, use your receiver’s built-in test tones.
Why does the “center” tone come from both front speakers?
Because a phantom center is the honest best a stereo browser can do: an identical tone in both front channels images in the middle. A real center speaker only plays it if your full chain (browser → operating system → receiver) is set up for multichannel output, which is uncommon for a web page. If you hear it dead-center between your front speakers rather than from a dedicated center box, your output is being downmixed to stereo.
Is the LFE tone a real subwoofer test?
It is a low-frequency tone (around 40 Hz) that your sub may reproduce, but it is not a calibrated or bass-managed LFE feed. Whether it reaches the subwoofer depends on your crossover and bass-management settings in the receiver, not on this page. On laptops, phones, TVs or small speakers a 40 Hz tone can be very quiet or inaudible even when everything is working — small drivers and your ears both roll off in the deep bass, so near-silence here does not mean the sub or routing is broken. It also plays no known SPL, so set the volume low. For a proper subwoofer level and crossover check, use a calibrated SPL meter and your receiver’s LFE/test channel, or our Subwoofer Test Tones tool.
The surround tones come from the front. Is something broken?
Almost certainly not — that is the expected behaviour when your output is stereo. The browser has no reliable way to route audio to rear or side surround speakers, so those tones get downmixed to the front pair. It does not mean your surround speakers are faulty. To verify the surrounds themselves, run the test tones from your AV receiver, which sends each one to its real channel.
My front left and right are swapped — can this find that?
Yes. The front-left and front-right pads (and the start of the sweep) are hard-panned to a single output channel each, so if the “Front Left” tone comes from your right speaker your front channels are reversed — check the cabling or your sound device’s channel mapping. For a dedicated left/right and mono/stereo wiring check, see our Stereo Channel Tester and Channel Balance Tester.
How do I enable true multichannel output from a browser on Windows or Mac?
On Windows, set your audio device to a multichannel speaker configuration in Settings → Sound → Speaker properties and ensure the device supports WASAPI exclusive mode or spatial sound passthrough. On macOS, use Audio MIDI Setup to configure a multi-output device at the correct channel count. Even then, most browsers still open a stereo stream — achieving genuine 5.1/7.1 passthrough from a web page is not reliably possible on any platform. The most dependable route is always the AV receiver’s own test-tone generator, which bypasses the browser entirely.
One of my surround or center speakers is completely silent. How do I know if it is broken?
First, remember that the browser outputs stereo, so a “silent” center or surround pad here is the expected result in most setups — it does not prove the speaker is dead. To isolate a speaker fault: (1) Run the built-in test tones from your AV receiver or home-theatre processor, which sends signal directly to each channel. (2) If a speaker is still silent from the receiver, swap it with a known-working speaker (or plug it into a different amp output) to tell whether the problem is the speaker itself or the amplifier channel. (3) Check the speaker polarity — a reversed wire can cause partial cancellation rather than silence.
Does this work for Dolby Atmos or DTS:X home theatre setups?
Only partially. Atmos and DTS:X add height channels (ceiling or up-firing speakers) on top of a 5.1 or 7.1 bed. A browser has no way to address those overhead channels, and even the 5.1/7.1 bed channels are subject to the same stereo-downmix limitation described above. The front-left and front-right identification tones remain useful for a quick wiring check, but for a full Atmos speaker test — including height, wide, and overhead channels — use your AV receiver’s built-in setup assistant, which can address every discrete speaker position in the system.