A hearing test that tunes your Mac to your ears

How the test works

1. Headphones on, volume once. Set a quiet but clear level with one big slider. Other apps go silent during the test, and TONO puts your volume back afterwards.
2. Listen and press Space. You hear short beeps – sometimes left, sometimes right, sometimes high, sometimes low – and press Space as soon as you hear one. Now and then there’s no tone at all, which keeps the test honest.
3. TONO adapts. For seven frequencies on each ear, each answer decides how loud the next tone is, and TONO stops once it knows your threshold to about 3 dB. Most tests take about four minutes of listening.
4. Your result. A chart of both ears and a finding in plain words, such as “Highs a little quieter”. Choose Gentle, Normal or Strong, and hear the difference before you save.

Why it measures relatively

A clinical hearing test needs calibrated equipment. TONO doesn’t pretend to have it: it compares every tone with a reference curve of normal hearing (ISO 226) and then with your own best hearing, so the headphones, the volume and the room cancel out. What remains is what matters for listening – the shape across frequencies and the difference between your ears. The tones pulse and warble slightly, which keeps them steady in the ear canal and easy to tell from ringing in the ears.

What the profile does

• A gentle correction per ear, applied after TONO’s other effects so it reaches your ears exactly as measured.
• It works on top of any preset and in every app, and you switch it on and off in the Equalizer, in Tools or from the menu bar.
• It belongs to the headphones you tested with, so your AirPods and your studio headphones can each have their own.

Not a medical test

ImportantTONO’s hearing test is for tuning sound, not for diagnosing anything. If you notice a sudden change, ringing that doesn’t stop, or trouble following conversations, see a hearing professional.

To protect your hearing day to day, TONO’s free Hearing Guard estimates today’s sound dose for your ears (following WHO and ITU guidance) and can cap the volume.

At a glance

Free or Pro

The hearing test and your hearing profile are part of TONO Pro – €3.99 a month, €29 a year or €79 once, and TONO starts with one day of Pro on each Mac. Take the test in the trial; the profile works as long as Pro does.

Questions