Flip the EQ in and out
Toggle between the processed and the clean signal. The difference you hear is the band you're hunting for. Comparing is the whole game, so do it often.
- StudioEars
- Frequency ear training
Free EQ ear trainer
Frequency ear training, right in your browser.
Hear a boost, name the frequency. Seven levels take you from obvious +12 dB boosts on pink noise to subtle ±6 dB moves inside a full mix. It's the skill engineers use to find mud, boxiness and harshness in seconds instead of sweeping around.
- Free, no signup
- 7 levels, 8 sounds each
- Pink noise, drums & full mix
- Keyboard shortcuts
Level 1 of 7
First steps
Four bands, two octaves apart. Big +12 dB boosts on pink noise.
Source Pink noise
Score 0 / 0
Best –
Use headphones or full-range speakers, and start with your volume low.
Space play/stop B bypass 1–9 answer N next
Which band changed?
Press play, listen, then choose a band.
How it works
Listen. Compare. Name it.
Each sound has one EQ band boosted or cut by a bell filter about one octave wide (Q 1.4), like a broad musical move on a real console.
Pick the frequency
Choose the band you think changed. The EQ curve is revealed with your answer, so you see what you just heard.
Audition your mistakes
After answering, tap any band to hear the same move there. Switching between your guess and the real answer is the fastest way to learn the difference.
Reference
What each frequency sounds like
Engineers describe frequency bands with words, and learning the words helps you learn the sounds. Use this as a cheat sheet while you train. For instrument ranges and more detail, see the EQ frequency chart.
| Band | Octave covers | What you hear | Too much | Too little |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 63 Hz | 44–89 Hz | Sub bass. Felt more than heard: kick weight, sub and synth bass, rumble. | Rumble, flab, wasted headroom | Small, no weight |
| 125 Hz | 88–177 Hz | Bass. Fullness of bass guitar and kick, chest of male vocals. | Boomy, bloated | Thin, weak |
| 250 Hz | 177–354 Hz | Low mids. The body and warmth of most instruments, and where they pile up. | Muddy, cloudy, congested | Cold, lean |
| 500 Hz | 354–707 Hz | Mids. The "wood" of guitars and snare, the core of a voice. | Boxy, hollow, cardboard | Scooped, distant |
| 1 kHz | 707 Hz–1.4 kHz | Midrange. Nasal, telephone-like. Decides how forward a sound feels. | Honky, nasal, horn-like | Recessed, hollow |
| 2 kHz | 1.4–2.8 kHz | Upper mids. Edge and attack, the bite of guitars and snare. | Hard, tinny, aggressive | Soft, undefined |
| 4 kHz | 2.8–5.7 kHz | Presence. Clarity, consonants, pick and beater attack. Our ears are most sensitive here. | Harsh, piercing, fatiguing | Dull, mumbly |
| 8 kHz | 5.7–11.3 kHz | Brilliance. Sibilance, cymbals, crispness and detail. | Sibilant, brittle, splashy | Lifeless, dark |
| 16 kHz | 11.3–22 kHz | Air. Sparkle, openness, the "expensive" sheen on vocals and overheads. | Hissy, glassy | Closed-in (subtle) |
Practice plan
A 10-minute daily routine that works
Ear training rewards frequency, not marathons. Ten focused minutes a day beats an hour once a week, because your brain consolidates the sounds between sessions and you stop before ear fatigue sets in.
- Warm up (2 min). Play a level you've already passed to calibrate your ears for the day.
- Push (5 min). Play the first level you haven't passed. After every miss, audition your guess and the answer back to back until you can hear the difference.
- Get real (2 min). Play a drums or full-mix level, even if it feels hard. Pink noise is the gym; music is the match.
- Note your confusions (1 min). Most misses are one octave off, like 2 kHz vs 4 kHz. Start tomorrow's session with that pair.
Tips from the studio
- Give every band a word and a sound. 1 kHz is "telephone", 250 Hz is "mud", 8 kHz is "sss". Anchors make recall fast.
- Keep your volume moderate and constant. Our hearing isn't flat. At low volume, lows and extreme highs seem quieter, so changing level changes what you perceive.
- Cuts are harder than boosts. We notice added energy faster than missing energy. Train cuts once boosts feel easy.
- Being one octave off is progress. It means you've found the right neighbourhood. Precision comes next.
- Transfer it to your mixes. When something sounds wrong, guess the band first, then check with a narrow boost. Over time, your first guess will be right.
The science bit
Why start with pink noise?
Pink noise has equal energy in every octave. The octave from 100 to 200 Hz carries as much energy as the one from 5 to 10 kHz, which roughly matches how we hear. To our ears it sounds balanced: a steady "shhh", like a waterfall.
That makes it a perfect training ground. A boost anywhere in the spectrum is equally exposed, so you learn the pure character of each band without the music getting in the way.
White noise, by contrast, has equal energy per hertz. Since the upper octaves contain far more hertz, it sounds harsh and bright, and it's a poor reference for EQ work.
Then move to real music
In music, an EQ move is only audible where the source has energy. A +12 dB boost at 8 kHz on a bass guitar barely changes anything, while the same move on cymbals is obvious. That's why the later levels switch to a drum loop and a full band mix.
On real material you start hearing EQ the way you use it: not as "louder at 2 kHz" but as "the snare got more crack" or "the guitars got boxy". That's the skill that transfers straight into your mixes.
Boosts add up to 12 dB. Keep your system at a comfortable level and take a short break every 15 minutes. Tired ears make worse decisions.
StudioEarsEar training for iPhone & iPad
Ready for the full workout?
The app turns this into a daily habit: a fresh two-unit session every day that brings back what you got wrong, plus 30 units across EQ, dynamics, effects, rhythm and musicianship.
Download on theApp Store- Frequency Quiz UnitIntense frequency training on 11 sources
- Equalizer Control UnitMatch a sound with hands-on EQ faders
- Daily sessions & streaksTwo fresh units a day, picked for you
- LadderClimb the rankings with friends
More free tools
Keep training
FAQ
Frequency training, answered
What is frequency ear training?
Frequency ear training is practice at recognising frequency bands by ear, so you can hear that a sound has too much 250 Hz or not enough 4 kHz and reach for the right EQ band without sweeping around. It is a core skill for mixing and live sound engineers, producers and anyone who uses an equalizer.
How long does it take to learn to identify frequencies?
With ten minutes a day, most people can tell octave bands apart on pink noise within a few weeks. Hearing the same moves inside a full mix takes longer, usually months of regular practice. Consistency matters far more than session length.
Should I use headphones or speakers for ear training?
Either works if they reproduce the full range. Laptop and phone speakers reproduce very little below 150 to 200 Hz, so the low bands turn into guesswork. Decent headphones are a great choice because they take your room out of the equation.
Why can't I hear the 16 kHz band?
High-frequency hearing naturally declines with age and noise exposure, and many earbuds roll off at the top too. Lots of adults hear little above 14 to 16 kHz. That is normal. The range from 63 Hz to 8 kHz is where most mixing decisions happen.
Is my progress saved?
Your best score for each level is stored in this browser, with no account needed. For daily sessions, streaks and progress that follows you across devices, use the StudioEars app.
How is this different from the StudioEars app?
This page is a focused taste. In the app, the Frequency Quiz and Equalizer Control units train on eleven sources including guitars, drums, bass, piano, strings and synths, and they are part of a daily session that brings back what you get wrong, alongside 28 other units for dynamics, effects, rhythm, intervals, piano, guitar and theory.