SonicSenses Lab
A/B listening comparator
Expectation shapes what people hear. Switching between two sounds at the same level - and, if you like, without knowing which is which - keeps the comparison honest.
Evidence rating: Established science
A/B listening comparator: how this works, in words
- What it does
- Plays two browser-generated sounds at a matched level and switches between them on demand, optionally hiding which one you are hearing.
- What it accepts
- No input of your own. You choose two of the built-in sounds; both are synthesised locally.
- What you control
- Sound A and Sound B pickers, an A/B switch, a blind mode toggle that hides the labels, a reveal control and a Level slider.
- What changes
- Audio only. The sound changes when you switch; in blind mode the on-screen labels stay hidden until you reveal them.
- What it illustrates
- That expectation influences judgement. Comparing at a matched level, and without labels, makes a listening comparison harder to bias.
- What it does not claim
- This is a listening exercise, not a controlled experiment. One person switching between two sounds is not a randomised, statistically powered test, and no conclusion about which sound is better should be drawn from it.
- Keyboard and screen readers
- All controls are standard buttons, toggles and sliders in tab order. A polite live region announces the current selection and whether labels are hidden, so the blind test can be run entirely by keyboard and by ear.
Pick two sounds and switch between them.
Headphones give the clearest result, but speakers work for this demo too.
This is a listening aid, not a controlled experiment. Both sources run through the same gain stage, but a true level-matched blind test also needs calibrated loudness matching and repeated trials.
Every Lab demo is generated by your own browser and stops when you leave the page. Start quiet, raise slowly, and see our listening safety guidance. Nothing here is medical advice or a treatment.