Volume warning — EQ boosts can be significantly louder than the flat reference. Set your volume to a comfortable level before starting, and avoid listening at high volumes for extended periods.
1 · Choose a source
Pick Noise → Pink to start — its equal energy per octave makes every frequency band equally audible, which is ideal for ear training. White has a brighter, high-frequency bias. Music Loop switches between built-in Drums and a full Band, a step up from noise. Upload your own audio (MP3, WAV, FLAC, OGG) once you want to practice on real music — that's where the training counts. Set A and Set B under the Position fader loop one section of a file.
2 · Pick a test mode
Explore — no quiz: drag an EQ curve on the graph and hear what each region sounds like. A good place to start.
Boosts — one frequency band is boosted; identify which one.
Cuts — one band is cut; identify which one.
Mixed — a band is either boosted or cut; identify the frequency and the direction.
Shelves — a low or high shelf lifts or lowers everything past a corner frequency; find the corner and whether it boosts or cuts. Corners below 1 kHz are low shelves, above are high shelves.
Pass Filters — a high-pass or low-pass filter removes lows or highs; find the cutoff. The Gain slider doesn't apply here.
Sweep — pick Boost or Dip on its card, then click or drag on the graph to where you hear it (← → nudge by a semitone). You're scored on how many octaves off you are; the allowed error shrinks from 1 octave at level 1 to ⅙ octave at level 5.
How Much? — the frequency is marked; pick how many dB it was boosted or cut. Higher levels offer closer steps, then cuts as well.
Match EQ — drag your own bell until it sounds like the hidden one, comparing Target, Yours, and Flat. Frequency and gain both have to be close.
3 · Adjust the filter
Gain (1–18 dB) sets how far the filter boosts or cuts — start at 12 dB or more and lower it as your ears improve. Q sets the bell's width in the peaking modes: low Q is broad and easier, high Q is narrow and harder. Shelves ignore Q; Pass Filters ignore both.
4 · Compare EQ vs. flat
Each trial hides one filter. Toggle between EQ and Flat as often as you like — the difference is what you're training to hear. There's no time limit, and after you answer the graph reveals the hidden curve.
5 · Adaptive difficulty
Your level sets how many candidates you choose from (up to 15 bands, or 8 in Shelves and Pass Filters); in Sweep it sets how close your guess must be. Each mode keeps its own level.
3 correct in a row → level up
2 wrong in a row → level down
6 · Keyboard
1–9 and 0 pick bands 1–10, ← → step between bands, and in Mixed and Shelves ↑ ↓ switch between the boost and cut rows. Space toggles EQ/Flat (even after answering, so you can re-listen to the reveal) and Enter checks your answer or starts the next trial. With Auto-play EQ on, each new trial starts playing straight away.
7 · Tips
Use headphones or studio monitors — laptop speakers compress the frequency response and defeat the purpose. In Mixed mode, listen for the hollow, recessed character of a cut vs. the forward, present quality of a boost. If you're struggling, drop back to Boosts-only and rebuild from a lower level. To set someone a challenge, press Share in the trainer: it copies a link that opens FreqRoom with the same mode, level, gain, Q, and noise source.