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Free binaural beats generator
General information, not medical advice. Talk to a doctor about any health concern. Don't listen while driving or operating machinery. If you have epilepsy, a heart condition or a pacemaker, ask your doctor first. Keep the volume low, especially for long sessions or sleep. Disclaimer
Put on headphones, pick a band and press Begin. Your left ear hears a steady tone (the carrier) and your right ear hears a slightly higher one. The difference between them is the beat you perceive: 200 Hz left and 206 Hz right gives a 6 Hz theta beat.
It's free, runs in your browser, stores nothing, and plays nothing until you press a button. The research on what binaural beats do is mixed, so use them as a calm sound, not a treatment.
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Listen kindly. Keep the volume low, especially for long sessions or sleep. Don't listen while driving, operating machinery or doing anything that needs your full attention. If you have epilepsy, a seizure disorder, a heart condition or a pacemaker, ask your doctor first.
The settings, in plain words
- Beat: the difference between the two tones, and the pulse rate you hear. It's what the band names describe.
- Carrier: the pitch you actually hear. Binaural beats are clearest with carriers of a few hundred hertz, and fade away above about 1,000 Hz, which is why the slider stops at 500.
- Background: pink or brown noise, or a soft drone, under the beat. It makes long sessions more pleasant and covers room noise.
- Timer: one bell to start, three to end, and the sound fades out by itself.
Which band?
- Delta (0.5–4 Hz): the band of deep sleep. A common choice for winding down at night.
- Theta (4–8 Hz): seen in drowsiness and in some kinds of meditation. A popular choice for meditating.
- Alpha (8–12 Hz): strong when you're relaxed with your eyes closed.
- Beta (13–30 Hz): everyday alert, busy thinking.
- Gamma (30 Hz and up): fast activity studied in lab research. See 40 Hz and the brain.
These bands describe what EEG records in different states. Playing a beat at a band's rate hasn't been shown to reliably put your brain into that state, so go by what feels comfortable. More in our brainwave bands guide.
Do binaural beats work?
Honestly: possibly, a little, for some people, and not in the way the marketing says. A 2018 meta-analysis of 22 mostly small studies found a medium-sized average effect on memory and attention tests and on self-reported anxiety and pain. A 2023 systematic review found the evidence that beats "entrain" brainwaves inconsistent. Our full guide, do binaural beats actually work?, goes through the studies.
Binaural or isochronic?
Binaural beats need headphones because the beat is built inside your head from two separate tones. Isochronic tones are one tone switched on and off, so they work on speakers. You can play both in The Instrument.
Questions
Why do I need headphones?
Each ear has to hear only its own tone. On speakers both tones reach both ears and mix in the air, so you hear an ordinary acoustic beat instead.
I can't hear a beat. Is it working?
Check that you're wearing headphones the right way round and that both sides work. Slow beats (delta) are a gentle swell rather than a clear pulse. Try alpha at 10 Hz on a 200 Hz carrier: the wobble is easy to hear.
How long should I listen?
Many studies use sessions of a few minutes to about half an hour. There's no proven ideal length; 10 or 20 minutes with the timer is a comfortable start.
Can I fall asleep with it on?
Many people do. Set the timer so it fades out, and keep the volume low. Many people find a delta beat or plain pink noise under a timer works well; see music for sleep.
Is anything recorded or stored?
No. The tones are made live by your browser. Nothing is uploaded, recorded or saved.